It's easy to bet into a pot, get caught up in your hand, get a bunch of money in there, and end up losing with cards that never had you in the lead. Avoid that.

Now, it's not always bad to get into a pot with a weak hand. Reasons to do this can include:

• Weaker players in the hand
• Having a tell on another player
• Very tight players leave pots out there to win
• Having moral superiority over another player
• Trying to cultivate a "loose" image
• Being in position
• Cheap to see the flop (especially with a table that just tends to call the blinds)
• Hey, nobody else ever plays fives or sevens, so if you get "rags" in the flop then you might hit it and nobody would suspect

So we've established that sometimes one will get in there with something less than a King-Jack suited. The trick, then, is to know if you're getting in with a big hand:

• A made high pair
• A hand that sums to 20 or 21, preferably suited
• Two face cards
• High suited connectors

Or a small hand:

• A or K with your kicker < 8
• Low suited connectors
• A pair < 9 or 10
• Assorted junk

The very first thing you should do when you look at your hand is to decide if it's big or small. While anything will change with context, by and large you should be comfortable trying to make big money off of big hands. With small hands, you need to be comfortable making small money.

Let me reiterate that: play the big hand slow, play it fast, get your money in, do whatever you think best; but with the small hand, try to win it fast and take whatever's in the pot ASAP, even if it's just the blinds.

With a small hand, you need to be ready to bet it big and scare your opposition out of the pot, at the first sign of danger. Danger includes "any flop". When you have a small hand, bet enough that your opponent must make an unprofitable bet. Then take that pot home, or walk away from it.

Again, let me reiterate that: if you're playing a small hand, and someone raises you, they probably have a big hand. Walk away. Walk away. Win early, or walk away.