Calculating pot odds
The one sum you use every single session, in three steps you can do in your head at the table.
Every time someone bets, they are quietly asking you a maths question: is this price worth it? Pot odds are the answer. Players who know them pay for the good draws and throw away the expensive ones. Players who do not decide on instinct, and instinct is systematically too optimistic.
The three steps
Step 1: count the pot after your payment. There is 10 in the pot, he bets 5, you would pay 5: the total pot becomes 20.
Step 2: divide your payment by that pot. 5 divided by 20 is 25 percent. That is how often you need to win to break even.
Step 3: compare it with your chance of winning. Win more often than that 25 percent and calling is profitable. You estimate your chance from your outs: the number of cards that make your hand the best one.
The rules of thumb worth memorising
Three bet sizes cover most of what you face. Against a half-pot bet you need to win one time in four. Against a full pot bet, one in three. Against a small nuisance bet of a quarter pot, only one in six, and that is why folding to tiny bets is wrong so often. You need nothing more than that to decide better than half your table.
To check the maths or practise with your own numbers: the free pot odds calculator does the sum and gives you a recommendation with it.
frequently asked questions
Maths questions.
What are pot odds in one sentence? +
The ratio between what you have to pay and what you can win: pay 5 to win a pot of 20 and you only need the best hand one time in five to break even.
Do I really have to work this out at the table? +
Yes, but it is easier than it sounds: divide what you have to pay by the pot after your payment. After a few hundred repetitions you recognise the common spots without doing any maths. A half-pot bet, for instance, always means one thing: being right one time in four is enough.
What is the difference between pot odds and implied odds? +
Pot odds only count what is in the pot right now. Implied odds also count what you can still win when your hand comes in. That is why hidden hands like small pairs are playable against a small bet: the pot of later pays the price of now.
Why do players who skip this lose money? +
Because instinct is systematically too optimistic. Without the sum you pay for draws that are too expensive and throw away hands that were too cheap to fold. The difference per decision is small; over thousands of hands it is your entire margin.
from sum to reflex
Practise until you no longer need the maths.
Pokiq’s practice spots let you answer the price question hundreds of times, with an explanation after every choice. Free to try.