Pot Odds is a ratio of calculating how
much money is already in a pot compared to the amount of
money you have to put in to remain in a hand. A simple
example would be that you are playing online poker and in a
given hand the pot is currently $150. The action is to you
and you must put $15 to remain in the hand. So the pot is
$150 and you must put $15 to stay in the hand, your pot odds
are therefore 150 to 15 or 10 to 1.
The reason for calculating pot odds is comparing those odds
to the odds of bettering your hand in a given situation.
Let’s look an example to clarify:
You have AQ of clubs and the turn came with 2 clubs. This
gives you the possible nut flush draw. Simple calculations
tell you the odds of hitting your flush on the last card is
roughly 5 to 1 (46 cards remaining and 9 more clubs). Using
the above hand situation and pot odds of 10 to 1, this
situation makes for an easy call as you’ll be getting 10 to
1 on your money with a 5 to 1 chance of making your hand.
At all times you want to compare the pot odds with the odds
of making or bettering your hand. If you ever wondered what
those players on TV or better players online take so long to
make their play, part of it is because they are calculating
the pot odds.
On a more detailed level there is something referred to as
implied odds as well which involves potential future odds
given the hand scenario and players at the table. That is
something we’ll cover in the near future. For now getting
used to calculating basic pot odds is more than enough.
