After the flop, your play will depend on many factors, including information gathered pre-flop, what you know of your opponents and how they play, and the probabilities of having or making the best hand. If you have hit top pair with a strong kicker on the flop, then you have a strong hand and should bet at the pot. But the more difficult scenario is when you have flopped a flush draw or a straight draw, or perhaps an inside straight draw with two over cards. If someone bets, should you make the call?

At this point, it is important to first surmise what your opponent’s hand is. Then, you must calculate the number of outs you have to make your hand the winning hand. The final step is to then understand the probabilities of hitting one of your outs, giving you the winning hand. These are all crucial steps in the decision making process.

Texas hold'em is easily the most popular poker game played in card rooms in the United States. Hold'em comes in four betting structures: limit, no-limit, pot-limit and spread-limit. No-limit hold'em (NLHE) is the rising star of poker games. A few years ago the game could not be found in a live poker room, but the popularity of televised poker has increased interest in this structure. If any raises have been made along the way it's not uncommon to be offered 10-1 or greater odds in a Limit game. In a No-Limit game of the same blinds it would be possible to bet your entire stack into a $16 pot, giving odds of $216-$200 - barely more than 1-1. This is why No-Limit is considered an implied odds game.

For a good discussion on how to figure out your poker odds in No-Limit Texas Hold'em situations, have a look at 'Harrington on Hold 'em', volumes I and II, by Dan Harrington and Bill Robertie. That doesn’t mean you should be playing any two cards, as the same odds apply for players with a higher hole cards. On a flush draw! Your chances of making a flush after the flop when on a flush draw are at 34.97%! It’s a great feeling when you’re on a flush draw on the flop, and one third of the times, you’ll make the hand!

For example, let’s say I am holding JT offsuit.

The flop comes A 8 9 – rainbow.

The pot is current at $8.00, and Player1 bets $2.00. Everyone else folds.

Should I make the call?

Well, first I should think about what he may be holding. Let’s say there was no pre-flop raise and Player1 is in early position. He may have a pair of Aces with no kicker, or maybe a pair of 9’s.

So, if I put him on a pair of Ace’s, then I would need either a 7 or a Q to complete my straight and win the hand. Therefore, I have 8 outs – the four 7’s in the deck plus the four Q’s in the deck.

Now, if I have 8 outs, here is the calculation of hitting one of my cards on the turn or river:

There are 47 cards left unseen (I’m holding 2, there are 3 on the board, 52-5= 47). 47 – 8 outs = 39.

My calculation becomes: 1 – 39/47 (turn) * 38/46 (46 cards unseen prior to river):

1 – 39/47 * 38/46 = 31.5%

I have a 31.5% chance to hit my hand over the turn and river.

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Now back to our scenario, I have to call a $2.00 bet to win what will be a $12.00 pot. Since my bet is only about 17% of the pot, yet I have a 31.5% chance of winning (across the turn & river card!), the “pot odds” justify making the call.

Now let’s say Player1 bets $12 instead of $2. I would have to call $12 to win what will be a $32 pot. My bet is 37.5% of the pot, greater than my odds of hitting one of my outs, and therefore I should fold (we will get to implied odds further down).

The above scenarios are important to grasp. Picture yourself on the flip side now. Let’s say you have a pair of Aces, and you do not want to allow someone to out draw you. You should do exactly what was outlined above – bet more than their odds would justify. If you bet the amount of the pot, then those chasing the straight (or the flush for that matter) are not getting proper pot odds to call, so you either force them to fold, or you force them to play incorrectly and chase a hand when they are betting against the odds. Your bet can help cause your opponents to make mistakes and incorrectly play their flush draw or straight draw.

So, how are you supposed to calculate your probabilities on the fly in the heat of battle… without a calculator? You don’t. See the chart below! You can right click and save the chart on your computer and even print it off to look at whenever you need!

Memorize these figures (particularly the first chart), they will help you justify your calls. Now, the above scenarios were pretty simplified. There are other, more advanced, factors to potentially consider. For example, if you do not hit your card on the turn, can you assume Player1 will bet again and how much? If you know this information, this should also be included in your calculation of the bet vs. pot amounts.

Let’s say you know Player1 will probably bet another $4 on the turn. So really, you are looking at calling $6.00 against a pot of $16.00. The percentage now is 37.5% (6/16) as opposed to our earlier example where it was 17%. In this case, the call isn’t as clear and the current pot odds don’t quite justify the call because 37.5% is greater than our 31.5%. However, there are implied odds to consider, and these odds may justify making this call.

This is the last factor that is important to consider; implied odds. In the game of No-Limit Hold’em, you potentially could win a much larger pot than the current pot you are calculating your odds against. If you do hit your hand, could you then bet the entire pot amount and assume Player1 will call? How much of a bankroll does Player1 have and is it possible to take it all on this hand? These are interesting questions and also can affect your decision. The total pot size at the very end of the hand, could easily justify making the call in the hopes of winning that pot. This is called “implied odds” and should also be considered.

Now go play and try incorporating this knowledge. I would say good luck, but luck is the enemy of a good player. Better yet, good pot odds!

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Learning how to calculate the odds of winning a poker hand is essential for every player. In this article we'll provide you with some techniques that you can use to calculate the odds of winning a poker hand on the fly, we'll equip you with a tool that can do that for you and provide you with some useful information that you can memorize.

