Originally Posted by Lodogg

What if I had top pair weak kicker like Ac8c?

Originally Posted by Rondavu

This is a common emotion for a lot of players. What if I have the best hand? I don't want him stealing the pot from me without an ace. If I check it's like giving up isn't it? I'm going to present something to you. You won't understand right away. Imagine two scenerios...

1. You have KQ, bet an ace high board, and a player with position on you doesn't have you beat, but wants to see if you have the ace by smooth calling to check the turn action. You check, he bets, you fold the best hand.

2. You have AK, bet an ace high board, and a player with position on you doesn't have you beat, but wants to see if you have the ace by smooth calling to check the turn action. You bet more, he folds.

Well what's my point? The point is what just happened in these two hands was not very efficient as a whole. You pretty much broke even for life if these were the only two hands you ever played. Now imagine you know a couple things about this player. He's aggressive. You know he re-raises AQ and AK preflop, and you know he calls with other aces, and raises an ace high flop with these hands to check the kicker. Now the two scenerios presented become the following...

1. You have KQ, bet an ace high board, and a player with position on you doesn't have you beat, but wants to see if you have the ace by smooth calling to check the turn action. You bet harder because he would have raised an ace if he had it on the flop, and he folds.

2. You have AK, bet an ace high board, and a player with position on you doesn't have you beat, but wants to see if you have the ace by smooth calling to check the turn action. You check knowing he doesn't have the ace, but may try to steal now. He bets, you check raise him, he folds.

What Fnord seems to have presented, if he doesn't mind my commentary, is that any number of actions are reasonable depending on the information you gather. Most of the time your information won't be this precise. It will be less exact, and therefore your choice will become a longer term choice that is slightly more correct than the other options against this player. That's what a feel for the game after seeing hundreds of thousands of hands will bring to you. For now don't worry about checking and folding in this spot. You're not losing as much money as you think by giving up when the ace gets repped by the player with position on you.