Pot Odds Table

How Odds Work and 'The Long Shot' Let's say you're betting on a horse race and are given odds of 'seven to one', it will be written '7:1'. Why Odds Matter To any good Texas Holdem players these odds come naturally. They may not know the exact percentage but they instinctively know their odds. Referencing this table is a great way to understand your percentages if you are a new player or if you want to calculate your pot odds.

So, what are Pot Odds?

In poker, pot odds are the ratio between the size of the pot, including bets made in the current round, and the cost of a call to try to win the pot. For example, if there are 10$ in the pot, and your opponent bets 5$, you need to pay 5$ to potentially win 15$. Therefore, your pot odds are 3 to 1.

“Pot odds” is a great tool that many top poker players use when they are facing a decision. By comparing pot odds to the probability of winning the hand, one can deduct if calling is profitable or not. So, it works like expected value, helping you make the right choice, but reduces the necessary calculations.

When faced with a bet, to calculate your pot odds, you only need to compare the money that you will gain if you win the hand, the current pot including your opponent’s bet, to the money required to make the call. Then, to choose the right course of action, you must compare these pot odds to your estimation of the odds against you winning the hand.

If the pot odds are higher than the odds against you winning the hand, it means that when you win, you will be extracting enough of a reward to make the call worth it! On the contrary, if the pot odds are lower than the odds against you winning the hand, the amount that you will be gaining when you win will not make up for the losses. So, in this case, the right action is to fold.

Mathematical Explanation of Pot Odds

Let’s work some simple math to show the reasoning behind using pot odds as a shortcut. If a call has +EV (the same proof applies for -EV), this means that:

EV (Call)= P(win) * $(pot)- P(lose) * $(call) > 0, or

P(win) * $(pot) > P(lose) * $(call), and by deviding by P(win)*$(call)

$(pot) / $(call) > P(lose) / P(win)

So the pot odds (on the left of the equation) are higher than the odds against you winning the hand (on the right).

A Simple Example

We will demonstrate this concept with a relatively simple example.

You are facing two tight opponents. You are holding J♥9♠, and on the turn, the board is 10♥4♠8♣2♦, so you have a straight draw. The pot is 70$, and you have only 20$ more in your stack, while your opponents both have bigger stacks.

The first opponent to act goes all-in and the second opponent calls. So, what should you do?

How to Calculate Pot Odds?

To calculate the pot odds, you must compare the money that you may potentially win to the money that is required for making the call. You may win 110$ (70$ in the pot plus 20$ from each opponent) and need 20$ to make the call. Therefore, the pot is offering you 110 to 20, or 5.5 to 1.

Let’s now calculate the probability against you winning the hand. You have an open-ended straight draw (or up and down, two way). This means that you have two ways of making your straight (hitting a Queen or a seven) or a total of 8 outs. It is clear that one or both players have you beat. You are probably up against some combination of an overpair, two pair or a set. However, whatever your opponents have, all of your 8 outs will give you the nut straight.

Another aspect to consider is the possibility of another player drawing for the same straight. This possibility would make you split the pot when you make your hand and affect your calculations. However, given your starting hand and the fact that your opponents are tight, you are not concerned with one of them holding J9. So you can safely rule out sharing the pot when you hit your draw.

So, you have 8 cards that will make you win. The remaining 38 of the total 46 unseen cards will make you lose. The odds are 38 to 8 against you making your winning hand or 4.75 to 1. the pot odds you are being offered are better (5.5 to 1), making it a good call. This means that, even though you are an underdog to win the hand, the pot is offering enough of a reward to make the call worth it.

Calculating the Expected Value for Validation

You managed to reach the correct decision without doing the extra math of calculating the expected value. For demonstration reasons, the expected value of a call is:

EV = P(win)*$(win)-P(lose)*$(lose) = (8/46)*110 – (38/46)*20 = 2.61$

So on average, you win about 2.6$ each time you make that call.

Working with Percentages Instead of Odds

There are many software products, like Flopzilla or Equilab, that calculate your equity against an opponent’s range in terms of percentage. You can check out the tutorial on Hand Ranges to learn how to work with ranges. Whether you work with such software, or you are just accustomed to using percentages, you may want to be able to convert pot odds into percentages you can work with. Let’s look at how to do this.

