07-27-04, LearnTexasHoldem:

Pot Odds Equations

Question: Thank you for your quick and detailed reply. The poker community is thankful to have someone like you who is willing to take time out of his busy schedule to answer questions from beginners like myself. I would like to add a suggestion to your future article pertaining to the subject of Hold em or Fold em, Calculating Pot Odds; while you seem to be a word problem solver, I am more of an equation solver (ie. you like the "bobby has two cents and jane has three", where as I do better with the simplified "2+3=5"). In light of your response, I believe I have figured out the mathematical equivalent to your examples of figuring out pot odds:

Top 3 Beginner Rooms

To find Pot Odds based off the Pot Value the equation is--

(100 * Bet Amount) / %Chance to Hit < Pot Value

To find Pot Odds based off the Bet Amount the equation is-- (%Chance to Hit * Pot Value) / 100 > Bet Amount

To me, logically, the first equation (they both are technically the same equation) is easier to calculate in your head, however will be more difficult in No Limit as opposed to Limit because the bets could be any odd number. The second one is slightly more difficult to compute, but works better for No Limit than the first.

Does this make sense to you? Now, I know that there are many other probabilities you should factor into Pot Odds such as does he have you beat even if you do hit your odds, but I'd thought I'd try to help your mathematical-solver readers out there in this particular area of the decision making process.

Again, thanks for all your effort in helping us improve our game. I look forward to future articles and e-mail responses.

~Jason

Answer: Thanks for sending this in Jason! The only thing I would add for the readers is to make sure that for the Pot Value variable you figure in implied odds and not what is just in the pot right now. The question is, "Is a call worth it now?" To answer that you need to look not only at what is in the pot now but what you could potentially win in future bets too.

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