[cero_z]

Hi scdavid,

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You know he's gonna bet. He knows that you know he's gonna bet. Why would you lead with TPTK?

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In this case, you would do it to protect your hand while not becoming immediately committed without some better information.

If you check-raise the flop, as you suggest, you are put in an awful spot if he pushes. You know he could be doing this with hands that have you crushed, and with good draws that are about even with you with 2 cards to come, and occasionally with air. Tough fold, tough call; the opposite of your goal. Even if he just calls, he puts you in the spot where one more normal bet given the pot size commits you.

Leading into him gives you so much more info than check-calling or check-raising. If the action goes check, bet, call, he knows you have a decent hand, but you don't know anything about his hand, since he will automatically bet the flop, according to you. If you lead, he doesn't know if you have a set/straight/flush, the As, TP, a Str8+flush draw, or air. If he raises that bet, you have a better idea of his hand (almost certainly not air) than if you'd check-raised. Plus, you haven't put that 2nd bet in yet; he has.