Correct Method for Calculating Pot Odds?

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resistivechief

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I know of two different ways to calculate pot odds, ratios and percentages.

But I get a different result for the following hand.

Hero holds 7h8h

Board is 10h 4h 2c Ad

The pot has 23,000. Hero bets 17,500 and Villain raises him all in for 21,000 more, making the pot 61,500. According to the ratio method the odds of making the flush on the next card are 4:1 and the pot odds (20 into 61) is ~3:1) then hero is not getting a good enough price on a call and should fold since pot odds should be higher than card odds.

According to the percentage method 61,000 + 21,000 / 21,000 is ~25% (for the percentage method you add on the call amount) and there is about an 18% chance to hit the flush therefor, pot odds are higher than chance to hit and should be a call.

This hand was in a video and then someone commented "But if he had shoved, we would have had pot odds less than 1:4(~21%) and I can't find equity no more than 16-17% for us." Where did he get the ~21% from?

This is the link to the two methods

http://www.thepokerbank.com/strategy/mathematics/pot-odds/

Which is correct?
 
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HooDooKoo

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The pot has 23,000. Hero bets 17,500 and Villain raises him all in for 21,000 more, making the pot 61,500.

You have confused/missed something here.

If the pot size is 61,500, then the call amount is only 3,500 --- making this a snap call.

If the villain raised 21,000 MORE, though, then the pot size is 79,000 (23,000 pot + 17,500 hero bet + 17,500 villain call + 21,000 villain raise).

In the second example, this is close to a call --- but keep in mind that villain could be holding a better flush draw, in which case you're nearly drawing dead.

-HooDooKoo
 
Mase31683

Mase31683

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Not sure what the 21% you're referring to is, however you're simply misunderstanding how to apply the percentage method.

2.9:1 and 25% are the same result expressed in different terms.

As you said the current pot is 61,500 and it's 21,000 to call. This reduces to approximately 2.9:1

To determine if you should call you would determine your outs as you have (in this case ~4:1) and compare. Is the pot laying you odds equal to or greater your odds of making the best hand? No, because 2.9 < 4

Now the % method:

You did the calculation properly and found you need to win ~25% of the time to make a profitable call. (1/4 = 25%; 3:1 = 25%) However with one card to come your actual chances of making a flush are roughly 18%. So again we compare and see that we should not call because our chances of making our hand (18%) < our necessary chance of making that hand (25%)
 
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