Poker Odds and Outs Calculations

Let's start with the basics. With the exception of the very strong holdings like some flushes, quads etc. almost every poker hand can improve. Outs are the cards that will improve your hand if they show up at a later street. For example, if you're holding AQ on a Q34 board you can still improve to two pair or trips if you hit on of the three Aces remaining in the deck or one of the two remaining Queens.

Here are some common examples of drawing hands in no-limit hold 'em and the number of outs that they can hit to improve:

• Gutshot Straight Draw (examples: JT on Q93, 57 on 69A etc.) - 4 outs
• Open Ended Straight Draw (examples: 98 on T72, KQ on JT5) - 8 outs
• Flush Draw (examples: AhQh on 2c7h9h, 4d6d on JdKd8s) - 9 outs

Pot Odds

Pot Odds - the size of the pot in relation to the bet that you have to call to continue playing the hand. Pot Odds are usually represented in the form of a ratio (2:1, 3.2:1, 4:1 etc.). Pot odds are essentially the risk you have to take (call) to gain the reward (size of the pot).

Let's say that the size of the pot on the flop equals 2$. Our opponent is betting 1$. To continue playing we have to call 1$ and if we do we can win 2$ + 1$ = 3$. We're getting 3 to 1 pot odds. Now let's make it a bit more complex, pot size is 3,55$, opponent bets 2,33$. We have to call 2,33$ to win 3,55$ + 2,33$ (5,88$). Our pot odds are 5,88$ / 2,33$ = roughly 2.5 : 1.

Here's an easy way to do that:

Let's say our opponent is betting 2$ into 6$ pot so our pot odds equal 4:1. To convert the ratio into % add both sides of the ratio (4 + 1) and use that number as a divisor for the right part of the ratio (1 / 5 = 20%).

In the example above you need to win 20% of the time to break even when your opponent is giving your 4:1 pot odds. How often do you need to win to make the call in other popular situations? Here are some examples for you to memorize:

• 1:1 = 50%
• 2:1 = 33%
• 3:1 = 25%
• 4:1 = 20%

Rule of 2 and 4

Now that you know what pot odds and odds are you can learn the quick way of calculating the percentage chance of your hand improving. It's called the rule of 2 and 4 and it's very simple:

With one more card to come (on the flop waiting for the turn or on the turn waiting for the river) multiply your outs by 2 to calculate the % chance of your hand improving. With two more cards to come (opponent all-in on the flop or any other situation when you have to call just one bet to see both turn and river) multiply your outs by 4 to calculate the % chance of your hand improving.

Example: You're holding T8 on a J24 board, you have 9 outs to hit your flush. Villain goes all in on the flop. Your % chance of improving to a flush equals 4 * 9 = 36%. Let's consider the same situation but this time flop went check/check, the turn is an Ace of clubs and your opponent is betting. Your % chance of improving in that situation would be 2 * 9 = 18%.

Hand vs. Hand All-in Pre-flop

	Example	Odds	%Odds/Equity
Pocket Pair vs. Smaller Pocket Pair	AA vs. TT	4 : 1	80%
Pocket Pair vs. Two High Cards	88 vs. AQ	1.2 : 1	55%
Pocket Pair vs. Two Low Cards	QQ vs. 67	4.9 : 1	King billy casino no deposit bonus codes. 83%
Pocket Pair vs. High Card and Low Card	JJ vs. A9	2.3 : 1	70%
Two High Cards vs. Two Low Cards	AJ vs. 78	1.9 : 1	65%
High Card and Low Card vs. Unpaired Hand	AT vs. KQ	1.2 : 1	55%

Odds of Improving Post-flop

	Example	Outs	Flop%/Odds	Turn%/Odds
Gutshot Straight Draw	JT on Q83	4	16.5%/5.1 : 1	8.7%/10.5 : 1
Two High Cards	AK on 962	6	24%/3.1 : 1	13%/6.7 : 1
Open-Ended Straight Draw	89 on A76	8	31.5%/2.2 : 1	17.4%/4.7 : 1
Flush Draw	AhQh on Jh5h8c	9	35%/1.9 : 1	19.6%/4.1 : 1
Flush Draw + High Card	As2s on 8sQs4d	12	45%/1.2 : 1	26.1%/2.8 : 1
Open-Ended Straight Flush Draw	Td9d on Jd8dKh	15	54.1%/0.85 : 1	32.6%/2.1 : 1

Poker Odds Calculator

So far you've learned about outs, odds, calculating the chance of improving your hand on the fly, and figuring out if it's profitable to make a call based on the pot size and bet size of your opponent. That's enough to get you started, but it probably doesn't answer every question you might have.

Maybe you want to figure out what's the equity of your set vs. two opponents holding a flush draw and straight draw? Maybe you want to know if your hand has any chance of winning in a 5-way family pot. Fortunately, we got you covered! You can answer those and many other questions using the Odds Calculator provided below:

Here's a quick guide on how to use the odds calculator:

• In the top right, you can choose your preferred game (you can even calculate the equity of winning a hand in games like Omaha Hi/Lo or Razz).
• Choose the number of players in the pot.
• Click on player's hole cards and assign them using the list provided at the bottom of the calculator.
• You can add cards to the board in the same way.
• Click 'Get Odds' et voila!

Now you can calculate the odds of winning any poker hand. With such a powerful tool at your disposal, you'll improve as a poker player in no-time!

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