How to Calculate Pot Odds:
Many poker strategies are based on pot odds. Pot odds are the relation between the size of the bet you risk to lose and the size of the pot you can win. Generally speaking, if the probability of getting the best card at the table in the next move is higher than the pot odds, the move is worth playing. This would be a perfect strategy if you could be sure that the hand you build on will be the best one. If it will not, you will lose, so it is important to evaluate the relative strength of the hand in question correctly. This strength depends on the rules of the game and the number of players at the table. The evaluation process also varies depending on whether the game is played with face-up or community cards and how many such cards are used. You should learn the basic strategy of the game you are playing before comparing pot odds.
However, if you believe that a hand you chase has a good probability to win the game, you should compare the odds of completing this hand with the pot odds to decide whether to go for it or to leave it. For example, if you have a flush draw, you have to place 1 dollar to stay in the game and the size of the pot is 20 dollars, you should play this hand, because the pot odds are 1/20 and the probability of completing a flush on the next card is only 1/4.
When you use the pot odds strategy you should remember the probabilities of completing various hands. If you are good in statistics, you can calculate them on the fly, but if you are not, you can simply learn the most common of them. Here we list the probabilities of one hand becoming a higher one on the next card:
- Three of a Kind > Four of a Kind: 1:46
- Inside Straight Flush Draw > Straight Flush: 1:46
- Pair > Three of a Kind: 1:23
- Outside Straight Flush Draw > Straight Flush: 1:23
- Overcard (a single high card)> High Pair: 1:15
- Two Pair > Full House: 1:11
- Inside Straight Draw > Straight: 1:11
- Pair > Two Pair or Three of a Kind: 1:8
- 2 Overcards > High Pair: 1:7
- Three of a Kind > Full House or Four of a Kind: 1:6
- Outside Straight Draw > Straight: 1:5
- Flush Draw > Flush: 1:4
- Inside Straight Flush Draw > Straight Flush, Straight or Flush: 1:3
- Outside Straight Flush Draw > Straight Flush, Straight or Flush: 1:2