[SixForty]

Lots of times it comes back to basics.

I'll bet or raise my hand if I think there is a good enough chance that Villain will fold a better hand, or call with a worse hand.

I'll call a bet if I think that my hand fares well against Villain's possible range.

In the case of just having an Ace high hand, when do I bet? I'll bet against players who often call to the river with bottom or middle pair, but fold the river if they don't catch two pair. (But this is a bluff that can be done with any two cards) I'll bet against someone who calls all the way with overcards but folds the river, if I think that my kicker can't withstand a showdown. And I'll bet with an Ace high with a good kicker (like a Q or a J) against someone who will call down with weaker Ace high hands.

I've also been incorporating into my game some bluffs based on game theory against some better opponents - but I'm still learning how to best do this.

But in all cases, I'll only bet if it makes sense. If my bet comes out of nowhere, or has reason to not be believable, I'm less likely to do it. For example, if I raised a draw on the flop, and then checked behind on the turn to take a free card, and now it is checked to me on the river, I'm less likely to fire that bet.

Again, it's something that is so situational based on the play of the hand, the size of the pot, and your read on your opponents.

I'll call with an Ace high hand when I think that there's a good enough chance that the bettor has something worse. Like if the flop had both a possible straight draw and a flush draw that both didn't come in by the river, there's a higher chance that he's bluffing.

Again, it can be very read dependent. Some people, if they bet the whole way on a draw, will ALWAYS fire a pure bluff on the river when they miss. Call them more often. Others will almost never pure bluff on the river, so call them very rarely.

As for how far down do you go in high card value? I'm a bit more likely to bet with LOWER cards, since they have no showdown value. This is even more likely if I have position, since my opponent has already checked, showing a bit of weakness.

I've called down with King high a couple of times against maniacs. And people who push draws hard and bluff the river when they miss. And I've even called down with Queen high (QJs) a couple of times after I missed my draw, but the flop was draw heavy and the pot was huge and it was heads up and my lone opponent was very bluff happy, and there was a good enough chance he was betting a 98s straight draw type of hand.

One piece of advice I'd give - never overcall with just a high card hand. If someone bets the river, and someone else calls, the chances of your AK unimproved winning the pot is next to nil. The pot would have to be huge for you to even consider it.