11-15-04, LearnTexasHoldem:
Pot Odds In Tourneys
I have a question about pot odds in a tourney. I played a friendly tourney yesterday and after I mucked my straight flush draw on the river based on pot odds and saw the card i needed and started asking myself if pot odds were really that important in a tourney. Since you're not winning money unless you end up in the final table or in the first 3 or whatever, is it that important ?
I understand that in ring games, pot odds are important in the long run if you want to play with probabilities and make them play in your advantage.
What is your opinion on that ?
Thanks Jeff
p.s. just a quick bad beat story. I lost AAA to a guy who called my all-in (with less chips that I) with a straight draw on the river. He needed a 9 and guess what happened? A 9 on the river. For the first time, he hardly admitted he was lucky.
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Answer: Pot odds are important for any type of poker, including tournament play, so you don't end up treating a hand like a gutshot draw with a small pot the same way you would with a straight flush draw in a big pot. But like you said, pot odds become less of a factor in tournament play than regular play. Usually pot odds are used as a last measure if you are unsure whether you should call or not.
Most of the time your decisions are clear without having to take into account pot odds since in no limit holdem one pot can cost a lot of chips. If I were you, I would just try to get a feel for what is kind of right in each situation. You don't have to be perfectly accurate in figuring the numbers out. It just comes down to risk versus reward -- you don't want to waste a bunch of chips when the return isn't good.
On the flip side, you don't want to pass up an opportunity where you have a nice return on your investment. When you have a draw in no limit holdem you should think about if you catch it how much it will cost you and how much you might win from it. You should pay attention to a few things: who you are playing with and how likely they are to get broken if you catch, how many chips are in the pot now, how many chips you have, how many chips you'll have to invest.
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