The Main Draws and Odds

Pot odds are the ratio of what you can potentially win to what you have to pay.

A very simplified example to understand the mechanics is this:

If Your chances of winning are 1:2, and it costs $1 to win $3, You do this 3 times, 1 time you will win $3, and 2 times you will lose $1. So this is obviously profitable (3 - 2 = 1) A more common example is this: lets say it is a $1/$2 game and it is on the flop and you have to call $1, now lets say that the pot at this point is $5. The pot odds would be 5:1. Now let's say that you have a 4 flush on this flop, the odds of hitting the flush is about 4.22 : 1. [[[you have 9 cards of the same suit left so you have (47 - 9) (cards left in the deck that you will loose with) / 9 = 4.22 (You will hit the flush on the turn 9/47 times, meaning 19% of the time but that has nothing to do with the pot odds) 9 cards you win, 38 cards you lose, so 38 : 9]]] To calculate odds just find out how many cards you can win with, how many cards you lose with, how much you will have to pay, and how much you will win. On the turn there is 46 cards left in the deck, so 10 outs would give you 3.6 : 1 odds. (46 - 10 : 10).

5/1 > 4.22/1 You want the ratio of the pot : $ to call to be greater than the ratio of losing : winning This might seem complicated at first, but it really isn't once you get a hold of it.

You should not worry too much about Pot Odds, in fact counting them is not even that important. What's important is to understand the implied odds. Imagine that you do hit your flush, you aren't going to just win what was in the pot on the flop, You are going to win turn bets and hopefully some river bets as well.

Here are some simplified odds that you should memorize:

(15 outs) straight flush draw = it doesn't matter, you have so many outs that if there are 2 other players in you can raise/bet it for value.

Here are some simplified odds that you should memorize:

(15 outs) straight flush draw = it doesn't matter, you have so many outs that if there are 2 other players in you can raise/bet it for value.

(9 outs) four flush = 4:1 for 1 card, 2:1 for both (you should chase these almost 100% of the time)

(8 outs) open ended straight = 4:1 for 1 card, 2:1 for both (Almost always chase open ended straight draws too unless a flush draw hits and aggression is shown)

(4 outs) inside straight = 11:1, I've never used the odd for both cards, the flop bet is small enough that many times you can get these implied odds. Only chase inside straights A) if you are sure you can call the bet without it being raised, B) if there is no flush draw and C) if you hit you will have the nut straight and not the losing end of it.

Some other draws can be a mixture, such as any pair and an inside straight draw (9 outs), or any pair and an overcard along with a backdoor flush draw (7 outs). A backdoor flush draw can count as 2 outs.

Another important concept is the possibility of hitting and still not winning, you have to be very careful with this. Will my 2nd pair give someone a straight? Do 2 of my open ended straight draw outs give someone a flush? Because of this possibility add a little bit to the odds you need to call with.