Pot Odds and Implied Pot Odds

In poker we use the "pot odds" concept to help us figure out when it's profitable to chase a draw and when we should fold. We also use the concept to calculate how much we should bet in order to protect our hands from other peoples' draws.

It's an important concept to understand but luckily it's fairly simple. Pot odds are just a ratio used to compare the size of a bet to the size of the pot. So if someone bets $10 into a $20 pot, your pot odds would be 3:1. This is because the pot is now $30 and you have to call a $10 bet to stay in.

Now that you have the pot odds figured out, all you have to do is compare them to the odds of your draw completing. If the pot odds are better than the drawing odds, you can call.  If the pot odds are worse than the drawing odds you can fold.

Let's continue the above example to illustrate what I'm talking about. Let's say you have a flush draw and are trying to decide if you should call or fold. You already know your pot odds are 3:1 so now you need to figure out the odds of your flush draw completing.

To figure the odds for a flush draw you can either use a complicated equation or you can just remember that it's 4:1 against your flush draw completing on the next card. I suggest you just memorize the odds. There aren't a bunch of draws out there so it shouldn't take more than a few moments to memorize the most important ones.

Anyways, back to the example. The draw you're on is 4:1 against but you're only getting 3:1 so you should fold. If your opponent had instead bet $5 into that $20 pot, you would have been getting 5:1 pot odds and could call.

Implied Pot Odds

Implied pot odds use all the same principles from above with one minor addition. They take into consideration any bets that will be made in the future. In other words, if you think your opponent will call a $20 bet on the river if you make your draw, you can add that amount to the current pot to calculate your odds.

So say you're sitting in the same $20 pot from above with your flush draw and your opponent bets $10. Including your opponent's $10 bet, the current pot is $30. The difference this time is that you are absolutely sure your opponent will call a $20 bet if you hit your draw.

Since you're so sure your opponent will call the bet, you can go ahead and add that extra $20 to the pot. So now your pot odds are $50:$10, or more simply 5:1. By including the future betting streets in your calculations, you can now profitably chase that flush draw.

You'll want to be very careful in estimating your pot odds. Many poker players over-estimate their pot odds and end up making bad chases because of it. I very rarely use implied odds to justify big calls. The only time I use implied odds is when I'm just barely not getting the pot odds I need but I think my opponent will at least call a small bet.