2010
11.01

Recently, I got a question from one of my students. It stated, "What exactly is pot odds and is Texas hold em pot probabilities strategy worth pursuing?"

One point to keep in mind, any kind of Texas hold’em odds can and usually do acquire quite confusing. On the other hand, let me break pot odds down in really basic terms. Please note that we are only discussing Pot Probabilities. Not outs, implied odds, simple probabilities or something else like that.

In short, pot odds are the odds you acquire when determining the ratio of the quantity of money in the pot to the amount of money it is going to price you to call the wager.

For example, let us say you are heads up with Gambler A. If there’s $150 in the pot after the flop and Player A places a 20 dollars wager it’s going to charge you only 13 % of the pot to stay in the hand. If your likelihood of winning is greater than 13 per-cent it is a no-brainer to call because you’d have good pot odds.

That’s all there is to it actually. Texas hold’em pot probabilities boils down to one thing. If your chance of succeeding is better than the ratio of the pot size to the bet then you’ve got beneficial pot probabilities. If it’s lower than you might have bad pot odds.

One additional thought about Holdem pot probabilities. You are still wagering the player more so than something else. Wager on the player more than your starting hands or the size of the chip stack and even, yes the pot odds.

If you can discover to read your opponents well you’ll be able to utilize pot odds to support justify or solidify your choice. But Holdem pot odds do not need to be an end all whenever you generate a poker judgement.

Knowing and understanding how Hold em pot probabilities work can be a useful and successful method. Except again don’t generate Texas hold em pot odds your only system.