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Pot Odds |
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The word “pot odds”
gives a headache to some
players. Most of them
recall hearing that
they're important, may
read an article, don't
understand it
immediately and
eventually give up.
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Risk and reward
– that's all
If you're talking about
stakes it's all about
risk/wager and
reward/win. Poker is a
game that lives of
stakes. In order to
become a successful
player you only have to
stake cleverly and to
have positive
expectation. If you
invest 10 euros in a
pot, you expect to get
more back than that.
Otherwise this stake
makes no sense. Every
time you should consider
what you have to risk
and what you could
possibly win (by the way
not only at the poker
table...). |
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Risk and reward
at the table
Your goal in poker is to
win the pot. This pot
consists of bets. Just
imagine some situations
during a hand. Your
opponent bets on the
river and you consider
either to call or to
fold. Or you raise a bet
on the turn or you call
a raise on the flop.
In all those situations
you're investing chips.
And why are you
investing chips?
Exactly! To win the pot.
The chips you invest are
the risk, your wager and
the pot you want to win
is the reward. That's
it. |
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The feared pot
odds
Invested chips = risk
and pot = reward.
Doesn't it sound easy?
Pot odds are found on
this risk/reward ratio.
It's nothing more than
that. |
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If you risk 100 euros to
win 100 euros, the ratio
is 1:1
If you risk 500 euros to
win 100 euros, the ratio
is 5:1
Vice versa: if you risk
100 euros to win 500
euros the ratio is 5:1,
just reversed.
Pot Odds are exactly
like this ratio. What do
I have to risk to win
what? |
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Pot odds in
praxis
There are 500 in the pot
and your opponent bets
500. You contemplate a
call. What are the pot
odds? There are already
500 in the pot and your
opponent puts another
500 in it. You can't win
just 500, but 500 + 500
= 1000. Your opponent's
bet is also part of your
potential winnings. |
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In order to call his bet
you have to stake 500.
This amount is your
risk, the 1000 your
reward. The ratio is
1000 / 500, or short
2:1. Thus the pot odds
are 2:1. |
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Supposing you're sitting
on the button and
everybody is folding to
you. The blinds are
10/20 and you think
about stealing the
blinds. Your potential
gain is 10 + 20 (both
blinds) and you risk a
single raise of about
60. The pot odds for
this attempt are 30:60,
or 1:2. |
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Pot odds are absolutely
essential. But there's
another important part
of the game called “the
odds”. You won't succeed
by knowing only the pot
odds. You also have to
consider your odds to
play poker successfully.
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