moose;126842 wroteI raise preflop to get heads up against one person. I raise preflop to get position post-flop. None of that happened. Now I am in bad position in a multi-way pot. I raise preflop to demonstrate the strength of my hand but I still have all this action behind. Caution is warranted. Plan A didn't work. Move on to plan B. Continuing on with Plan A and just hammering blindly at a pot is stupid.
Protecting it against what? This is a pretty safe flop. No way anyone is on a straight draw here. I'm up against overs, and most of them seem to be out. I might be against a set already. I got two more streets to get my chips in. Odds are, anyone calling here has me beat already. To knock off a flush draw is going to cost me most of my chips. You don't have to hammer every pot to play winning poker. I prefer to use my post-flop skills and ability to read my opponents to keep me out of trouble. I've committed 6.5k of my chips so far. That's nothing. I don't need to win this hand to win this tournament. It's a single pair. I'm in a multi-way pot and I'm OOP. It sucks. That's poker.
So you check here, given the hands, the player with KK will probably bet. Do you just fold here when the chances are your hand is most likely good...vulnerable, but good. (this is based on our assumptions on what our opponents have, and not what he actually has)
Edited: In addition, do you not see a hand like 99 - JJ, a hand that will cold-cald/limp in and call a raise, try to flop a set/overpair in the opponent's possible holdings as well?