A good poker player will take the odds into account when deciding whether to continue betting on a certain hand. The most commonly method used to calculate odds involves comparing the odds of completing a hand (hand odds) against the cost to call and the potential payoff (pot odds or implied odds). Note that just because the odds are favourable that you will make your desired hand does not mean you will win. You also have to judge whether your completed hand will be the dominant hand.

When calculating the potential payoff, you can use pot odds or implied odds. The difference is that pot odds uses the total current pot, while implied odds uses the total estimated pot at the end of all betting rounds. As the amount of future bets is just a guess, some players prefer to stick to known figures. There are benefits and risks associated to each, but because pot odds are easier to determine we recommend beginners use this method.

Calculating pot odds is simple. Take the total current pot value and then pide that by the amount you need to bet to call. For example, if there is $90 in the pot and you need to make a $10 bet to call, the pot odds are 9:1 ($90 in pot plus your $10 / your $10). The pot odds will need to be recalculated if another player raises after you. In that case, pide the size of the new current pot by your first bet plus the raise.

The chart at the bottom of the page shows the odds of completing or improving a hand on the turn and river cards (hand odds), based on the number of outs your hand has.

Outs are the number of unseen cards that can improve your hand. Do not count the cards the other players may have, since you don't know what they're holding. For example, if the flop is K, J, 2, and you have Q,10, you want an ace or an nine to complete your straight. There are 4 aces and 4 nines in the deck, so you have 8 total outs to make the straight.

The hand odds are calculated by comparing the number of remaining cards that do not improve your hand against the outs. For example, if at the turn you are working on an open straight draw (8 outs), then out of the remaining 46 cards (52 in the deck, minus the 4 on the board and the 2 in your hand), there are 38 cards that will not help you. The odds are then 38 : 8 which is 4.8 : 1.

To decide whether or not to continue in the hand, compare the odds of making your hand to the pot odds. If the odds of making your hand are higher than the pot odds, then the potential payoff from winning doesn't justify the odds against making your hand, and you should fold.

Let's boil it all down:

If the hand odds are 4.8 : 1, only continue in that hand if there is at least 4.8 times the bet to call already in the pot!

Example: The turn is on the board and you are working on an inside straight draw (4 outs means the hand odds are 10.5 : 1). The pot is at $75 and you need the following amount to call:

$5 to call - you would CALL as there is already more than 10.5 times that bet in the pot (there is more than $52.50 in the pot)

$10 to call - you would FOLD as there is less than 10.5 times that bet in the pot (you would need a pot of at least $105)

Remember to check Tower's Poker Glossary if you are not sure about any of the terms being used.