The Complete Guide to Pot Odds in Poker

Pot odds are one of the most important concepts in poker. Knowing your pot odds allows you to know if a call you are making is profitable or not, leading to better decisions at the poker table. 

In this article, we are going to teach you the simple pot odds formula you can use to calculate the odds, and introduce a pot odds chart you can memorize for an even quicker answer.

What Are Pot Odds

Poker pot odds represent the ratio between the size of the pot and the bet you are facing. Every time you face a bet or a raise in the game, one of the first things you need to do is calculate your pot odds. 

The pot odds calculations will help you make more appropriate answers to the different bet sizes your opponents may use in-game. Understanding this concept will allow you to adjust your strategy and make the right play in every situation. 

Why Do You Need Pot Odds in Poker?

By calculating pot odds when facing bets, you can start getting an idea of how often you need to win the pot for your call to make sense. For example, facing a $5 bet into a $20 pot, you will need to call $5 to win the $25 that’s now in the pot. The ratio of 5/1 on your call means you will need to win just one out of six times to make this call break even or better. 

Much like this simplified example, you will be able to calculate your pot odds and know how often you need to win in order to make a call in every poker hand. Based on that, you can decide which portions of your hand range you want to continue with, and which hands you can let go without any doubts. 

Learn How to Calculate Pot Odds Yourself

Now that you know what pot odds are, it’s time to introduce the pot odds formula and teach you how to calculate them yourself. In a simple step-by-step guide, we will teach you how to do your own calculations without a pot odds calculator and quickly learn the odds on the spot. 

Keep in mind that this is a process you will perform every time you face a bet in every hand you ever play. Over time, the pot odds calculation will become second nature, and you will usually know the answer as soon as the bet is made. That’s why it’s key to memorize the process now and practice it over time as you play real hands at the tables. 

A Simple Example of Calculating Pot Odds

So, without further ado, let’s get into the nitty-gritty and introduce the simplest way of calculating pot odds in a few simple steps:

1. Calculate the Pot Size: Before you can calculate your odds, you need to know the pot size. To get the size of the pot, add up the money already in the pot, the bet size, and your potential call. 
2. Divide the Bet Size by Total Pot: Now that you know the total pot size, divide the amount you are being asked to call (the bet size) by the total size of the pot. 
3. Get Your Percentage: Multiply the number you came up with by 100 to get the final pot odds, expressed as a percentage!

For example, imagine you are playing in a cash game with $200 in the pot. A player bets $100 into the pot, and you are being asked to call. Following the simple steps we just introduced, your first job is to calculate the total pot size. 

The total pot size is $200 (previous pot size) + $100 (the bet) + $100 (your call) = $400

You are being asked to call $100, so the next step is to divide this amount by the total pot size. In this case, the calculation is 100/400 = 0.25.

Finally, by multiplying 0.25 with 100, you get to 25%, which are your pot odds in this scenario. Now that we know that, let’s look at how we can use this number together with the concept of poker equity to decide if we should call the bet or not. 

How Equity Works with Pot Odds

The importance of pot odds is tightly tied to the concept of equity in poker. Equity represents your theoretical share of the pot, or the mathematical representation of how often you should win the pot. While you can’t know your poker equity exactly without seeing the other player’s cards, you can make an estimate by comparing your hand with your opponent’s hand range. 

If you have a drawing hand, you can quickly calculate your poker equity by using the rule of 2 and 4. For example, if you have 9 outs to a flush, you can calculate your equity by multiplying those outs by 4 if you are on the flop or by 2 if you are on the turn. 

Using this rule, you would calculate that you have about 36% equity on the flop and 18% equity on the turn, assuming the flush cards are the only ones that will improve your hand to beat your opponent. 

Once you know your approximate equity, you can compare it with the pot odds you are being laid. If the equity is higher than the pot odds, you should make the call. If your equity is lower than the pot odds, you should fold. 

For example, facing the $100 bet on the flop in the previous example, you should make the call, as you have 36% equity (chance to win), while the pot odds are 25%, meaning you only need to win 25% of the time to make your call break-even. 

The Difference Between Equity and Outs

We already mentioned that poker equity represents the part of the pot that belongs to you in theory or the mathematical chance of winning the hand. In order to calculate your equity, you must first count out your outs. 

