Pot Odds
Pot odds is a subject that many people have a difficulty getting to grips with andmany more have difficulty using in a real time game I will try to clear up the confusion surrounding the subject of pot odds and simplify the math that is involved in the calculation of them by providing a table of out percentages.
Pot odds are a key element in playing successful and profitable poker and the concept behind pot odds is not that complicated it is simply the relationship between the size of the bet or call compared to the size of the pot for example if you were to place a $10 bet into a $50 pot you would be getting pot odds of 5:1
You always have to be aware of the size of the pot when trying to calculate pot odds this is especially true pre flop, if you try to play weaker hands such as suited connectors and small pocket pairs, you need to ensure that the pot is big enough to allow you to see a flop and try to hit your hand, it is a risk/reward ration, if you run the risk of loosing a hand you need to make sure The reward is big enough to make the risk affordable.
To have good enough pot odds to make a call on a hand, you need to the return on your bet to be grater than you % chance you feel you have of winning your hand for example if you have a flush draw on the flop in hold’em and you put your opponent on top pair you will have nine cards referred to as “outs” that will allow you to hit a flush after, after you have already flopped a four flush as the table below indicates these nine outs give you a 35% chance of hitting your flush meaning that you odds or you hitting are 2:1 against. Therefore to make a potential call profitable and worth while you need to be gaining pots odds of at least or greater than 2:1
As a rule of thumb every out gives you a 4% chance of hitting a card on the turn and river there are some specific out for poker that are very common these are
Flush draws with 2 over cards or a straight flush draw - 15 outs
Flush draw with one over card - 12 outs
Flush draw - 9 outs
open - ended straight draw - 8 outs
two overcards - 6outs
This is a table of drawing out from a deck of 47 unseen cards.
| Number of outs | % Of hitting card with turn and river still to come |
|---|---|
1 |
4.3 |
2 |
8.4 |
3 |
12.5 |
4 |
16.5 |
5 |
20.4 |
6 |
24.1 |
7 |
27.8 |
8 |
31.5 |
9 |
35.0 |
10 |
38.4 |
11 |
41.7 |
12 |
45.0 |
13 |
48.1 |
14 |
51.2 |
15 |
54.1 |
16 |
57.0 |
17 |
59.8 |
18 |
62.4 |
19 |
65.0 |
20 |
67.5 |
I see many people hang onto unprofitable draws that are very long shots this can be a major factor that consistently drains your Bankroll and often is one of the key elements that separates a winning profitable player, from a player who catches the occasional big win but tends to have a consistently dwindling bankroll I hope this article will help you make better, more informed decisions on which draws are worth chasing and which are worth laying down
Pot odds is also essential when players try to Bluff many players do not consider the importance of pot odds while they bluff but the amount of times I have seen players try to make a bluff into small blinds or a small pot, creates a very high risk for a relatively small reward a good bluff also needs pot odds to become success full
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