To compare pot odds to equity percentages, you need to convert your pot odds to a percentage of your bet versus the final pot size, including your call. To do so, you have to:

First, divide the amount of the call by the size of the final pot. For example, if the pot is 10$ and you are facing a 5$ bet, you need to divide 5 (your call) by 20, the final pot amount, so you get 0.25.

Second, convert this into a percentage. By multiplying with 100, you can convert your result into a percentage you can work with. So, 0.25 equals 25%.

Now, to see if calling is +EV, you need to compare this percentage to your equity. If your equity is higher, the call has a +EV!

Conversion Table

An Example Using Pot Percentages

Let’s take a look at a different example, this time using percentages.

A solid opponent raised preflop from the middle position, and you called from the button with K♥Q♥. The flop was A♥5♥4♠, and your opponent check-raised all-in your semi-bluff flop bet.

There is 80$ in the pot, including your bet and your opponent’s all-in, and you have to call 40$ more to match his bet. What should you do?

Let’s calculate your pot odds in terms of percentage. To do so, you have to:

First, divide the amount of the call by the size of the final pot. So 40/120 = 0.33

Second, convert this into a percentage. We multiply 0.33 by 100 to get our percentage, 33%.

Now, we have o try to calculate your equity against your opponent’s range of hands he would go all-in with. You estimate that your opponent open-raises from middle position with a 15% range, like bellow.

Using Flopzilla we can see that, even if your opponent does not bluff and goes all-in with top pair or better, or a flush draw, like bellow, your equity is over 37%.

Since your equity against his range is higher than 33% (your pot odds in percentage), calling is +EV!

In a Nutshell

Pot Odds Table

Using pot odds is an excellent way of making quick estimations on the table and choosing the right course of action. Even when there are subsequent betting rounds, pot odds are useful as they can help you understand the value of what is already in the pot relatively to your stack. However, when there are subsequent betting rounds in the hand, you need to consider the possibility of winning extra bets when you hit your hand. This concept is known as implied odds, in contrast to the expressed odds that the pot is offering you at any given moment.

In the next tutorial, we will present the concept of implied odds and how it is used to make educated decisions when there are further betting rounds. Please leave any comments or questions that you may have!

This tutorial is part of the Advanced Poker Strategy Course. You can continue to the next tutorial on Pot Commitment!

In poker there are good bets and bad bets – the game is simply a way of determining who can tell the difference. This is where the concept of pot odds comes into play. Put simply, pot odds means is there enough in the pot to call a bet.

The fundamental principle of playing a drawing hand in poker is that you need a pot big enough to call. When we have a flush draw or a straight draw we will make our hand on the next card almost 20% of the time (19% for flush and 17% for the straight draw). That is, 20% of the time we will make our desired hand and 80% we won’t. The ratio 20 to 80 can be expressed as odds of 4-to-1. Therefore, if the pot is $80 we can almost call a $20 bet to break-even. I say almost because we have to make a profit so, a call of $20 is appropriate when there is more than $80 in the pot.

Know the Odds

You should already know how to calculate odds based upon the number of “outs”. If you don’t know the odds of hitting certain common draws then please go back and study our previous lesson on calculating odds and outs in poker. For the benefit of this lesson we’ll include the handy chart below:

Table: Odds and outs from the flop and the turn to the river:

We have created a printable PDF version of the poker drawing odds chart (opens in a new window). You will need Adobe Acrobat on your computer to view it on screen. We recommend you print the chart and be sure to memorize these odds, particularly the common draws – as your time is better spent analyzing your opponents’ play rather than attempting to perform mathematical calculations in your head.

Track the Pot Size

Part of the concept of pot odds is to focus on the calculation of how to figure the odds of your hand becoming a winner. The other part of the equation is to know how much is actually in the pot in order to know what odds it is offering you.

If you’re playing poker online then the size of the pot should be in clear view at all times – simple! If you’re playing poker live then it’s as easy as paying attention and using basic arithmetic to know the pot size at every step of the way. All one needs to do is multiply the total amount bet on each street by the number of active players and add that sum to the blinds if they are not participating in the hand. Hold that total in your head and add the subsequent total of the next street’s betting and you will always have the pot total available to calculate your pot odds. Here are some critical words of advice: know what is in the pot at all times. How else can you make proper mathematical decisions?

