What are Pot Odds and How to Use Them

Pot odds are an advanced poker concept that only the best players understand. If you want to be a winner at poker, it is critical to understand this subject. It is debatable whether you need to calculate pot odds for every hand you play, but it is widely accepted that not knowing and thinking about this concept will leave you at a huge disadvantage in the long run.

Pot Odds

Pot odds are basically defined as what the pot is offering in exchange for your bet. If a pot is $$20 and you would have to pay $2 to stay in the hand, the pot is offering you odds of ten to one on your money. That would be a great opportunity! The problem is that many times the pot does not offer good odds, but players make the mistake of calling the bets. The purpose of pot odds is to see if the hand we are trying to get is worth the investment.

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Pot odds and the chances of completing your hand

If you routinely call bets when the pot doesn’t offer you good odds, you’ll lose money in the long run. An example is the inside straight draw, or gut-shot straight draw. You have [9 8] in your starting hand, and the flop is [6 5 A]. You need the 7 to make the straight. There are four sevens in the deck, and there are 47 cards that you don’t know about yet. This means that the odds of making a straight on the turn are one in eleven. If someone bet and you have to decide whether to call, the pot would have to offer eleven times the amount of your bet to make it worth your investment – this doesn’t happen very often. If the pot had 100 chips and your opponent bet 50, you would need to call 50 for a final pot of 200 – that’s one to four. Calling here would not be a good play.

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How to use Pot Odds

There are several ways to use pot odds to your advantage. You can use pot odds calculators, or calculate in your head, considering the number of unknown cards, and the number of cards that would make your hand the best. Even without doing the calculation, see the following tips for applying this concept:

• Are there many players in the pot? If there are multiple players involved in the pot, there have been multiple bets. In these cases, the chances of having favorable pot odds are higher. Example: you are at the dealer with an average starting hand, but five players have already entered the hand with the minimum bet. In these cases, you will probably have favorable odds to call and see the flop.
• Don't overvalue flush or straight draws after the flop. Avoid calling large bets if you don't have adequate pot odds, in the hope that you'll see that one big card come up. This is especially true if you have a flush draw but not the highest flush, or if your straight draw is an inside straight draw, meaning only an inside straight draw would complete your hand.
• Play poker, not odds. Don’t get too involved and only focus on calculating pot odds. There are other factors in poker that math can’t help you with, such as position, opponent behavior, and their “tells,” among others.

Pot odds are one of many tools available to help you make better decisions during a poker game. Learn the odds of completing the most common hands, but don’t spend all your attention on this topic. Get a general idea of pot odds so you know whether calling a particular bet is worth it.