just a theory...

[Apocalypse]

For strategical purposes:

suppose you have an extremely tight opponent sitting 2 seats at your left whom seems to respect everyones raises. Every chance (thus with any hand) you get at stealing his BB you raise since you get to steal the blind 4 out 5 times. When called you give up on the flop if you don't hit. For not making it too obvious you raise there four out of five times but thats all theres to it, you are on a winning strategy here.

Now you get for instance 10.2o in the button, you raise to steal, get called and you hit toppair on the board. He checks, you bet, he calls. The turn comes and he bets.

Is it imaginable to fold this toppair, just because you don't want to have a showdown where you show you raised 10.2o in the button?

In respect of course to future situations, where you want to keep stealing the blinds according to your previous strategy and not to get called much more after this showdown.

Assuming you and him are sitting here for a long time to come (since you are giving up quite some BB in this pot, where there is no use for that if you're about to leave, if he's short-stacked, etc)

[naphand]

It looks like you are beat anyway. If he is that tight, he is likely wanting to 3-bet you with his set, overpair or ATo. TP 2 kicker is a pretty poor hand, and calling down here against a loose player is probably lucky to break even. Against this guy, I think I fold it, as I think I am behind a significant part of the time. Oh yes - and you get to preserve your profitable play to date, which swings the decision beyond any doubt for me. The pot is still small, you are not committed.

Preserving the play you have is a consideration, just not an over-riding one. In this example, there are good reasons to fold this hand just on the merits of his play.

[stripsqueez]

[ QUOTE ]
Is it imaginable to fold this toppair, just because you don't want to have a showdown where you show you raised 10.2o in the button?

[/ QUOTE ]

i dont think thats a big consideration - a decent player will know that your stealing his blinds a lot without seeing hand - sure when he sees this it will certainly confirm his view

i think you need to be able to adjust to what he will be thinking - i once posted a hand where i 3 bet an open button raise from the BB with 92o - i did this because the button was stealing way too much - the button actually had something like K8o so it wasnt a blatant steal - unfortunately for the button the flop came 2 K 2 - needless to say i got to showdown with this hand

the button subsequently was keen for some heads up (which i declined because its not really my game and the button is a good player) - i havent stepped out of line against this guy since because i know he remembers it - i figure now that i have zigged its time to zag - as long as i dont zig when i should zag they should both be profitable

stripsqueez - chickenhawk

[Bubu]

hmmm. How can you tell that he is not adjusting his strategy ? Afterall you seem to be playing fairly agressively. If he has real strength in this hand he should just let you lead the betting. You don't want to reward his aggression.

Bubu