This is a general guide to odds in poker online. Different types of odds will help you determine whether or not it’s worth it to call until the turn, or what your realistic chance is to win the hand. Mathematical odds become increasingly important in online play. Since you’ll be playing many hands per hour, you can be pickier about what cards you want to play. Let’s get started with some basic poker odds.
Outs
An “out” is simply how many cards in the deck will help you make your best online poker hand. Let’s say you’re holding a pair of 8’s. There are two cards in the deck that could help make your hand better. Those two cards are, naturally, the 8’s. There may be other cards that could make your hand better, but they’d also help out your opponents. This can also be applied after more cards are in the mix. For example, let’s say that you’re playing Texas Hold’em and you’re holding Q-5 of diamonds.
The flop is 7-A-2. The A-2 are diamonds. That means there are potentially 14 cards in the deck that will work for you and gives you a better hand. 3 Queen’s, 3 fives, and the 9 remaining diamonds. Note that it is not possible to consider whether or not your online poker India opponents may be holding the cards you need. You can do some guesswork, but you also need to remember that any folded hands also may have had some of the cards you needed.
Pot Odds
When considering whether or not it’s worth it to call, pot odds can play a very significant part in helping you decide. Pot odds are how much it will cost you to call a bet versus how much you stand to profit. So, if you risk it, so long as you win one time out of six, you’re breaking even by making that call. This works for anything. It’s a great way to decide if it’s really worth risking your money to see the final cards.
Bet Odds
These are how many callers you think you’ll have for a specific betting round. For example, let’s say you’re one away from a flush draw. You want to bet and expect there to be 4 people who will call. These are 4 to 1 bet odds. These are good odds to use, as they can be easily done before your hand is made. If you think that you’d get 6-7 callers, you will have good bet odds on your hand should you bet.
Implied Odds
These are similar to pot odds, except it goes with the assumed amount in the pot at the end of all betting rounds. For example, at the start of the game, if you think that the pot at the end will most likely be X, you can better determine what you want to call or bet, and whether or not it’s worth it to stay in the game until the end. This is a more speculative way of telling poker odds than other methods, but it can still help you reach a decision if you’re having trouble.
Happy playing!
Read more:
Poker Online – Overcoming Bad Beats in the Game
Poker Online – Anatomy of a Good Poker Player