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Pot odds calculator.
A call is a purchase. You pay a fixed price for a share of a pot, and the only question is whether the share is worth more than the price. Put in the pot, the bet and your outs, and this page answers it with the arithmetic in plain sight.
the calculator
common draws
Cards still to come
Pick two only when no more money can go in, so when one of you is all in. If there is another round of betting coming, you are paying for one card, not two.
The price
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Equity you need
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Equity you have
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the same numbers, spelled out
A flush draw facing a pot sized bet is already in the fields, because it is the spot people get wrong most often. Change a number, or press the button and see what that call is really worth.
the two sums
Price on one side, chance on the other.
The price is the easy half. If calling costs C and the pot already holds P, then calling buys you a pot of P plus C for a payment of C. You break even when you win C divided by P plus C of the time. Sized against the pot as it stood before the bet, that comes out at 25.0 percent against half the pot, 28.6 percent against two thirds of it, and 33.3 percent against a pot sized bet. Those three numbers cover most of the bets you will ever face.
The chance is the half people fumble. With nine outs and one card to come there are 46 cards you have not seen and nine of them save you, so 9 divided by 46, which is 19.6 percent. With two cards to come you work out how often you miss both, 38 in 47 times 37 in 46, and take that away from one: 35.0 percent. Counting outs correctly is its own skill, and it starts with knowing which hands actually beat which, because an out that makes you the second best hand is not an out.
Put the two together and the decision makes itself. If your chance is above the price, calling makes money over time even though it loses most individual pots. If it is below, you are buying something for more than it is worth, and doing that once an hour is how a winning player becomes a losing one. When you want the exact chance for two real hands instead of an out count, the odds calculator counts every runout and hands you the same percentage with nothing estimated.
Two things this sum leaves out, and both matter. It assumes the hand ends after this card, which is why the choice between one card and two is not cosmetic; the rounds of betting that follow are set out in the Texas Hold'em rules. And it assumes the money behind is irrelevant, which it never is: a call that is correct at this table can still be wrong for your bankroll at this stake.
a hand, from the top
You hold and the flop is . The pot is 100 with your opponent's bet already in it, calling costs you 50, and the two of you are deep enough that more money will go in on the river. You have nine hearts, so you are paying 50 to win 100: you need 33.3 percent and the next card gives you 19.6 percent. On the pot odds alone that is a fold. It becomes a call the moment you can expect to win another 105.56 when the heart lands, which is the implied odds line in the result.
every common draw, and what the shortcut costs you
| Draw | Outs | Next card | Rule of two | Both cards | Rule of four |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pocket pair to a set | 2 | 4.3% | 4% | 8.4% | 8% |
| Gutshot straight draw | 4 | 8.7% | 8% | 16.5% | 16% |
| Two overcards | 6 | 13.0% | 12% | 24.1% | 24% |
| Open ended straight draw | 8 | 17.4% | 16% | 31.5% | 32% |
| Flush draw | 9 | 19.6% | 18% | 35.0% | 36% |
| Flush draw and a gutshot | 12 | 26.1% | 24% | 45.0% | 48% |
| Flush draw and an open ender | 15 | 32.6% | 30% | 54.1% | 60% |
Read the shortcut columns as what a player at the table would guess. With one card to come it always guesses low, by 1.6 points at nine outs. With two cards to come it starts a fraction low and then runs away upwards: 1.0 points high at nine outs, 3.0 at twelve, and 5.9 at fifteen. That last one is the gap between calling a big all in and folding it, so the shortcut is least trustworthy on exactly the decisions that cost the most. That is the whole reason this page does the real sum.
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The price only makes sense inside the hand.
Pot odds decide one call. Whether you should be in the pot at all, who acts first, and how the betting reaches this point are rules, not arithmetic. Read those once, properly, and the numbers on this page stop being homework and start being obvious.
pot odds questions
How do you calculate pot odds?
Divide what you have to call by the pot after your call. Calling 50 into a pot of 100 means 50 divided by 150, so 33.3 percent. That is the share of the time you have to win for the call to break even. Written as a ratio it is the same fact: the pot is laying you two to one.
What are good pot odds?
There is no such thing on its own. Pot odds only mean something next to your chance of winning. Being laid two to one is a gift with a flush draw and a disaster with a gutshot, because the first wins 35 percent of the time by the river and the second 16.5 percent.
How many outs do I need to call?
That depends on the price. Against a half pot bet you need 25 percent equity, which is seven outs with two cards to come and twelve with one. Against a pot sized bet you need 33.3 percent, which is nine outs with two cards to come. The calculator on this page gives the break even number of outs for any price you type in.
What is the rule of 4 and 2?
A shortcut for your chance of hitting: multiply your outs by four with two cards still to come, by two with one card to come. It is quick and it drifts. With nine outs the shortcut says 36 percent and the deck gives 35.0 percent, which is fine. With fifteen outs it says 60 percent and the deck gives 54.1 percent, which is not.
What are implied odds?
The money you expect to win after you hit, on top of what is in the pot now. They can turn a call that is slightly too expensive into a correct one, but only if the money is really there: your opponent needs a hand he can pay you with and a stack deep enough to do it. This calculator shows exactly how much extra you would have to win to justify a call that comes up short.
Do pot odds change on the turn?
The arithmetic does not, the odds of hitting do. On the turn there are 46 unseen cards instead of 47 and only one of them is coming, so a flush draw goes from 35.0 percent by the river to 19.6 percent on the river. Facing the same price, a call that was clear on the flop can be a fold on the turn.
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