Do you ever feel like you’re in over your head when playing poker? Like the other players at the table have some sort of hidden advantage that you can’t seem to overcome? If so, don’t worry – you’re not alone. Learning how to calculate pot odds is one of the most important skills a poker player can possess. This post will teach you how to do just that!
What Are Pot Odds?
Pot odds are a very important concept in poker that refers to the ratio of the size of the pot to the amount of money you need to put in the pot to keep playing. For example, if the pot is $100 and you need to put in $10 to stay in the hand, your pot odds are 10-to-1.
Pot odds are important because they can help you determine whether or not it is mathematically correct for you to call or fold based on the probability of making your hand. In tournaments like the World Series of Poker, pot odds are often what separates the winners from the losers.
For example, if you have a flush draw and there are two more cards of your suit remaining, you have a 34% chance of making your hand. If the pot is $100 and it costs you $10 to call, then your pot odds are 10-to-1.
In this case, it is correct for you to call because your pot odds are better than your actual odds of making your hand. However, if the pot is only $50 and it costs you $10 to call, then your pot odds are 5-to-1 and it is not correct for you to call because your actual odds of making your hand are better than your pot odds. So, as you can see, pot odds are a very important concept that can help you make mathematically correct decisions at the poker table.
Steps for Calculating Pot Odds
Now that you know what pot odds are and why they’re important, let’s take a look at how to calculate them in 2 main steps:
First, you need to determine the size of the pot. To do this, simply add up all of the money that has been bet on this particular hand, including any money that has been put in the pot pre-flop.
Second, you need to determine how much money you need to put in the pot to keep playing. If you are the first player to act, this will usually be the amount of the big blind. If you are not the first player to act, this will usually be the amount of the last bet or raise.
Once you have determined the size of the pot and the amount of money you need to put in the pot, you can calculate your pot odds by dividing the size of the pot by the amount of money you need to put in the pot. For example, if the pot is $100 and you need to put in $20 to keep playing, your pot odds are 100-to-20, or five-to-one.
You can also express pot odds as a percentage by taking the number of outs you have and multiplying it by two. In the above example, you would have four outs (two of your suit minus the two cards that have already been dealt) so your pot odds would be eight percent.
Pot Odds in Three-card Poker
Now that you know how to calculate pot odds, let’s take a look at an example of how they can be used in a real-world situation.
Suppose you are playing three-card poker and you are dealt a hand of Q?, J?, and T?. The flop comes down as A?, K?, and Q?, giving you a pair of queens.
At this point, you have two options: you can either check or bet. If you check, you will give up your chance to win the pot and will have to wait to see if the turn or river gives you a better hand. If you bet, you will put money in the pot and try to win it.
Using Pot Odds Preflop
This process also applies to tournament hands, but we will focus on cash game examples. You can find the pot odds for a tournament hand by adding up all of the chips in the pot and dividing it by the amount of your raise.
For example, if the pot is $100 and you raise it to $200, your pot odds are 100-to-200 or one-half or 50%.
You can also use pot odds to make decisions preflop. For example, if you are in a cash game and the pot is $100 and someone raises to $200, you can call if you have a hand that has at least 50% equity against their range.
This means that if you were to play the hand 100 times, you would expect to win at least 50 of those times. If you have a hand that has less than 50% equity, you should fold because the pot odds are not in your favor.
Final Words
To sum it up, pot odds are a very important concept that you need to understand if you want to be a winning poker player. By understanding pot odds, you can make mathematically correct decisions that will help you win money in the long run. Be sure to keep this concept in mind the next time you are playing poker.
