Pot Odds and Implied Odds – Part 4

We hear the terms Pot Odds and Implied Odds a lot in the poker world, especially among the more advanced players. But do you know the difference between the two and how to figure each one out? If not, this article may help you.

Let’s look at Pot Odds first; then we’ll take a look at how the Implied Odds work.

The relationship between the amount of money already in the pot and the cost of calling a bet is known as Pot Odds. Many low-limit players and some higher-limit Texas Hold 'Em players have no concept of how the pot odds can affect their overall profits in a game. In general, they don't understand the reasoning behind playing drawing hands against a large field of opponents.

The issue that confuses some players is that some hands that are profitable against many players will be a loser (profit wise) or break even hand with fewer players in the hand.
Let’s look at an example to see how pot odds can affect your profitability. You are playing in a $2/4 limit game. You hold 10-9 suited in clubs. The board cards are Kd, 7s, 6h, 2c. It will cost you $4 to see the river card.
The only card that can help you is an 8 (you are hoping for a straight). There are four 8’s left in the deck. With your two hole cards and the four on the board you have seen 6 of the fifty-two cards in the deck so there are 46 unseen cards left. Four times you will catch the 8 and 42 times you won’t so the odds are 42 to 4 or 10.5 against you. You get this figure by dividing 46 by 4 and you get 11.5. Subtract 1 and you have 10.5 to 1.
In order to make a call of $4 to try for an inside straight, the pot must contain $42 in order for you to break even, and more than that if you want to make a profit. Here is where that number comes from:
You will lose $42 for the 10.5 times you don’t catch an 8 ($4 bet x 10.5 = 42.) The one time you do catch the 8 you will make money in the long run if the pot contains more than $42, and you will lose if the pot contains less than $42.
Remember, Pot Odds is only a relationship between the money in the pot and the price of a bet you must make to call. If the pot contains $44 and the size of the bet you must call is $4, you divide the $44 by $4 and you get the result of 11, which means that the pot odds are 11 to 1. The odds against making an inside straight are10.5 to 1, so, in this case, the pot odds are greater than the odds against making your hand. You should call.

So, how does this play into Implied Odds?
Suppose the pot only contains $40 and it is now your turn to act. If you go strictly by pot odds you should fold. But what if you have two players left and you believe one of them has a K in his hole cards? This player would have top pair. If you call and make your inside straight you know that one or both of the players will bet and/or call at the River. It’s possible that you could raise and get a call if the player did have kings and bet first. So if you make your hand you figure to gain two or more bets. These two additional bets would be your implied odds. When you add these two extra bets to your pot odds, you will be getting the right odds (12 to 1) to call with your inside straight draw.
When you figure your implied odds you have to be aware if there are other players who still have to act after you. If the player to your left raises after you bet, then the implied odds you calculated will not be correct as you now have to call another bet to see the next card.
Try to keep in mind, that implied odds are the pot odds adjusted for future betting and should be considered when deciding whether to continue playing your hand in Texas Hold’em. When you figure implied odds you are adding bets that you expect to win if you make the winning hand, and this calculation will change as players raise to you.

Becoming good (and fast) at deciphering Pot Odds and Implied Odds is not easy, unless you are a math whiz, but it is one of the most important skills that you must learn if you plan to play professionally or for big money.