[Wynton]

My standard play, when defending the bb from an apparent steal and connecting in some way on the flop, is to bet out. I like to bet out regardless of whether I have a draw, top pair, second pair.

My attitude is that the really tight players may lay down their overcards, which is fine. The real aggressive players with overcards may raise, giving me chance to 3-bet. Other people may call but then fold to the turn bet, if they've picked up nothing. And by betting out all the time, my play is deceptive.

On the other hand, I must say that I've started to rethink this whole approach. It can't be right for me to check/raise the flop as little as I do presently.

As for the discussion about forcing your opponent to make a mistake is interesting, I think that's interesting but not dispositive. Seems to me that a bet may be correct at times even if your opponent is then given the odds to call.