Expected return is the measure of how much you expect to make by playing a particular starting hand or taking a specific action, such as calling. At the beginning of a hand it tends to be measured abstractly, such as high or low, whereas specific actions can be calculated with expected value.

The greatest consideration to playing any hand is whether the expected return is positive or negative. A positive return indicates that you will usually make money with the hand. This is generally not a subjective criteria and depends greatly on the other players at the table.