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Beginners' Low Limit Poker Strategy Guide Page 4

Once you’ve figured out your outs for the hands that you can draw to, compare them to the poker draw odds chart.  Lets say you hold 2 overcards with a nut flush draw on the board (you hold A K, the flop is J 4 2)  You have a total of 15 outs, 6 outs for your two overcards, and 9 outs for the 9 remaining diamonds, an amazingly strong hand.  The odds of your hand improving are 2.1-1.  That means for every 3.1 times you hold this hand, 2.1 times you won’t improve and 1 time you will.  Those are very good odds.  Now you’re going to compare these odds to your pot odds, which brings me to the next subject.

Pot Odds

Pot odds tell you what your expected reward is for the amount risked.  Remembering pot odds is easy.  Lets say you have pot odds that are 7-1.  That means that for one bet risked, you will gain 7 bets.  Simple huh?  To figure out your pot odds simply divide the current amount of money in the pot by the bet you must make to remain in the hand.  So if the pot has $30 in it on the flop, and you need to make a $5 bet to continue in the hand, then your pot odds at this point are 6-1, 30/5=6.  If the pot has $100 in it, and the bet is $10, your pot odds are 100/10=10, which is 10-1.  There are programs available that can instantly figure out pot odds for you.  Check out our poker software reviews page if you’re interested in using one of these. 

Now that you know how to figure out draw odds (how likely you are to draw the cards needed to improve your hand to best hand), and pot odds (the relation between the money in the pot, and your current bet), I’ll show you how to apply them to each other.  This is really quite simple.  If you have a flush draw, giving you 9 outs (9 remaining cards in the deck that can help you achieve a flush) then your draw odds are 4-1(remember to check the chart, 4 times you’ll fail, 1 time you’ll get your flush, or 1 in 5 times you’ll succeed).  If the pot has $25 in it on the flop, and you must bet $5 to stay in the hand, then your pot odds are 5-1 (25/5=5).  Now compare your pot odds to your draw odds.  If your pot odds are larger than your draw odds, then it is profitable in most cases to continue and draw to your flush.  Now things can get complicated depending on what cards are on the board, who you’re playing against, etc.  But for now, a simple guideline to use is; unless you face a very scary board, or are for some reason certain you’re already beat, then, if your pot odds are larger than your draw odds, stay in the hand.  You need to re-evaluate your odds each step of the way, the flop, the turn, and the river, to see if it is profitable to continue.  You should memorize the odds for drawing to a flush and an open ended straight as they are very common.  In most cases you will not draw to a gut-shot straight draw (one card can make your straight) or backdoor flush (you need 2 cards of the same suit to achieve your flush) very often.  To make this profitable you would need to have a combination of things going for you, a gut-shot straight draw and a backdoor flush draw, plus a strong overcard, etc…  The odds of drawing to a gut-shot draw are 11-1.  That means the pot odds would have to be higher than 11-1 to draw to that hand.  Again, always know what your pot odds are, as an unusually large pot can make a normally unprofitable draw sometimes become profitable.  Poker is about pressing your edges when you have them, and backing off when you’re behind. 

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