Calculating the Pot Odds

At this stage you should know the odds of hitting your card(s) and the size of the pot. The next step is to know what odds the pot is offering you. The best way to teach you is to use an example hand. Take a look at figure 1, below:

Figure 1

As you can see, we have 9 outs for the nut flush draw, so the odds of hitting our flush on the river are roughly 20% or 4-to-1 odds. There is $450 in the pot, and player 2 bets $150, which now makes the total pot $600. It’s going to cost us $150 to win $600. How do we calculate these figures to give us the pot odds? This is fairly simple as 600/150 = 4, so we have 4-to-1 odds for our money.

If we want to know the percentage then we add the bet (call amount) to the pot, to give us a total pot figure. In this example it would be: 150 + 600 = 750. Once we have this figure then we would have to perform the following formula: call amount / the total pot size. In our example this would be 150 / 750 = 0.2, or 20%.

Now we know the pot odds, should we call or not? In our example we can justify the call as we’re getting 4-to-1 pot odds and our odds of hitting and winning is also 4-to-1. But remember it’s a break-even call over the long term if we’re only counting the flush draw. Ideally we’d want the pot to be a little bigger or their bet to be a little smaller. However, if we believe that hitting either an Ace of King (giving us 6 additional outs) on the river would beat our opponent then we’d have more than enough odds to call the bet.

In poker, whenever the pot odds exceed the odds against making your hand, it pays to keep playing. When the odds against your hand coming in exceed the reward associated with it, it’s usually a bad deal. A simple way to think about this is as follows:

• When the prize exceeds the cost, you should call.
• If the cost is more than the money you figure to win, fold.

…did you know that AK flops a flush draw 11% of the time?

Poker Pot Odds Table

The new book Optimizing Ace King has a complete chapter on playing draws (along with chapters on playing pairs, turn & river play, and even ideal lines when AK totally misses the board).

As a bonus for being a Pokerology reader, use code POKEROLOGY at checkout to save $5 when you pick up your copy.

Let’s look at another example:

Figure 2

Here we have a straight and a flush draw, meaning we have 15 possible outs. The odds of hitting one of our outs on the turn is 31.9% or 2.13-to-1. The pot contains $36 ($24 + $12) and it’ll cost us $12 to call.

Are we getting enough pot odds to call? Let’s do the figures, first in odds…..$36 (total pot) / $12 (cost to call) = 3. Expressed as a ratio this would be 3-to-1 odds, meaning we’ll win once every 4 times. In percentage terms… the pot odds can be expressed as 25%. Our drawing odds are 31.9%. Since the pot is offering us better odds than our draw, we should call the $12 bet.

Let’s continue with this hand example. As you can see in figure 3, we didn’t hit on the turn, we check and our opponent then bets $60 into the existing $48 in the pot.

Figure 3

Are we still getting the correct pot odds to call in the hopes of hitting a straight or flush? The answer is no.

The pot odds are now 1.8-to-1 (108 / 60) or 35.7% in percentage terms. Our drawing odds are 2.07-to-1 or 32.6%. Since the pot odds are less than the odds of hitting, in this instance we should fold. To call a bet here we’d need the pot to be a little bigger or our opponents bet to be a little lower. He has priced us out with his overbet.

So, that old feeling we had, “There is a bunch of money in the pot, I call”, was and is a sound tactic. Now we know more precisely when it is profitable and when it is not profitable to go in on draws. Knowing pot odds does two things; it lets us concentrate on the other players and turns poker into a game of skill.

Make Your Opponents Pay

Let’s take a quick look at a situation when you’re the one with a made hand and you figure one or more of your opponents to be drawing. Understanding the concept of pot odds should help you to determine an appropriate bet size and charge your adversaries for their possible draws.

Imagine raising a bunch of limpers from late position, holding pocket Jacks. The big blind and the three of the original limpers all call your raise and the five of you watch a flop of :

You’ve hit middle set but there are both straight and flush draws staring at you along with four opponents. There is $86 in the pot and everyone checks to you. You are definitely going to make a continuation bet but you need to decide on how much. Allow me to provide a check list of criteria to think about that as you become more experienced will become so automatic as to not even require any conscious thought.

