Even though maths is an important part of being a successful poker player, many players are extremely intimidated by the idea that they have to do a little calculating now and then. This is definitely a hesitation that everyone reading this will need to confront and conquer sooner rather than later so that they can start to introduce pot odds into their decision-making.
Pot odds uses basic maths to decide whether or not it is correct to stay involved in a hand.
Work out How Many Outs You Have
The first step in calculating pot odds is to figure out how many ‘outs’ you have. Outs are how many unseen cards can help you win the pot.
Here is a hand to use as an example:
Blinds: $.50-$1.00
You have: Ac-Qd in last position
Pre-flop: Six players call for a total pot of $6.00
The Flop: K-Q-6 (all clubs)
Action: The player first to act bets $1.00, two players call, two fold, and the action moves to you. Total amount of money in the pot is $9.00 ($6.00 from the pre-flop, $3.00 from the flop).
You have middle pair (queens) and a flush draw with your ace of clubs. You can expect that at least one player has a king. Your assumption is that you will be ahead in the hand if another queen or club comes on the turn, or if you catch an ace.
So let’s count up how many outs you have and remember that you have to go ahead and rule out the possibility of your opponents having one of the cards you need, as you simply do not know if they do and therefore cannot factor that into the equation. With this in mind there are two queens, three aces, and nine clubs theoretically left in the deck, for a total of 14 outs (2+3+9).
Use this information to calculate the pot odds by comparing your chances of catching a card you need with how much money is in the pot.
Use Your Outs To Determine Pot Odds
Now it is time to figure out the pot odds. There are 52 cards in a deck and at this point in the hand you have seen what five of those cards are (your two hole cards and the three cards on the flop), leaving 47 unseen cards (52 minus 5).
This means that 14 of the remaining 47 cards will help you improve your hand and 33 will not, giving you odds of roughly 2.4 to 1 (33 divided by 14).
You won’t need to arrive at this exact number in your head; all you will need to know is roughly what the odds are.
In order for you to make a correct call, the amount in the pot that you can win must be at least 2.4 times the amount that you must call. In this instance where an opponent has bet $1.00 into you, the pot must have a minimum of $2.40 for it to be a mathematically good decision to call. Since there is already $9.00 in the pot, the pot odds are heavily in your favour and you can call with confidence.
Keep Recalculating
If the turn ends up not helping your hand, you just need to do the same calculation again while making adjustments (there is now another card that has been revealed, lowering the number of cards that will not help your hand to 32). Take any new bets and calls into consideration and proceed exactly as you did before, just with a new total amount in the pot.
Once you have gotten the hang of these simple math calculations and combine them with other tips on how to maximize your profits in a session (Maximizing Your Profits per Session – Intermediate) you will be well on your way to playing strong maths-based poker.
Key Points
• Determine your number of outs based on how many cards are left that can improve your hand.
• Use this information to calculate the pot odds by comparing your chances of catching a card you need with how much money is in the pot.
• Repeat as needed on additional streets.
Chris
- Chris Laquinta is a magazine editor, content specialist and poker fanatic with 10+ years writing experience and over 1,500 published articles. Chris is a naitive of Southern California, where he spent his entire life learning gaming concepts and theories from relatives that had been former professional gamblers. He currently resides in Torrance, CA where he works as a professional content writer and part-time SNG professional.
