It is important to realize that not all top pairs have the same value. For example, A-K on a K-7-2 board is much stronger than 8-5 on a 5-4-3 board.

Suppose a player at your table raises to three big blinds from middle position, someone calls from the button, and you call with Js 10s from the big blind. The flop comes 10h 7c 5d.

Your first decision should be whether to check or bet. While you may think that you should always check or always bet in this situation, your play should really depend on how you expect your opponents to react.

If you think they’ll play in a straightforward manner, raising with better hands and calling or folding with worse hands, leading is an excellent option. If you think your opponents will make your future decisions tricky by not playing in a straightforward manner, you should probably just check.

Let’s say you check, the initial raiser bets and the other player folds. Your decision to either call or check-raise should be based on how you expect your opponent to react. If you think he’s likely to fold worse hands to a check-raise, calling is a better option than check-raising, because you never want your opponent to fold when he is drawing thin. By calling, you give him the opportunity to make additional mistakes on a future street.

Maybe you think your opponent will assume you’re semi-bluffing with a draw if you check-raise, perhaps because he thinks you like to call with your marginal and strong hands. In that case, check-raising becomes an excellent option because it will extract a huge amount of value from worse made hands.

If you check, the initial raiser bets and the other player calls, you should usually just call unless you have specific reads on your opponents’ tendencies. But if you’re certain that at least one of your two opponents has a strong hand, you should fold.

For example, if one or both of your opponents happen to be overly tight and cautious, you should certainly fold because you’re probably already crushed, and even if you aren’t, both of your opponents have a large number of outs to improve to a hand better than yours. If both of your opponents are overly active, meaning they could have anything, it’s probably smart to check-raise to an amount that worse made hands could realistically call.

Check-raising to a huge amount in this situation is not a good idea because it helps your opponents play well, continuing when they have you beat and folding when you have them beat. If you are unsure where you stand, calling to see what develops on the turn is the right move.

As you can see, the way you play your hand should depend entirely on what you expect your opponents to do. If you are only thinking about how your two cards connect with the board, you won’t succeed in the long run.