There are times at the table where you may notice a player trying to count up how much money is in the pot. At other times, you may hear a player saying something like “I had pot odds to call.” What do we mean by pot odds, and how do they affect our play?

Sizing Up Your Investment Opportunities

Pot odds are quite simply the amount of money the pot is offering you versus the amount you are being asked to put into the pot. If you are required to put in a bet of $6 to continue with a hand, and the pot has $36 in it already, you are being offered 36 to 6, or 6 to 1 pot odds. What this means is that if you win this pot more than one time for every six times you don’t, you are making a profitable bet.

How does this concept apply during a game? Well let’s say you have flopped a flush draw. You have 8c, 9c and the flop is Kc, Jc, 3h. Someone makes a bet. Should you call? Your odds of making the flush are roughly four-to-one. Therefore if you will win more than four times the amount of the bet you are being asked to put in, this is a profitable call. If the pot is offering you less than that, you should fold. For example, in a $3/$6 game, you simply flat call the big blind. The small blind and big blind both call. There is now $12 in the pot, the single bet from each of the three players (there may actually be slightly less, if you are in a casino, where a rake, or casino share, is being extracted from the pot). Now you flop your flush draw. The small blind bets, and the big blind folds. There is now $15 in the pot. Since you can expect to win this pot about one time out of five, you need to make more than five bets worth when you win for this call to be profitable. Over the next five times you call this bet, you will invest $15 (Your $3 bet times five). The one time you win, you will win a pot worth $18 (the $15 in there now plus the $3 you put in by calling). In this case, the pot is laying you the correct odds to call.

Taking Implied Odds Into Consideration

Although this seems only a marginally good play, keep in mind that if you hit your flush, your opponent may still call one or two more bets. This is what we mean by implied odds. Implied odds are the pot odds adjusted for additional bets you expect to make on future streets if you make your hand. If you have a realistic expectation that you will win additional bets, you can call draws more often.

When The Odds Are Inadequate

Let’s say that in the original example, after your flush draw flops, the small blind bets and the big blind raises. Now it will cost you $6 to win an $18 pot. Since you need four to one odds to make this call correct, and you are only getting 18 to six, or three to one odds, it would be incorrect to call here. You may believe if you hit your hand you will win more bets and so with the implied odds this call is correct, but you need to be really sure that your opponents won’t fold to a bet if a flush card hits for this to be profitable. Also keep in mind that you cannot be sure whether or not the original bettor will re-raise.

What about a draw with fewer outs? Let’s say you have 9, T and the flop comes 3, 8, Q. It is now likely that the only card that will make you a winner is one of the four remaining Js. Your odds of that card coming out are 11 to one. Unless there are an inordinate number of people playing the hand, and they will continue to play the hand if your J comes, it is highly unprofitable for you to put in a bet to try and catch your straight.

Counting On Winning

Pot odds and implied odds are key mathematical concepts for success in Hold`em. Poker is a game of probability, and if you do not understand the probabilities and their relationship to how you should bet, you cannot be successful in poker. Take time to learn the odds of hitting certain hands and practice calculating pot odds during games. Mastering this aspect of poker is crucial if you want to be a winning player. 

Provided by PokerListings.com, bringing you the best poker deals!