Pot Odds

Calculating Pot Odds is one of the most important skills that a poker player needs to develop. It is not very difficult so in a short period of time you should be able to do this quickly and easily. Successful and wining poker players look at their poker career as one long session of poker. They do not look at a winning or losing evening or session as more than just a part of the long term. The basic principle is that if you play so that the odds are in your favor, in the long run you will be a winner. We are looking at the basic principal of poker when we talk about odds. Odds are ratios and we convert odds to and from probabilities. By converting odds to probabilities we make them easier to work with. We take the ratio of the two numbers, the size of the pot and the cost of the call. We convert these two numbers to an equivalent probability by adding the two numbers together and then dividing the cost of the call by that sum. To use an example for illustration purposes we can take a pot that is $30 and the cost of a call that is $10. The pot odds in this situation are 30:10, or when simplified, 3 to 1. Now to get to the probability we add the $30 that is in the pot to the $10 that is the cost of the call and get a sum of $40. We then divide the cost of the call, $10, by the sum of $40 and wind up with ¼ or 25 %. There is one more step to convert this probability to the equivalent odds. To convert ¼ or 25 % we subtract 1 from 4 to get a remainder of 3 or 25 from 100 to get a remainder of 75. Then we divide 3 by 1, or 75 by 25 and end up with exactly 3 to 1.

Shortcut to the Odds of making your hand

There is a very quick way of estimating the odds of making your hand. Although it is not as precise it is good enough to help you make an informed decision. First you figure out how many outs that you have. Then on the turn you multiply the number of outs by 4 and on the river you multiply the number of outs by 2. This will give you a good estimate of your chances of making a hand.

Pot Odds

Pot Odds are the comparison of the amount of money in the pot, the amount of money that you need to put in to the pot in order to draw to make your hand, and the odds of making your hand.

Implied Pot Odds

Implied Pot Odds are similar to Pot Odds except instead of using the amount of money that is in the pot at the moment, you use the amount of money that is presently in the pot plus the amount of money that you believe will be put in to the pot should you make your hand.

Reverse Implied Odds

Reverse Implied Odds are the amount of money that you estimate that you will lose if you do make your hand but it is not good enough to win.

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