Back to the Basics.....Pot Odds

[I Eat Gamblers]

OK. This is for those who are new to the game or never really understood the concept of Pot Odds.

Basic definition: Pot Odds would be the the ratio between the pot amount in comparison to the bet you are facing. Example: lets say the pot is $200 and your opponent bets $20, your pot odds would be 11 to 1, since you need to call $20 to stay in the pot.

Seems simple enough right? But what about your actual odds of winning the hand? In this case you need to figure out how many cards will make your hand the best, also called OUTS.
Lets say the board reads Kc 7s 6d 2h and in your hand you hold 8h 9h. With just 1 card to come you have 8 outs, the four remaining 5 and the four remaining 10's to make your straight.
With 52 cards in the deck and you already know what your cards are, as well as the board, that leaves 46 unseen. Of the 46 cards only 8 will give you the straight and 38 will miss.

So the actual odds of making your straight are 4.75 to 1. (38/8 =4.75)

Since you know that the pot odds are 11 to 1 and your actual odds of improving are 4.75 to 1 you can see that you're getting a great retuen for your investment and should call.

Now if the pot was $20 and your opponent bets $20, your pot odds would be 2 to 1
and with only eight outs the correct thing to do here would be to fold.

I hope this helps out some of the newbies and the others who never understood Pot Odds.