Recently, I got a question from one of my students. It stated, "What precisely is pot odds and is Texas hold’em pot probabilities strategy worth pursuing?"
One thing to keep in mind, any type of Texas holdem odds can and usually do get extremely confusing. On the other hand, let me break pot odds down in really easy terms. Please note that we are only discussing Pot Odds. Not outs, implied probabilities, simple odds or something else like that.
In short, pot odds are the probabilities you obtain when determining the ratio of the quantity of money in the pot to the quantity of money it’s going to price you to call the wager.
For example, let’s say you are heads up with Player A. If there is certainly $150 in the pot following the flop and Gambler A places a 20 dollars bet it will price you only thirteen per-cent of the pot to stay in the hand. If your likelihood of winning is greater than thirteen per-cent it’s a no-brainer to call because you’d probably have very good pot probabilities.
That’s all there is to it genuinely. Hold em pot probabilities boils down to one thing. If your chance of winning is much better than the ratio of the pot size to the bet then you have good pot odds. If it’s lower than you could have bad pot probabilities.
One additional thought about Hold’em pot probabilities. You are still playing the gambler much more so than anything else. Bet on the gambler far more than your starting hands or the size of the chip stack and even, yes the pot odds.
If it is possible to learn to read your opponents well it is possible to utilize pot odds to help justify or solidify your judgement. Except Holdem pot probabilities do not need to be an end all whenever you produce a poker conclusion.
Knowing and understanding how Hold em pot odds work may be a useful and successful method. Except again don’t make Holdem pot odds your only method.