Post-flop: The Mathematics of Poker - Odds & Outs
by Michael
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Introduction
In this article- Which cards help you?
- Learning to balance risk and reward
- Not every helpful hand is that helpful
Draws, or drawing hands are incomplete hands which have to be complemented by another community card so that they can be defined as made hands. The strategy from the beginner section doesn't clearly define how to handle these kinds of hands.
In this article you will learn the mathematical basis of poker. You will learn how to figure out the winning percentages of your draw and how to determine whether it is profitable to play the hand or not.
This article is based on the following three central terms:
- Outs
Outs are all the cards which can improve your hand. - Odds
Odds show the probability of one of the next community cards being one of your outs. - Pot odds
Pot odds show the relationship between the potential profit and the bet you have to make. This can be seen as the risk-reward-ratio. If these are compared to the odds, it is possible to judge the worth of calling a bet in order to complete your draw.
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#1
Odieone, 19 Apr 08 16:45
Excellent rewrite on the outs and odds. I was just thinking that the one on the SnG section was better than the FL one. SnG is more complicated but it had the pictures.The New one on FL is awesome.
#2
mouse89, 06 Oct 08 14:15
ok#3
mrsnok, 27 Jan 09 11:38
there's a typo on page 4, where it says:"In the described situation, the pot is at $10. "
Actually, it's 5$.
#4
Pirokunn, 31 Jan 09 00:41
mrsnok, you are right - there's a contextual mistake, butI'm sure, that the pot size in the described situation is actually
6$ (5$ preflop + the 1$ bet from the opponent), not 5$ ;)
I notified the PS team :P
#5
Pirokunn, 31 Jan 09 00:45
sry, my bad, mrsnok is 100% right :]#6
DCaldeira, 07 Sep 09 22:48
nice#7
krumvirek, 15 Aug 10 22:31
very good pictures#8
rbdflyboy, 01 Oct 10 22:21
Excellent presentation. Most people don't give me the pot odds to call a bet if I am in a drawing situation. Most players bet between 66%-100% of the pot to potect their hands. So 90% of the time I'm folding after the flop or preflop. Just too expensive to keep going. I've learned two of many important lessons: Live to fight another day,and, if I haven't made my hand by the turn...fold. The reason, if I'm going to coin flip, I'll do it preflop.#9
danoosh, 27 Feb 12 14:54
thx