PokerWorks

There are several key elements to playing poker successfully, both online and in your card room. One of these elements is pot odds. But, what are pot odds and how are they calculated?

Pot odds are used to compare the odds of completing a hand to the potential winnings. What appears to be a poor call by a player will actually be the result of good pot odds placed in his or her favour, making the call almost mandatory. For example:

If there is $50 in the pot and you have to call a $2 bet to see the river, you have pot odds of 25/1. These are huge odds and with any kind of drawing hand, any pair, or maybe even two over cards, you should probably call. As you are risking very little for what could be a large gain. Of course, if you have reached the turn stage of the hand and there is $50 in the pot, you would of already placed a bet or bets into this hand, so some of the $50 belongs to you. Lets say $10, for examples sake. This means your $2 call is looking at a potential gain of $40, as the other $10 in the pot was yours before the hand began.

Lets take a look at another example which is more likely to occur:
You are in the big blind in a $2/$4 No Limit Hold'em game. The action is 10 handed and the player to act first raises to $8. This in turn is called by 2 other players before reaching the small blind. He throws in $7 to call. What pot odds are you getting for your call here?

$8 + $8 + $8 + $1(small blind) + $7(small blind call) + $2(your already posted big blind). A total of $34 is already in the pot, pre-flop. It's $6 more for you to play.

34 / 6 = 5.66 – Your call would give you pot odds of just over 5 and a half to 1.

Whilst it makes sense to fold poor cards, with such high odds for your call, you are getting good value for your bet. Any two reasonable cards could be worth sticking with here, suited connectors especially.

You can also use pot odds to your advantage in a different way, by offering good odds to your opponent. Lets assume you've hit a full house on a flop. The flop contains two cards of the same suit. Most players will check here to trap their opponents, more experience opponents will realise this and not fall into the trap. So making small bets on the flop and turn could be a good option. Especially if your opponent(s) has made a flush draw. If the your small bets are called on flop and turn and the river is the third card of the same suit, you may well of trapped your opponent into hitting his flush, by offering him good pot odds with your small bets early on. You could bet out and hope he raises or check-raise at this stage, assuming you're confident that he has made his flush.

Try and use pot odds to your advantage, remember to play wisely though. There is little point in calling river bets when you know you are beaten, just because they offer good odds.