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Poker Articles |
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Pot Odds |
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Learning how to use pot
odds puts an incredibly
useful weapon in your
poker arsenal. This
basic concept is
fundamental to determine
whether or not you will
become a winning or
losing poker player. |
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At first glance it may
seem complex, but the
aim is to explain how
pot odds work and how to
effectively utilize them
in your game. |
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First of all, what are
Pot Odds? |
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Pot Odds involve the use
of odds or the
likelihood of winning,
when on a drawing hand
deciding to fold, call a
bet or a raise. This is
a common situation in
Poker, especially in the
game of Texas Hold’em,
so it will prove to be
very useful to know when
you should call or fold
with drawing hands when
facing a bet. |
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A familiar situation you
will find yourself in
Texas Hold’em is holding
2 cards of the same suit
with another 2 cards of
that suit on the flop.
In poker this is called
a flush draw or
sometimes referred to as
a ‘four flush’. We will
use this as an example
to learn the use of pot
odds. |
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Ratio Method |
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You Hold |
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Flop |
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If there are two people
left in the pot, you and
your opponent. There is
$80 in the pot and your
opponent bets $20. What
should you do? |
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1. Calculating the ‘Card
Odds' |
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First of all we need to
find out how likely we
are to catch another
heart on the turn. This
can be done in many
ways, but the most
popular way is to find
the ratio of cards in
the deck that we don’t
want against cards we do
want. |
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There are 5
cards in
this hand
that we
know, our 2
hole cards
and the 3
cards on the
flop. |
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This leaves
us with 47
cards in the
deck that we
do not know. |
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Out of those
47 there are
9 cards that
will make
our flush
and 38 that
will not. |
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If we put
this into a
ratio it
gives us
38:9, or
roughly 4:1. |
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2. Compare with Pot
Odds |
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Now we know that the
odds of hitting a heart
on the next card are
4:1. This means for
every 4 times we don’t
catch a heart, 1 time we
will. Next we have to
calculate the same ratio
of odds using the amount
of money in the pot and
the bet we are facing. |
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Our opponent
has bet $20
into an $80
pot making
it $100. |
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This means
we have to
call $20 to
stand a
chance of
winning
$100. |
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This makes
our odds
$100:$20
which works
out to 5:1
pot odds. |
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Results: |
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Card Odds: 4:1 |
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Pot Odds: 5:1 |
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This means we should
call since the odds we
are getting from the
pot, are bigger than the
odds we will hit our
flush on the next card.
In the long run we will
be winning more money
than we are losing. |
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Remember! You should
only call if the “pot
odds” are greater than
the “card odds”. This is
the probability of
completing your draw. |
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If finding the card odds
by working them out in
your head is too time
consuming which most
beginners will. You can
find them more quickly
by using Odds Charts.
These come in handy if
you print them and refer
to them the next time
you end up with a draw.
There are also poker
software’s which will do
the calculations for
you.
Find out more |
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Percentage Method |
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Pot Odds can also be
calculated using
percentages. Some
players prefer to work
out the odds in
percentages rather than
using the ratio odds.
This time we will use
another example using a
straight draw. |
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You Hold |
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Flop |
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Your opponent bets $30
making the pot $90 in
total. We will find out
whether or not to call
by finding out the pot
odds in percentages. |
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1. Finding the ‘Card
Odds’ |
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To find the chance of
making the straight on
the next card we need to
find the number of outs
(‘outs’ are cards that
will complete the hand
we are trying to make;
in this example we are
trying to make a
straight.). There are 4
fives and 4 tens that
will complete our
straight giving us a
total of 8 outs. Now to
find the percentage
chance of making the
straight we simply need
to double the outs and
add one. |
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8 * 2 = 16 |
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16 + 1 = 17% chance of
making the straight |
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2. Compare with Pot Odds |
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Our opponent has bet $30
making the pot $90. This
means we have to call
$30 to stand a chance of
winning $120, we have to
add our own amount we
will call onto the size
of the pot to find the
total pot size. This
part is very important,
as finding the
percentage of $30 in a
$90 pot will yield
different results than
the percentage of $30 in
a $120 pot. Using basic
mathematics we know that
$30 is 25% of the $120. |
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Results: |
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Card Odds: 17% |
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Pot Odds: 25% |
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As we have already found
out we have 17% chance
of making the straight
on the next card, which
means we should only
call 17% of what is in
the pot. Therefore
because we are being
forced to call 25% to
play on we should fold.
We would be losing money
in the long run if we
called. |
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Remember! You should
only call if the
percentage chance of
making your hand is
greater than the
percentage of the pot
you have to call. |
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The percentage “card
odds” can also be found
in Odds Charts if you
find it easier to use
them instead of working
them out. They are
useful guides, as you
incorporate pot odds
into your game, or if
you have trouble working
out the odds in the
short space of time you
are given to make
decisions whilst playing
online. |
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Evaluation |
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Upon first glance pot
odds may appear
difficult; it is one of
the most basic
applications of
mathematics in the game
of poker. If you base
your drawing decisions
on pot odds, then you
will mathematically be a
winner in the long run,
regardless of whether or
not you win the hand or
not. |
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In addition to deciding
whether or not to call,
pot odds can be used to
influence how much you
should bet to "protect"
your hand. If you
believe your opponent is
drawing to a flush then
you should bet a large
enough sum into the pot
to give your opponents
the wrong odds to call
if you think you have
the best hand. Once
again, regardless of
whether or not your
opponent wins the
particular hand, they
will be losing and you
will be winning in the
long run. |
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Note: The pot odds
examples used in this
guide have been in the
situation where you have
seen the flop and are
waiting to see the turn.
The same mathematics can
be applied for when you
are on the turn waiting
to see the river, as
both odds are almost
exactly the same.
However, you should
remember there will be
one less unknown card
left in the deck when
working out the odds
because you now know
what the turn card is. |
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