Poker Odds for Dummies

Need some quick help? Check out our handy Texas Hold’em poker cheat sheet, which simply tells you which poker hands you should play when based on poker odds.

See more free video tutorial content from our poker school:

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Poker Odds Chart

Drawing to improve your hand is an essential part of poker, but the difference between winning and losing often comes down to knowing when you’re getting the right price to call to try and hit your card. This chart shows the most common drawing situations you’ll find yourself in, as well as how much needs to be in the pot already to make it worth calling.

We’d recommend bookmarking this page so you can refer to these poker cheat sheets next time you face a tricky call online.

On the Flop

Drawing Hand	# of Outs	Odds of Hitting by the River	$ in Pot Needed per $1 to Call
Open-ended Straight and Flush Draw	15	54%	$0.85
Inside Straight and Flush Draw	12	45%	$1.25
Flush Draw	9	35%	$1.85
Open-ended Straight Draw	8	32%	$2.10
2x Overcards vs Top Pair	6	24%	$3.15
Two pair to Full House	4	16%	$5.25
Inside Straight Draw	4	16%	$5.25
1x Overcard vs Top Pair	3	12%	$7.35
Pocket Pair to Set	2	8%	$11.50

On the Turn

Drawing Hand	# of Outs	Odds of Hitting by the River	$ in Pot Needed per $1 to Call
Open-ended Straight and Flush Draw	15	33%	$2.00
Inside Straight and Flush Draw	12	26%	$2.85
Flush Draw	9	20%	$4.00
Open-ended Straight Draw	8	17%	$4.90
2x Overcards vs Top Pair	6	13%	$6.70
Two pair to Full House	4	9%	$10.10
Inside Straight Draw	4	9%	$10.10
1x Overcard vs Top Pair	3	6%	$15.65
Pocket Pair to Set	2	4%	$24.00

Pot Odds Table

Here’s our at-a-glance guide to poker pot odds, using some of the more common bet sizes you’re likely to face at the table. Want some guidance on what you should be playing in the first place? We recommend checking our starting hands page for more information.

Size of bet	Example	Pot odds	Equity needed
1/2 pot bet	$1 into $2 pot	3:1	1/4 or 25%
2/3 pot bet	$2 into $3 pot	5:2	2/7 or 29%
3/4 pot bet	$3 into $4 pot	7:3	3/10 or 30%
pot sized bet	$4 into $4 pot	8:4 or 2:1	4/12 or 1/3 33%
2x pot bet	$8 into $4 pot	12:8 or 3:2	8/20 or 2/5 40%

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PART 1

How Odds Work

Let’s say you’re betting on a horse race and are given odds of ‘seven to one’, it will be written ‘7:1’. This means that for every $1 you bet you’ll get paid $7 if you win. So if you bet $10 at 7:1 you’ll win $70 (plus your stake).

When the odds are particularly high against you winning, it’ll often be referred to as the ‘long shot’, which generally means it has only the slightest chance of succeeding.

Higher odds generally mean you have less chance of winning. If someone offers you odds of 100:1 it means they’re convinced you’re not going to win.

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PART 2

Poker Odds Tell You the Probability of Hitting Any Given Card

Before we discuss poker odds when playing online poker, you need to know how to calculate your ‘outs’. Outs are simply the cards that will help you improve your hand and make it better than what you think your opponent is holding.

To calculate odds you first need the number of winning cards, or ‘outs’

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PART 3

Using the ‘Outs’ To Calculate Texas Hold’em Poker Odds

Let’s break this down:

• We have already determined that you have nine ‘outs’.
• There are 52 cards in a deck, and two of those are in your hand, leaving 50.
• There are four cards exposed from the flop and turn, leaving 46 cards.
• Your opponent is holding two cards, but we ignore those as our calculations in online Texas Hold’em poker are only based on the cards you can see and what could be left in the deck.

First, calculate how many cards from the deck you can’t see:

*Still ignoring what your opponent may be holding

The unseen cards are then split into winners and losers:

Common poker outs scenarios

To help you get to grips with the idea of poker outs, we’ve provided the outs and odds on some common scenarios you’re likely to see at the table. Use this simple odds chart for calculating odds and probabilities while playing, especially when you are drawing and hoping to improve your hand.

It has basic hand odds given the number of “outs” after the flop or after the turn. These “outs” represent the cards you need to hit to make a better hand, such as turning a pair into three-of-a-kind, or filling a straight draw. You’ll notice there’s a big difference between having just one card to come, and two. For the example above – the flush draw – your chances go up to 35% from 20% if you have both turn and river to come.

If you would like to start practicing or playing, check out our freerolls page for the best poker rooms to get you started, or try our no-risk, no deposit, no download tables to play for free right now!

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Feel free to save our poker odds chart image or poker odds chart PDF for use anytime you need it – or bookmark the page!

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PART 4

The BIG Question: Should You Call the Bet?

