POT ODDS

POT ODDS

Poker is about luck, intuition, psychology, appearances – and science.  That’s right, science.  More specifically, math.  Knowing poker math can greatly increase your chances of winning. 

The most popular type of math used at a poker table is Pot Odds.  Pot Odds are what you take into consideration when deciding whether to call a bet.  Put simply, what are the odds you’re going to catch the card you need, relative to how much the pot is worth? 

It can get complicated, but mastering pot-odds calculations is necessary to becoming a great poker player.  There are some simple formulas you can run in your head that will give you the gist of Pot Odds.

The key factors to know are how much money is in the pot, and what percentage of that do you need to call.  If the amount you need to call is equal to 1/5 of the pot, then you’re getting 5-1 Pot Odds.  Getting 5-1 on your money is all well and good, but now you have to determine if you have better than a 1-5 or 20% chance of winning.

Yes, hunch and intuition are strong factors in determining your chance of winning.  And position and stack size always play an important part in deciding how much to bet.  But if you use Pot Odds wisely and correctly, you may determine you have an even better chance of winning than the odds that you’re getting from the pot.  In those instances, a raise may be in order.