May of the top professional poker players and amateurs alike pride themselves on their ability to make a "big lay-down". Making a wrong lay-down of the best hand is a statistics worst nightmare usually resulting in the fact you were a 75% favourite to win the hand. However if you're never folding the best hand then you're probably calling way too much.

There should always be factors to consider before making the "big lay-down"

• What are the pot odds? - If you are getting great odds like 4 to 1 or better then calling is an option - if your opponent does have you beaten then at least you're not losing too much money
• When the pot odds aren't in your favour - Like a 1 to 1 situation often folding can be the option that makes the most sense, if you need to call say 2500 to win another 2500 and you have only put 500 into the pot then given your high fold equity, folding would be the correct decision
• Would your opponent bluff in this situation? - If the player is a frequent bluffer be a little more tempted towards making a call and on the other hand if the player is a tight solid player then look towards making the "big lay-down". Player profiling can make the difference between making a correct "big lay-down" and making the wrong "big lay-down"

Not every time you make a "big lay-down" you will be correct just try to minimise the losses when you're folding the best hand, but if you're getting the correct odds to call like 4 to 1 then you will only need to be correct 1 out of 3 times to remain in profit.

Remember to never "fall in love" or "get married" to any hands you play because Texas hold'em poker is an unpredictable game and any hand despite starting strength can be beaten.