• Know the pot size – in this case $86.
• Acknowledge the texture of the flop and tendencies of your opponents in terms of potential threats to your holding. Limpers and callers are many times on draws.
• Know the odds to the potential draws the flop offers. In this case both flush and straight draws.
• Make a bet that will not offer the potential draws the correct odds.
• You should bet the size of the pot, $86, in order to make the odds being offered by the pot only 2-to-1 which would not be attractive odds for draws.

If it is true, and I believe it is, that the bulk of your poker profit comes from the mistakes of others rather than you own brilliant play, then identifying opponents that overpay to draw to their hands is critical information. Aside from just playing too many hands, one of the biggest and most expensive mistakes less experienced poker players commit is paying too high a price to try to make their draws. Ferret this information out by tracking the pot and watching showdowns and then you can determine how to manipulate the size of the pot against that opponent in a future hand.

Implied Odds

This is an extension of pot odds and represents the ratio of the total amount you expect to win if you complete your hand, to the amount you would need to call to continue. Put simply, you don’t have the correct odds to call, but if you reason that there’s a good chance that your opponent will bet again when you hit your draw, you might be getting the implied odds to call.

While implied odds are an important tool to be aware of, particularly in no limit hold’em, many less disciplined players abuse it by using it as a justification to chase draws that are not getting the proper pot odds. While pot odds can be calculated with total accuracy, calculating implied odds takes some guess work and knowledge of your opponents’ tendencies. It’s more of an art than a science.

Are your opponents mostly fish?

If yes, they tend to offer a lot of implied odds – but most players leave chips on the table by missing aggression AND using incorrect bet/raise sizes when they hit their hand.

To ensure you don’t fall into the same trap, sign up for CORE today and pay special attention to the lessons on:

· Value Betting (Level 1)

· Overbetting (Level 2: Postflop)

· Range Elasticity (Level 2: Ranges)

Pot Odds Tables

Enroll today for just $5 and see how pot odds (along with 100+ other concepts) fit into the entirety of your poker playbook!

Tournament Play

Much of what has been offered so far is beneficial for both cash games and poker tournaments. But you should approach opponents in tournaments that are desperate a little differently. In a cash game, being pot committed doesn’t really come into play. The term pot committed simply refers to a player who has half or more of his chips already in the pot so if he loses this pot he is pretty much finished anyway. This player will be calling, not based upon the pot odds, but due to his predicament. Players calling in tournament play without the correct pot odds does not necessarily indicate poor play. Calling may well still represent their best chance mathematically to move forward in the tournament and make some money. Hence the expression, do or die!

The reverse situation relative to pot odds can also occur in tournament play. Imagine being in a situation wherein you have the correct pot odds to call but folding could be the better option to advance. An example of this type of phenomenon would be holding the nut flush draw with one card to come with two other opponents already all-in by a monster stack late in a poker tournament. The pot could be offering you greater than the odds required to make the call mathematically correct but the fact still remains that you will miss your flush 80% of the time. If you were on the bubble with the big stack bully already having two other players all-in and you knew you would only prevail in the hand 20 percent of time – I think a fold would be in order.

Pot Odds Table Games

Many believe that pot odds aren’t nearly as important in tournament play. This is especially true in the lower stake “fast” events that are typical in both live and internet play. These players focus on the odds of their opponents’ calling based upon the size of chip stacks. While some of this is true, if you begin to ignore pot odds because you are in a poker tournament, you will begin to slide down a slippery slope. If you are planning to make a decision that is not in accordance with good pot odds play, you should have a very significant reason.

Put in the Work

Knowing what and how to use pot odds is essential if you wish to become a winning poker player. Learning how to use these concepts to your advantage can put you well ahead of a vast legion of players that are just too lazy to put in the work. They are playing on feel and their gut instincts and proud of it. I’m happy they’re proud of this approach because I know they can’t be proud of their bankrolls. These “proud” players are the assets you need in both cash games and tournaments. Let them be proud – you should put in the work – you’ll be glad you did as you’ll end up with their bankrolls.

Pot Odds Table Game

By Tom 'TIME' Leonard

Tom has been writing about poker since 1994 and has played across the USA for over 40 years, playing every game in almost every card room in Atlantic City, California and Las Vegas.