Betting on the End, part 2

Playing Texas holdem can be tricky business. In a previous tip, we talked about not betting marginal hands on the end when you're the last person to act in a two-person pot in a holdem poker game. So when should you bet? When you have a very strong hand, you should bet.

If you hold 44 on a board on KQ432 you have a very powerful hand and should bet to extract value from hands like KJ or even KQ. You can also consider betting if you have a horrible hand, one that almost certainly won't win if you check. An example would be jack-ten. You've missed your straight draw, but your opponent checks to you on the river. You have almost no chance to win by checking, but you may be able to bluff your opponent out if she holds a hand like 77, QJ, or just AJ. You shouldn't bluff every time in that situation, but it's a spot you can consider bluffing.