What are pot odds in poker?
Definition: Pot odds in poker (Pot Odds) are the ratio of a player’s bet to the size of the pot. This is called pot odds because it is the comparative odds between
the bet you must pay to have the possibility of winning the pot.
The size of the pot including your opponent's bet.Pot odds = Pot size divided by bet size
CP = Pot: Bet
You still don’t understand? We will take an example.
Example 1
After preflop action, the pot size is $60. Your opponent bets $30. Pot size is now $90
CP = Pot: Bet
PC = $90: $30
PC = 3:1
This means odds of 3 to 1.
You can convert this ratio to a percentage. In this specific case, you will have to pay $30 for a pot that will be $120 after your call. 30/120 = 25%
Example 2
After preflop action, the pot size is $75. Your opponent bets $25. Pot size is now $100
CP = Pot: Bet
PC = $100: $25
CP = 4:1
This means odds of 4 to 1.
Ratio to percentage conversion: 20% ($25 for 125)
Example 3
After preflop action, the pot size is $80. Your opponent bets $20. Pot size is now $100
CP = Pot: Bet
PC = $100: $20
PC = 5:1
This means odds of 5 to 1.
Ratio to percentage conversion: 16.6% ($20 for $120)
Example 4
After preflop action, the pot size is $100. Your opponent bets $100. Pot size is now $200
CP = Pot: Bet
PC = $200: $100
PC = 2:1
This means odds of 2 to 1.
Ratio to percentage conversion: 33% ($100 for $300)
Thank you, but don’t get carried away my boy, it’s not quite over. You will thank me later.
I am at draw. I know my outs and I know how to calculate pot odds. and now, what do I do?
You will now use the pot odds to calculate whether your decision to call your draw or not is mathematically correct. This is one of the most important aspects in poker. To raise your level of play and take it to the next level, you will have to incorporate the mathematical aspect of the game as a decision-making tool. To go from a player who plays on instinct “yeah if you want I felt it”, to a player who understands why he pays his draw or not.
It will also make you tear your hair out when you hear comments at the table “you understand, I have to pay, you did not put enough. and you will realize that the guy has absolutely no understanding of the mathematics of poker and that he is in the category of clowns or gamblers.
We come to the point
You know your number of outs and the % chance of hitting one.
You know the pot odds and its conversion in %By relating these two values, you will be able to define whether or not the pot odds are in your favor to call your draw.
If you have 33% equity (2 to 1), you will need to hit your card 1 out of 3 times to break even, or 33% of the time on average.
If the chance of hitting your card is greater than 33%, you will win money in the long run.
Conversely, if the chance of hitting your card is less than 33%, you will lose money in the long run.
Profitable situation versus unfavorable situation
"David, you're talking to me in Latin, I didn't get it"But stop whining, trust me, I’ll translate.
Profitable situation
The pot odds are 3:1, or 25%. This pot odds tells us that we will need to hit our out 25% of the time to break even.
The probability of hitting one of your outs is 2:1, or 33%. This percentage tells us that we will hit our out 33% of the time.
The call is therefore profitable. The rating is favorable to you saddle.
Unfavorable situation
The pot odds are 2:1, or 33%. This pot odds tells us that we will need to hit our out 33% of the time to break even.
The probability of hitting one of your outs is 3:1, or 25%. This percentage tells us that we will hit our out 25% of the time.
You will lose money by deciding to pay. The rating is unfavorable to you.
Put into practice
We are now going to put into practice what we have just seen through a series of problems. We know how to calculate pot odds, let’s see if the odds are in your favor or not.
Problem 1
Blinds $50-$100 | Our $10,000 stack
Paul bet $250 in middle position. Everyone slept. We are on the button with 7♠8♠. We pay.
Small and big blinds fold. So the pot size is $50 (SB) + $100 (BB) + $250 (Paul) + $250 (Us) = $650
Flop: 5♠6♦A♥
Paul bets $350 to increase the size of the pot to $1,000. Is it profitable for us to pay or not?
We put things flat by summarizing
Our hand: 7♠8♠ The flop: 5♠6♦A♥. So we have a straight draw.
This means that we have 8 outs: 4♠4♦4♥4♣9♠9♦9♥9♣
We have 8 outs and 2 chances (turn + river) to hit our outs. We have learned to calculate the probability of hitting our outs when the action is on the flop. The simplified formula was to multiply our number of outs by 4. In our case that interests us, the calculation to be made is therefore 8×4 = 32. We have a 32% chance of hitting one of our outs of here the river.
We now know our % to hit one of our outs. We can calculate the pot odds.
CP = Pot: Bet
PC = $1000: $350
PC = 2.86:1
CP = $350 for $1350 = 25.9%
We now know the pot odds (25.9%) and the % chance of hitting our out (32%).
Answer to problem 1
The pot odds are 2.86:1, or 25.9%. This pot odds tells us that we will need to hit our out 25.9% of the time to break even.
The probability of hitting one of our outs is 32%. This percentage tells us that we will hit our out 32% of the time.
We will make money by deciding to pay. The rating is favorable to us.
Chips are not Money (Tournaments, 2/3)
Poker is Always Poker (Tournaments, 3/3)
There’s Crowd: Multiplayer Games
Putting It All Together: Using Math to Improve the Game