Poker Pot Odds
What are Pot Odds?
This term is used to express the relation of the money you have to pay to stay in the pot, in relation to the size of the Pot itself. Beginners often think that with a starting stack of 1'500 Chips 200 Chips are a lot. Is that really that much? It depends on the Pot Odds you are getting! If already 2'000 Chips are in the Pot, then a further investment of 200 Chips is not that much. If only 250 Chips are currently in the Pot, then a raise of 200 Chips is quite a lot. We are going to use the first and the third example of our Articles Poker Odds Article and Poker Outs Article to explain the very important concept of Pot Odds. By the way, you have to be familiar with the two concepts just mentioned.
Why should you understand the concept of Pot Odds?
You have to be able to calculate the Pot Odds, to put them into relation with the Odds you are getting in a certain situation. (i.e. you are faced with an All-In on the Flop or Turn, or your opponent makes a raise on the Flop or the Turn).
If you compare the Pot Odds to the Odds you are getting, you can calculate whether it is mathematically correct to make a Call or not. On the other side, it is absolutely vital to control the Pot Odds your opponents are getting when you are the Raiser.
Simply put, you have to raise by an amount high enough to induce your opponents to make a mistake if they call. If you raise, then raise the right amount!
It does not matter if you play Tournaments or a No Limit or Pot Limit Cashgame, pay attention to the Pot Odds! In a Limit Cash Game you can not control the Pot Odds because you can not vary the height of your bets.
How does one calculate the Pot Odds and what decisions are derive from them?
Example 1
Player A has   and Player B  
The Flop:   
In this situation we assume that Player B raised preflop on the button to 150 Chips.
Player A sat on the Big Blind (which is 50) and called. Currently there are 2x 150 Chips + 25 Chips (from the Small Blind, who folded) in the Pot.
Totally there are 325 Chips in the pot. Both players started the Hand with 2'000 Chips, so they still have 1'850 Chips.
Player A is first to act after the Flop. He checks (at this point, we will not discuss whether this was a smart play or not). Now we will calculate three Scenarios.
Scenario 1, Player B raises 50 Chips.
Now 375 Chips (325 Chips and an additional 50 Chips from the raise) are in the Pot. Player A has to call for 50 Chips, if he wants to see the Turn Card.
The Ration of the Chips is 50 (to call) to 375 (in the Pot). Expressed differently these are Pot Odds of 1 to 7.5. These are very good Pot Odds for the caller. In the Outs Article we assessed that Player A has 9 Outs and in the Odds Article we calculated Odds of 19.14 %.
19.14 % expressed in the Anglo-Saxon way are Odds of 1 to 4.22. The Odds of 1 to 4.22 are smaller than the Pot Odds of 1 to 7.5.
If the ratio of the Odds is smaller than the Ratio of the Pot Odds, a call is mathematically a profitable move!
Consequently a Call by Player A is a good call. Folding in this situation would be a big blunder! In this Situation, Player B made a big mistake, by giving his opponent good Pot Odds. If he does this often, he surely will be wondering why his opponents always catch the Flush or Straight against him!
Scenario 2, Player B raises by the size of the pot (325 Chips).
Now there are 650 Chips in the Pot and Player A has to pay 325 Chips to call. These are Pot Odds of 325 to 650 or 1 to 2.
As explained in Scenario 1, Player A has Odds of 1 to 4.22. Because the Odds are higher than 1 to 2, a call in this situation is not correct!
Player B has managed to make the turn card too expensive for Player A to call and doing so has protected his own hand.
Before making a raise you should always think about which possible Hands your opponent could have and how big your raise must be to induce a mistake. If your opponent calls anyway, he is making a mistake! If he gets lucky, you lose the hand, but in the long run, you will beat him because he is making mistakes!
Winning in Poker is about the long run, not about getting lucky or unlucky in one single hand! Don't let one single bad beat get you down! But if someone 'sucks out' against you, assess whether you made the right play or not!
Especially playing Online-Poker you will encounter many very weak Players, who do not have a clue about Pot Odds.
Take advantage of this by making big bets (if on a flush draw they are prepared to call a Pot Sized bet, make Pot Sized value bets!). Controlling the Pot Odds is probably one of the three most important skills you need in No Limit Hold'em.
Scenario 3, Player B goes All-In. (He raises by his remaining 1'850 Chips.)
Currently there are 2'175 Chips in the Pot. Player A has to pay his remaining 1'850 Chips if he wants to call.
He is getting Pot Odds of 1 to 1.18. (Expressed in percents Player B needs a 46% Probability of winning the hand, if he wants to make a profitable call).
If he calls the Turn and the River Card will be shown without any further betting, as they are both All-In. Thus, the Odds for both cards have to be taken into account to make the right decision.
We explain the calculation of these odds in All-In Odds Article. In our Poker Document Section you find the document All-In Probabilities on the Flop PDF. Try to find out yourself whether a Call is profitable or not in this situation.
Example 3
Player 1 has  and Player 2 has  
The Flop:   
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We assume that the first players folded and Player A raised on the Small Blind (75) to 450 Chips.
Player B on the Big Blind (150) called. In total there are 900 Chips in the Pot. After the Flop Player A is first to act.
Player A is fully aware that this Flop could be very dangerous and could be drawing to a Flush or a Straight. He probably won't assume that in Player B in reality has a straight-flush draw!
Consequently, Player A does not want to give Player A a cheap or free Turn card and raises by 750 Chips. In total there are 1'650 Chips in the Pot. Player B has 750 Chips to call.
These are Pot Odds of 750 to 1'650 Chips, or 1 to 2.2. If Player B only had a Flush Draw OR an Open Ended Straight Draw, he would have to fold!
We calculated in the Odds article that his Odds are 31.91 % or 1 to 2.13, to hit either the flush or the straight with the Turn Card.
In this situation, the Odds are smaller than the Pot Odds, so a call is a mathematically profitable move in this situation.
Looking at this situation tactically, Player B must have to think about reraising All-In, because according to the All-In Odds he is going to win the Hand 55 % of the time. Player A could also just be holding AK, a Queen or a Jack, or maybe he is just bluffing? He may not always get a call if he does reraise All-in, depending on the situation (the Chip stacks and Images of the players involved, Tournament stage etc.) Calling with 750 Chips would mathematically certainly not be a mistake!
Rules of thumb for those, who can not be bothered about calculating the Odds all the time
You can alter the Pot Odds you are giving your opponent by making the following different sized raises:
Pot sized bet: 1 to 2
Half the pot: 1 to 3
A third of the pot: 1 to 4
A quarter of the pot: 1 to 5
Twice the pot: 1 to 1.5
One and a half the pot: 1 to 1.66
Three times the pot: 1 to 1.33
Back to the Poker Strategy Section
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