Poker outs are the cards that can improve your hand into what you expect to be a winner. For example, if you hold T♠9s♠ on a board of 8♠7♣3♦, you have two overcards and an open-ended straight draw. 

The four sixes and four jacks in the deck will give you a straight, which will definitely be the best hand on this board, giving you eight clean outs. On top of that, the three remaining T♠ and 9♠ would each improve your hand to top pair. This hand won’t be the best against all your opponent’s holdings, but will still beat quite a few of them, adding another six outs, which may or may not be clean. 

Whenever you face a bet, you will need to count your outs, and use the simple rule of 2 and 4 to calculate your equity and proceed to decide if your hand makes for a profitable call or not. 

Pot Odds Cheat Sheet

Doing a manual pot odds calculation every time you face a bet can be exhausting. Instead, you can refer to the chart below to quickly know your pot odds for all the common bet sizes:

Bet Size	Pot Odds
25% of the Pot	16%
33% of the Pot	20%
50% of the Pot	25%
66% of the Pot	28%
75% of the Pot	30%
Full Pot	33%
1.5x the Pot	37.5%
2x the Pot	40%

How to Use Pot Odds on Each Street

Now that you have learned what pot odds are and how to use them, it’s time to put them to use in an actual example. We are going to go over a real poker hand from preflop to the river, in order to explain how pot odds work on each street and what to look out for in each betting round. 

For the purposes of our example, let’s assume you are playing in a $1/2 cash game with an effective stack of $500. An opponent in early position raises to $6, you call on the dealer button with 9s8s, and all other players get out of the way. 

With $15 in the pot, you go to the flop.

Using Pot Odds on the Flop

The dealer deals out a flop of 7♠5♠3♦, giving you a flush draw and a gutshot straight draw, along with two overcards. Your opponent fires out a continuation bet of $10, and it is your turn to act. You need to decide whether to call or fold!

Using the pot odds calculation we looked at earlier, we can calculate that the total pot is $35 ($15 + $10 + $10). The get pot odds as a percentage, we calculate 10/35 = 0.285. Multiplying with 100, we get to the number of 28.5%, the approximate number we also see in the pot odds chart for a 66% pot bet. 

Now, let’s figure out your outs. You have a flush draw, which gives you nine spade outs that significantly improve your hand. In addition, the three offsuit sixes (6♥, 6d♦, 6♣) also give you the nut straight, which is always the best hand. That’s 12 outs to a straight or a flush, giving you 48% equity even if you are up against a hand like AA. On the other hand, if your opponent has a hand like AK, you have another six outs in the 9s and 8s still left in the deck, taking your outs number up to 18 and our equity to about 70%. 

Considering your equity is significantly higher than the pot odds, you make the easy call for $10. 

Using Pot Odds on the Turn

The dealer puts out the 2♣, the ultimate brick! With $35 in the pot, your opponent now opts for a full pot bet of $35. Things get quite interesting here, as your equity is now significantly diminished, and your opponent is making a big bet that requires a higher equity to call. 

Looking at the pot odds chart, we can see that we need 33% equity to profitably call this bet. With your 12 clean outs to a straight or a flush, you now have about 24% equity (using the rule of 2 and 4), which means your equity is no longer high enough to make the call. 

However, this is where the concept of implied odds comes into play. Implied odds represent the money you stand to win on later streets when you improve, and they are significant in this example. If you call this turn bet and make your straight or flush on the river, you are likely to get paid, as the opponent appears to have a strong hand. 

What’s even more, you may even be able to bluff the opponent on the river if a card like a 4 comes off and they check, in which case you may be able to force them to fold hands like KK, QQ, or JJ. 

With implied odds in mind and still significant equity, you go for another call. However, if you had fewer outs and even lower equity, this may be a good time to fold a low flush draw or a standalone straight draw. 

Using Pot Odds on the River

The river card is the 8♥, giving you top pair. The board is now 7♠5♠3♦2♣8♥, and you have one pair. With $105 in the pot, your opponent bets $105 for another full pot bet. At this point, you have one final decision to make, and it’s a difficult one. 

