Help with hand odds/pot odds.

A

Anthony Garcia

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Hello everyone, I have a question about odds / pot odds.

The formula for the pot odds is:

for example

I have 3 outs (14.67: 1 flop to turn, 14.33: 1 turn to river)

475 pot
opponent bets 47
to call

475/97 = 4.86: 1

or

475 pot
opponent bet 47
to call 47

475 + 47 = 522/47 = 11.10: 1

or

475 + 47 + 47/47 = 12.06: 1

Could someone explain this a little better? I read the tutorial on this site and other sites, a book by David Sklansky. But no explanation coincides with each other.

I memorized all odds table
Example
I know that 8 outs are 4.88: 1 (16%) on the flop and turn to 4.75: 1 in the river. (Approximately 32%)
So I need to learn me percentages? or calculate them?
I see more easy to calculate odds ratios That Percentages,
that is your opinion about this that I say?
If I have 8 outs and the count gives me 22.19: 1 I call?
I can play with approximate numbers?
4.75: 1 (5: 1)


Thanks for reading, I hope your answer!
 
U

UberPokerFan

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I'm guessing nobody has responded to your post because you have asked a question that is at the tip of a much larger lesson. I'll give it a shot in a much-simplified scenario.

To simplify, let's assume there is only one card left--the turn has been dealt--and you are heads-up, last to act and you have 3 outs to make the nuts. The questions you should be asking are how much is in the pot and should I call? In your example, the pot is 522 and you have to pay 47 to stay in the pot. So you are getting 522/47 (11-1) The question of whether you should call is answered by your pot odds table. You know the odds of making your hand with 3 outs on the turn is about 14-1 against you.

Since it seems like you are not quite sure of what pot odds are telling you, let me suggest you, for this example only, look at the chances of winning because that is simpler for some people to understand. Once you understand that you can then see how the pot odds are telling you the same thing.

What are your chances of winning? There are 46 cards out and you need 3 so you have 3/46 or 6.5% chance of winning. Over many hands, you will win 6½% of the total for an average of $34 per hand ($522 x 6½%). In this example, on average you lose $13 every time you play this exact situation($47-$34). It's pretty easy to see that you should not play because it costs you more to play then you'll win.

For you to make money, your cost will have to be less than what you expect to win--in other words less than 6½%. $30 is less than 6½% of 522 so if the other player bet $30 you should call.

$30 is equivalent to 17.4-1 pot odds. That 6½% chance equals odds of 14.3-1. Now you should clearly understand the concept--if the pot odds you are getting are higher than the odds of you winning you should call.

The pot odds given to you to call a $47 bet for a $522 pot is 11-1. 11-1 is less than the 14.3-1 odds you need to call so you should not call.

That's the basics for a simple situation. If you change any of the conditions (position, # people in the hand, drawing to the "not nuts", different street) more considerations come into play.

To answer your other questions:
  • rounding is fine because you'll most likely be doing it in your head.
  • Personally, I think pot odds are easier to remember so I usually never bother with computing chances.
 
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