Pot odds importance in poker

The pot odds refer to the ratio between the pot size and the cost of calling a bet. The pot odds are a very important toll in the real money poker game, because compared with the odds of winning the hand helps the player to take the most profitable decision.

Let’s say that the pot value is $200 and a player must call a bet of $50 to play the hand. In this case the pot odds are 200 to 50 or better said 4:1. To make the pot odds and poker odds comparison easier, the pot odds are transformed in percentage values. In our example the percentage value is 50/(200+50)=0.20 or 20%. This value is then compared to the odds of drawing a winning card. If the pot odds are higher than winning odds, the player shouldn’t call the bet because s has a negative expectation.

A negative expectation means that on a long run this situation will make the player to lose money. A positive expectation, meaning winning odds higher than the pot odds, will be profitable for the player on long run.

It is important to mention that the negative or positive expectations refer to the average outcome for a large number of similar situations. So, even if in several similar situations the player loses, the final balance after totalizing the outcomes of these situations is still positive. This way the player knows that at the call is profitable.

As you can imagine, the pot odds are very important in the game of poker. All professional poker players know that and use them constantly. Knowing and using correctly the pot odds makes the difference between a player that wins money and a player that is always losing.

The pot odds can be used in different strategies to manipulate the opponents. The right bet can make everyone else to fold even if you are only bluffing, so the pot odds can be very helpful in poker.