Poker Pot Odds - Texas Holdem Poker Pot Odds

One of the most neglected issues of Texas Holdem Poker is pot odds. This is especially true of the beginner and occasional players. Most people have never even heard of the term pot odds. Furthermore, of those individuals who have heard the term, very few of them know how to put pot odds to good use when playing Texas Holdem Poker. However, knowing how to calculate and use pot odds is one of the best weapons that any serious Texas Holdem Poker player can have. Being able to calculate pot odds is a great advantage to you in playing poker. Knowing the pot odds will make you a much better poker player and strengthen your odds of going home with some money in your pocket.

Many Texas Holdem Poker beginners feel overwhelmed at the idea of learning to figure the pot odds. Poker pot odds are often associated with complicated math calculations. However, don't worry about this. You don't need to be a math genius; it is really very simple to figure pot odds.

All good poker players have a method of calculating the odds easily and quickly. This is how they are able to know if the odds are in their favor. They are able to do this quickly and accurately during the pressure of the poker game.

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Here is a simple way to break down poker pot odds. "If the odds of you getting the card you need to make your hand are less than the pot odds, then you should bet." There are two sides to this. 1) "Odds of you getting the card you need" 2) pot odds.

First you need to figure the odds of you getting the card you need, this is easy to understand. The best way to explain it is by using a straight draw as the example. You're playing in a Texas Holdem game and your pocket cards are Q, T, and the flop is 9, J, 3. In order for you to get a straight you need to draw either an 8 or a King on the turn or river so you have eight possible cards that make a straight, four Kings and four eights: these are known as your "out" cards.

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You've seen five cards out of the deck, your own pocket cards and the three flop cards. That means there's 47 cards that you haven't seen. Out of the forty seven remaining cards, eight of them will help you and thirty five won't, so the odds of you getting the card you need are 35:8. Now to figure the pot odds you need to know the size of the pot and the amount you need to put into the pot. So if the pot is $100 and you need to bet $10 to call your pot odds are 100:10. In this example the pot odds 100:10 are bigger than the odds of you getting the card you need 35:8 so you should call the bet. This is a simplification of Texas Holdem Poker pot odds and there are other considerations to remember such as; will the players after you in the round of betting add to the pot? This would make your bet even better as it would increase the pot odds but this of course is an unknown factor. Finally, understanding Texas Holdem pot odds will help your game and prepare you for playing in the big leagues some day.

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by Bones McCoy at offshorepokerroom.com on June 15, 2006


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