Way Ahead Way Behind

There is a concept that usually comes up in no limit hold em called way ahead way behind, or WA/WB. The idea is that you're either totally smoked or you're way out ahead. Here's an example:

Everyone folds to the small blind, who makes a moderate raise. You call in the big blind with A6. The flop comes down A 2 7 all different suits, and the opponent checks. This is a very nice flop for you. You're either getting killed by a hand like AJ, or your opponent is drawing nearly dead with a hand like KQ or 55. This means that it's pretty safe to check if you want. You can just keep the pot small so that you don't have to make any really tough choices for big bets on later betting rounds.