[Aviynw]

Hi, I'm trying to lend a helping hand to those who don't know what pot odds are and how to effectively use them. A know a number of poker players who I would consider moderate players but don't "really" know what pot odds are. Pot odds are an essential part to any advanced poker player's stradegy. Instead of me trying to explain it myself, I searched google for what I thought was the most simple explanation, but feel free to post here if you still have questions; I will, and I'm sure others will try to help you.

Heres the site with the explanation...

http://poker.oddschecker.com/ukinter...ategy_pot-odds

Enjoy!

P.S. Maybe there should be a seperate topic for "tips," just a thought,

[Aviynw]

LOL, oops, I just saw there was a "tips and strategies" section, sorry for the misplaced post. I will know for next time.

[donvic]

here's one that´s got me stumped.
on the flop you have a set.
what are the odds of a full:

1. for the river and turn
2. for just the river

am wondering how/when to call
when op. has hit a flush.
thanks

donvic

[xmanpike]

along with pot odds you should know your percentage of winning the hand if you think you are behind. A somewhat accurate and simple way to do this is to count your outs first. so say you have an outside straight draw, you have 8 outs. now multiply by 2. that gives you a 16% chance to hit that card n the river, if you are on the turn double that, you have about 32%. By no means is this dead on, but it is fairly close and will give you a good idea about what your chances are.

[Texas72]

donvic, you might be interested in the links I posted here.

[Rubyredbingo]

sometimes knowing just a little pot odds is dangerous because implied odds can often be used to justify to yourself making bad calls when you are drawing to 3 or 4 outs in the deck. referring to no limit games, i usually play a style such that i can raise preflop, narrow the hand down to 1 or 2 other players, and take control of the momentum of a hand. it is true that the greater understanding of the probabilities you have the greater insight you can bring to a hand, however i feel that playing based totally or even heavily on pot odds can be counterproductive, especially compared to some game strategy theories that can be applied so that you do not try to always achieve the best investment for your chips in terms of call or bet to possible return, and rather focus on a coherent long term strategy in which you seek to establish a table image, and then use that image in combination with varied play to play optimal hands in which your opponent finds it hard to read you and is calculating his pot odds because he cant put you on a hand.

[pookyman]

In NL poker pot odds are useless most of the time. They are only helpful in small bet call situations. When its an all in bet, throw the calculations away. Either you think you have the best hand or not. If you are calling on a draw, except in rare situations, you are at a disadvantage. This goes more so if the flop is down.

[elon05]

Rough and simple:

Each card you need to make your hand has about a 2% change of appearing. (2% = 1 out of 50, and 52 cards in deck so close enough)
Count the cards that help you, multiply by 2 and get a percentage. This is your chance to hit your hand. If you're at the flop you have turn and river to come, double that number since you have 2 chances.

Now you have a percentage chance to hit - flip that into an odds number. you know, 10% is 1 in 10 or 9 to 1. 32% is roughly a third so 1 in 3 or 2 to 1.

Say you need one of 10 cards to make your hand on the river. Thats 20%, 1 in 5 or 4 to 1. If there is 40 chips in the pot and you have to call a 10 chip bet, you are getting 4 to 1 on your bet so you have 'pot odds' to call. In this case you're 4-1 to make your hand and are getting 4-1 on your bet, so your exactly even. Ideally you want to be playing a 4-1 hand and getting more than 4-1 on your bet.

Some easy easy ones to remember: open ended straight draws and 4 flushes on the flop both have roughly a 2-1 chance of completing. So if there are 400 chips in the pot and someone bets 100, then you can call the 100 for a chance to win the 400+100=500 and be getting 5-1 pot odds on your 2-1 call, great! But if someone bets 600, then you would only be getting 2.5-1 so should fold.

Pot odds = the ratio of what you have to call to what is already in the pot. Compare that to your chance of making the hand and away you go.

Hope that helps a little.

[Lytspeed]

Thats a good, concise method of calculating ballpark pot odds, Elon. Thanks!

[ssmooth8]

Pot odds is great to be in but theres a great chance that just because you catch top pair you may be in for a big chunk of your chips. Due to the fact that there are so many players in the hand and you're due to get outdrawn on by either a straight, flush, or 2 pair. You never know. I rather be in pots with only a few players.