So, on the turn you have odds of around 4:1 to win this hand. As to whether you should call your opponent’s bet, that depends on how much money is in the pot. No, that doesn’t mean if there’s a big pot of money you should just go for it. What you should be looking for is the ratio of money you could win compared to the size of your opponent’s bet.

Let’s continue with our example:

• Let’s say there was $90 in the pot and your opponent bets $10.
• That makes a total of $100 in the middle of the table waiting to be won.
• You need to match your opponent’s bet of $10 to see the river card, so it’s going to cost you $10 to see if that last card is going to be one of the nine you need to win.

Step 1: Work out how much you’d normally win from your actual poker odds:

Step 2: Calculate how much money you could win and the odds you’re getting:

Step 3: Decide whether to call the bet:

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PART 5

But What if I Lose?

Even if you make that call, you might still lose. It happens. Remember, your calculated odds were 4:1, meaning you will lose four times for every time you win. That’s why it’s important you are being offered at least the chance to win four times as much as your bet, because statistically in the long run you’ll break even. More importantly, if you are being offered the chance to win more than four times your bet for a 4:1 risk, you’ll eventually make money.

To summarize everything we have calculated so far:

If this situation came up 5 times during the game, and went exactly as the probabilities suggest, it would look like this:

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PART 6

A Lot To Remember? Here’s a Handy Shortcut: The Rule of 4 and 2

Now that you have worked through the math and seen the theory, it’s time to introduce a handy shortcut. This will help you calculate your chances of winning a hand within the short period of time that online poker allows you to make a decision.

Let’s use our example from step 1:

1. After the flop (first three cards the dealer puts on the table), calculate the number of outs left in the deck:

   Using our example from step 1 we had: 9 outs

2. Then simply multiply the number of outs by 4 to get the approximate chance of being dealt a winning card on the turn or river:

   9 x 4 = 36%

3. After the turn (fourth card dealt on the table), multiply the number of outs by 2 to give the chance of winning on the river:

   9 x 2 = 18%

While this method is not super precise, it provides a clear enough guide when calculating odds in online poker. Once you’ve got the hang of playing poker, you may want to start calculating the exact percentage, but for now, the rule of 4 and 2 is more than enough to get you started.

You can always use our poker cheat sheet and poker odds calculator when you’re reviewing your poker hands and brushing up on your skills.

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What is Expected Value in Poker?

Expected value helps poker players make decisions based on risk versus reward. Players use the expected value formula to quickly calculate if they should bet, check, or fold. In essence, “expected value” is a concept used to describe the average outcome of a given scenario that hinges on an uncertain probabilistic event.

A simple example of expected value is as follows:

• A fair coin, when flipped, has a 50% chance of coming up heads and a 50% chance of coming up tails. Let’s say you will receive $1 if it comes up heads, and nothing if it comes up tails.
• It’s clear that there is a 50% chance of winning a dollar and a 50% chance of winning nothing. The average outcome here is also fairly straightforward: you would expect, on average, to win 50 cents.
• Because the probability indicates you would profit from this scenario in the long run, taking that risk would be a ‘positive EV’ (positive expected value) decision.

Using the coin flip example, you can use this expected value (EV) formula, with the probability (P) and the payout amount (AMT), to calculate the EV of a coin flip:

Naturally, using expected value in poker is more complicated than a simple coin flip. However, the principle is still the same. By using your knowledge of poker odds from this page, you can apply the expected value formula to get a better understanding of when you should bet, check, or fold.

What are Poker Pot Odds?

Pot odds refers to the price of calling a bet relative to the size of the pot. For example, if the pot is $100 and your opponent bets $100, then you would need to call $100 to win $200 (their bet plus the pot). This means you’re getting pot odds of $200 to $100, or 2:1.

To calculate pot odds, count the chips in the pot and compare that with the amount of chips you must pay to stay in the hand. For example, if there are 100 chips in the pot and you must pay 10 to call, your pot odds are 10:1. To use this knowledge to your advantage, establish the ratio of cards in the deck that you don’t need vs. the cards that you do need. Then, compare this ratio with the pot odds. If the pot odds are longer than the card odds, it′s a good idea to call.

What are Implied Odds in Poker?

Implied odds describe how much you may win later in the hand, in relation to the amount you need to bet or call at the time. Using implied odds is a way of figuring out whether calling or making a bet against your opponent is a good idea or not. Calculating implied odds in poker works in the same way as calculating pot odds, but implied odds take into consideration any future betting.

Implied odds are an estimation of how much money you can win if you hit one of your outs. For instance, with $100 in the pot, and a bet of $20, is your gain really only $100 if you win? Depending on how the cards fall, you might be able to draw your opponents in and grow the pot. In this scenario, as the pot gets bigger, your implied odds go up.

Cheat sheets

Our poker odds cheat sheets can give you the edge at the tables and help you make better decisions – especially when you have a drawing hand. Click to download and print them out (or simply bookmark this page) so you always have them handy.

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Poker Odds FAQ’s