| Pot
odds is a very simple tool
in playing poker and yet
one of the fundamentals of
the game. Basically it’s
a way for you to compare
your outs to the odds of
making
your hand to determine if
you should call the bet
in
front of you. If your pot
odds are greater than the
odds at completing the bet then
you should
call.
If the opposite
holds true than it means
you should be folding.
Most
understand
what the concept means
but
have very little idea
how
to calculate pot odds.
Calculating
pot odds
can seem
confusing
but it
really
doesn’t
have
to be.
To do
this
we’ll
use an
example.
You are
playing
a $2/$4
Holdem
game
with
Q9 against
two players.
The flop
brings
you a
straight
draw
showing
T-J-6
and your
opponent
bets
$20 into
a pot
of $40.
The other
player
calls
and now
it is
your
turn
to decide.
The pot
now stands
at $80
and it
will
cost
you $20
to play
for a
chance
at the
$80 pot.
20/80
would
give
you 4:1
odds
meaning
you would
win 4
x more
than
what
you will
be putting
in. Sounds
great
doesn’t
it. It
would
be if
that
was the
only
basis
for making
the call.
We now
need
to consider
our odds
of completing
our hand.
We
know
that
our hand
needs
any
8 or
any K
to complete
our
straight
which
means
we have
a total
of 8
outs.
There
are
52 cards
in the
deck
and
so far
we have
seen
5 of
them,
the
two in
our hand
and
the 3
on board.
We also
know
that
the
deck
only
contains
43 cards
left
after
subtracting
our
hand,
our
opponent’s
cards
and the
community
cards.
This
leaves
us with
a ratio
of 8/43
(our
8 outs
against
43 cards
in the
deck).
This
would
calculate
to 5:1
odds
of completing
our hand
meaning
for every
five
times
we play
it we
will
win at
least
once.
Since
our odds
to complete
our hand
(5:1)
are higher
than
the actual
pot odds
(4:1)
you should
be folding
since
you will
ultimately
lose
more
money
in the
long
run by
calling
this
hand.
Now
say we
flip
this
a bit
and change
the bets.
Your
opponent
instead
bets
$10 into
a $40
pot with
a call
from
the other
player
resulting
in a
total
pot equalling
$60.
Your
odds
of completing
your
hand
have
not changed,
still
giving
you 5:1
odds.
What
has changed
is the
pot ratio,
which
now stands
at $10/$60
meaning
you will
need
to risk
$10 to
win $60
giving
you 6:1
odds.
This
would
make
a great
call
since
you will
win more
money
based
on your
card
outs
and pot
outs. |
