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  So you have flopped a top pair, congratulations. Things are looking up but this is not the time to start writing the victory speech and booking a trip to Disney World. There are a ton of things that can go wrong: your top pair is far from safe until the last card has fallen.



  The first thing you want to do is see how many people are still in the pot, the more people who have chosen to hang around after the flop, the more vulnerable your hand is. What you will want to do in this situation is raise the next time around to force the drawing hands out. You want them to make a choice between cold calling your made hand and taking a leap of faith on the next card.



  Another thing you have to consider is the strength of your kicker. Unless you have a pair of strong cards in your hand, and two matching cards on the board, you cannot claim a monopoly on a certain card denomination. So when you have made your top pair on the flop, there is always the chance that somebody else has made the same pair. At that point it becomes a war of the kickers. If you have made a pair of Aces, and you are against a single opponent who is not backing down, something may be amiss. If you have a six paired with the Ace in your hand, and he is calling you all the way down the line, you have a reason to be worried. You may both have the same pair, and he may be dealing with a much more potent kicker.



  These are the two factors that can best gut your top pair.



  Good Luck!