You no longer need to think about our outs, as no further cards will be dealt. Instead, you are left thinking about how much equity your made hand has against our opponent’s entire range of hands. You need to think about how likely our opponent is to be bluffing on this river, which is the only time your call would win, as they are not value betting a hand weaker than a pair of eights. 

Since you are facing a full pot bet, you need to win 33% of the time for the call to be break-even. Whether or not your pair of eights can win 33% of the time depends on how aggressive your opponent is. Against a strong opponent who plays a balanced strategy, it is likely their range of hands still contains enough bluffs for your call to be profitable. On the other hand, against many players who significantly underbluff on the river, your hand might never be good. 

On this final betting street, you should make your decision based on whether or not you believe your opponent is capable of having a bluff 33% of the time in this particular situation. For that reason, there is no longer a single perfect answer based on the pot odds and implied odds alone. 

Vital Pot Odds Strategies to Understand

While pot odds are one of the fundamentals of poker strategy, they don’t provide a magical solution to all your problems. When considering your pot odds and equity, there are many things you need to keep in mind, so we will go over some of the basic pot odds strategies that come up in real game scenarios. 

Opponents Affect Your Equity

The equity you have in a poker hand will depend on your opponent and the range of hands they are playing. Some players play extremely tight, which can significantly reduce your equity and the value of overcards to the board. On the other hand, others play very loose, and your equity against them might be significantly higher than you would expect. 

For example, facing a continuation bet on the board of 7♣5♦2♥ with a hand like K♦J♦, you might have very little equity against a very tight player, whose range is made up of many strong hands like AA, KK, QQ, 77, 55 and 22, but a lot of equity against a loose player who is continuing aggression with their entire wide opening range. 

Your Bets Affect Opponent’s Pot Odds

Pot odds work both ways, and your opponents will also be forced to think about them when facing your bets. For that reason, you should think about the appropriate bet sizing you want to use the next time you are making a bet. 

For example, if you are looking to get a player to fold their hand, you may want to make a pot size bet or bigger, forcing them to have 33% or more equity in the hand to make a profitable call. On the other hand, if you are very strong and begging for a call, a smaller bet might do the trick, as it might fool your opponent into thinking they have enough equity for a profitable call. 

Future Bets Create Implied Odds

Implied odds also influence whether a call is profitable or not in a given situation. For example, if you call a flop bet with a gutshot straight draw alone, you may get a chance to make two bets on the turn and river and still get paid when your opponent doesn’t believe you have a very strong hand. 

Whenever you find yourself in a situation where you lack the equity to call a bet, think about future opportunities and how likely you are to get more money into the pot when you do improve. If chances are high, you can call wider than pot odds suggest. If chances are low, you should not deviate much from the pot odds. 

Watch Out for Reverse Implied Odds

Similarly to implied odds, reverse implied odds have to do with future streets and future bets. However, reverse implied odds consider the exact opposite. Instead of the money you could win on the future streets, you need to think about the money you could lose. 

For example, if you are calling a bet with a low flush draw, you must take into consideration that some of the time when you do make your flush, your opponent will have a higher flush. A hand like 4d3d has some equity on KdJd7s, but making your flush will cost you a lot some of the time, as your opponent improves into a higher flush. On the other hand, they might simply fold a hand like AK when the flush gets there and you start betting heavily. 

How to Practice Using Pot Odds

In order to truly master pot odds, implied odds, and reverse implied odds, you will need to play some hands of poker. The best way to get that practice in is to play low-stakes and free poker games at CoinPoker. 

We offer a variety of free-entry poker tournaments, including our freerolls and centrolls, where you can practice your poker skills for next to nothing. Our low-stakes cash game tables allow you to play with minimal investment and hone your skills in real game scenarios. 

Join CoinPoker today to get access to the full plethora of games and practice pot odds in-game on the best crypto poker platform in the world. 

Conclusion

Now that you have the basic idea of pot odds under your belt, you are ready to keep learning more and improving your poker skills both on and off the felt. The next time you play poker and face a bet, remember to take a few seconds to do the quick pot odds calculation, and remember how equity, implied odds, and reverse implied odds play a part in the decision you should make!

Check out our advanced poker strategy guide for more useful tips you can use at the tables, or learn more about GTO poker if you want to play like the pros and play a perfectly balanced poker strategy. 

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