What are pot odds?

Pot odds are the mathematical computation of the odds of your hand improving against the amount of money already in the pot and the size of the bet you have to make to stay in the game.

For example, if you have a 20% chance of getting the one card you need to make a decent playing hand and your bet is only 10% of the total pot, then you can make some serious money playing poker.

When should you call or lay down a hand?

Understanding how Texas Hold’Em pot odds work means understanding the three types of hands that you can get while playing the game.

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Each hand has a different result based on the cards you have been dealt. Let’s take a look at each of them in a little more detail and tell you how they would relate to calculating pot odds.

Hand #1: Absolutely nothing.

The cards have never seen each other in their entire manufactured lives. There is nothing in your hand and nothing on the table that could remotely resemble a playable hand.  More than likely you are not going to be able to make anything out of the cards. This is when you simply stack your cards, lay them down on the table, and fold.

Hand #2: Call or raise, it’s your choice.

You have a really good hand or one that could get you pretty far in the round. If the hand is strong and your pot odds are pretty decent – meaning there’s more in there than what you have call – then it’s worth calling on the hand or even raising it a bit to see if you can sweeten the deal. Raising may be a good idea if it’s early in the round and you could potentially get a better hand when the last few common cards are revealed.

Hand #3: You need one card…just one.

This is the most common situation in Texas Hold’Em poker and probably the most frustrating one as well. You have a good hand, but it could be better it you have just one more card, which are known as a poker outs. Do you take a chance on calling or raising?  Or do you be a wimp and fold? Calculate your pot odds here to see what the best thing to do would be.

If your calculations tell you that the odds of winning the hand is greater than what you’re going to add to the pot, then bet. If your chances of getting the card you need is less than what you’re going to add to the pot, fold. This is a losing scenario and the adage of ‘quit while you’re ahead’ applies nicely here.

How do you calculate pot odds?

Calculating pot odds isn’t difficult but you need to be able to do it on the fly when you’re at the poker table. Here is how it breaks down.

You need one card to make a great hand, say a flush. Divide the total number of cards in the deck that will give you your out – the card you need – by the total number cards. You need a diamond to complete your flush and there are four diamonds already showing. 

There are thirteen diamonds in a deck of cards so thirteen minus 4 equals 9. You need one of those 9 remaining cards. Divide the number of winning cards in the deck – 9 – by the total number of unshown cards – you can see two cards in your hand and three on the table for a total of 5 leaving 47 unshown. The calculation is:

9 / 47 = 0.19148….  Round the number up – in this case to 2 – multiply by 100 and you get a 20% chance of getting the card you need to win. The cards that are being held by your opponents are considered unshown cards.

You only count what is in your hand and on the table. From here you can decide if it worth making the bet based on what is in the pot already.

So the best pot odds would be…

The more outs you have to make a good hand when you only need one card, the better your odds will of getting that card you need. If you are in ever in doubt, it’s better to call or fold then to bet more and possibly lose big.

Of course, the card you may need may turn up after you fold, but that’s all part of figuring out poker percentages and playing the game.

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