If you have KK at a short-handed i.e. 6man table, and you raised enough, that ace hitting should be a little frightening. I'd rather have the ace hit the flop shorthanded rather than at a full table. If the bb at your table is "x", and you made the "standard" 3x raise, take the time to realize that in all likelihoods someone is holding an ace. Now, if you became worried and made an over-raise, say 6x, it is even more likely that someone has a strong ace. They could be holding another decent pocket pair, so you do have to make a feeler bet.
Now, this is where I see people run into trouble. They make an obvious feeler bet with something like KK and an ace on board, so they bet the absolute minimum or close to it. Yes sometimes people play their top pair this weakly. Depending on your style of play, this bet can entice/scare you. Do you see it as an opportunity to raise the hell out of him, or do you startle easily and just fold it. After you've played enough hands and develop your ability to read opponents this will become easier and you'll make the money most of the time.
This seemed like a short post in my head, turned into an essay  |