Should I call?
Pot odds in plain words: when a call pays.
When someone bets, the pot offers you a price. Pot odds tell you how often you need to win for a call to pay off over time. It's one division, and it settles a lot of decisions.
In short
- Pot odds: what you have to call ÷ the pot after you call.
- That's how often you need to win for a call to break even.
- Bigger bets ask you to win more often.
- With a draw, count your outs: about 2% for each out, for each card to come.
The price of a call
Say the pot is 10 and they bet 5. The pot is now 15, and you have to put in 5. After you call, the pot is 20. You're paying 5 to play for 20:
5 ÷ 20 = 25%
So if you win more than a quarter of the time, calling makes money in the long run. Win less, and it loses.
Bigger bets ask for more:
| They bet | You need to win |
|---|---|
| A quarter of the pot | 17% |
| Half the pot | 25% |
| The size of the pot | 33% |
The pot is 20 and they bet 20. How often do you need to win?
- 33%
- 50%
- 20%
Show the answer
33%. You call 20, and the pot after your call is 60. 20 ÷ 60 is one third, about 33%.
Draws: counting outs
Sometimes you don't have the best hand yet, but one card could give it to you. The cards that would are your outs.
There are 13 hearts and you can see 4, so 9 are left: you have 9 outs. A quick rule: each out is worth about 2% for each card to come. With one card left, 9 outs is about 18%. (The exact number is 20%: 9 of the 46 cards you can't see.)
They bet half the pot, so you need 25%. You'll make your flush about 20% of the time. On price alone, that's not enough: the call loses money, and folding is right.
Win often enough, not every time
A good call can lose and a bad call can win. One hand tells you almost nothing. What matters is making the right decision for the price, again and again. The app scores your decisions, not your luck.
Try it
The next time they bet, work out the price before you decide: what you call ÷ the pot after you call. For more, read Probability. That's the basics. Your path starts with the Nit, the easiest villain to read.