Q: I can never make my mind up whether to check when I have a premium hand or to bet out. What are your thoughts on this?

A: Personally, I would always tend to bet out. These days if you are relatively inexperienced and you begin to slow-play, your opponents will pick up on it fairly quickly and you’ll get fewer bets into what is essentially going to be your pot if all goes as you suspect.

Obviously if you have any kind of a reputation for bluffing you’re in a wonderful position if you land a nut hand. You can bet out and have an excellent chance of getting paid off big time, as your opposition are likely to think you’re tugging their string.If you are getting behind your big cards and opponents re-raise to protect their hands you can obviously make a lot of money out of that situation too. Ninety nine percent of the time I’d choose betting out over slow-playing.