How do poker odds calculators work?

I ask as I just dont get them? I mean it asks for the number of players, then for your cards, but then it asks to select the cards for the other players...which of course you dont know. So what exactly is the point?

Is there a program that says what your chances are depending on JUST your cards, ie AA will be high.?

Cheers
Sco

What´s the point? When you´re playing poker of course you may not know what your opponent is holding. But remember that one of the most important part of the game is to read your opponent, to guess what he may be holding. You cannot count your outs if you don´t know what you need to beat your opponent. For example, let´s say you hold Ac 7c and the flop comes Ah 10c 5c.
Now the way you count your outs changes depending on what you think your opponent is holding. The outs are not the same if you think that your top pair is good enough to beat your opponent, or if you think that you need just the flush or two pair to beat your opponent (because you may guess that he has top pair with better kicker).
When you count your outs you´re counting the cards that make your hand winner, but winner against what? Against your opponent´s hand. The same hand can be a winner or a loser depending on what your opponent is holding.
That´s the reason of why the odds calculators need at least two hands to calculate the odds. Odds calculators calculate the chances of winning of each player.
You asked if there is a program that says what are your chances depending on just your cards. The answer is i don´t know, but it doesn´t matter. As i said before, your chances of winning doesn´t depend just on your cards, they also depend on your opponent´s hand. A nut flush for you can be a full house for your opponent. But if your are looking for an odds calculator that you select your hand and then you ask for example what are the odds of making the straigth with that hand after the flop or turn, you´re looking for something that you really don´t need. To calculate your hand odds, use the rule of 4. Just count your outs and after the flop you multiply them by 4. After the turn it´s the same but instead of multiplying your outs by 4, you multiply them by 2.
For example, let´s say that after the flop you have a flush draw. You have 9 outs. You multiply 9 x 4 = 36. You have 36% chances of making the flush.
Of course that odds are not exact, because you don´t know if your opponents were holding some of your outs. Math in poker is not exact, because poker is a game of unknown variables, so use the odds to know approximately where are you standing on the hand and if it´s correct to chase or not your draw, but don´t make every decision according to them. Math is a very important part of your arsenal, but is not everything. And that´s the reason of why you can just use the rule of 4, because you need approximately odds, not the exact ones.

ps: Sorry for all of you community but i´m back! If you want to know how my trip to Brasil was, i can tell you that i enjoyed it very much. I didn´t play so much poker because we didn´t have time. We made 2 sit & go, and i finished 1st and 2nd.

ps2: can someone make an article of odds? I think it would be really helpful. I would like to make it, but i´m not an expert and my english is bad.

Wow, what a response, that makes sense a whole lot more now. I do have just one question, as I have seen it writtn a few times and not understood, so thought I would ask. What are outs? When you say you have 9 outs, what exactly does this mean?


Thanks
Andy

Mate, I would go to book shop and get cheapest beginner guide to poker there is. You shouldn't be playing without at least a rudimentary understanding of game.

Outs are the cards that can help your hand to improve and make it a winner. In the example of a flush draw you have 9 outs because there are 9 cards of the same suit that can help you (there are 13 in the deck of the same suit and for the flush draw you have 4, so 13 - 4 = 9).

ps: I think that a glossary section in this page would be excelent. Xdmanx knows almost all the terms, so i think he could be the right one to make it.

ps2: Sco, if you want a page for introducing you to the game, try reading this

Ok then what about a poker chart for holem'. Where would you get one. I have heard its a chart like the one for blackjack but its for odds of poker. How would that work if you still don't the other players hand?

.

The charts tell your odds depending of how many outs you have. The difference between the chart and the calculator is that in the last one you have to select the hands, so what the calculator does is to calculate your outs and then your odds. If you want to know your odds just depending on how many outs you have, look at this chart.
But remember that instead of a chart you can use the rule of 4. You will not get the exact odds but it doesn´t matter. What you really need is an approximately percentage, and you can get it using the rule of 4.