In every case, you would want to consider your own hand and what common hands you would beat and what hands would beat you.
Hand: Betting on the strength of your own hand, getting a pair of aces at the beginning of a game are a great foundation to build upon, though an ace and king of the same suit have a better potential of strength. These would both be hands which you want to bet heavily on.
Opponents: Seeing an opponent checking, means either that they’re second guessing their own strength and don’t have a good hand or that they are trying to lure you into betting more while
they secretly hold a strong hand. Though in either case, if you’re already sitting on a good hand, otherwise, bet, checking yourself is always a free shot at the next round.
Value betting and return odds: Betting 500 chips with a pot that is at 20,000 is a very good risk when you are considering the potential return. Know how many cards are out there and of what suits, and know how many of those cards will help your hand and how many will not. Try to use those odds to help determine how much to bet by figuring that out before making your next move. For instance, if you are going for a flush draw, you know that there are three suits which will not help and only one that actually will: those are 4 to 1 odds that you will get the one card that you need to complete the flush. If the amount in the pot for a hand is four times more than you would need to bet to call, than your risk is balanced by the likelihood of getting one of those cards to win the hand.
Blinds: forced bets are an easy way to get your way into a game – you are required in some games to bet certain amounts, so you may as well ride further to see how far that forced bet will take you.
