Pot Odds

What are they? Pot odds are basically the price that you are getting on the pot. Poker is often referred to as gambling of course and that is because there is both risk and reward in almost every action that you take. When the pot has a certain amount of money in it and you are calling a bet often it is with an inferior hand which you hope will be a superior hand should the right cards come your way on future streets. So you look at the current size of the pot plus the bet in front of you (always remember that once somebody makes a bet in poker it is part of the pot) and determine if it is worth your while to call. That is, do you have the correct mathematical odds to call.


Example #1:

There is $1 in the middle and your opponent has bet $1. You have to call $1 in order to win a $2 pot ($1 in the middle plus his $1 bet). In order to get your pot odds you simply take the size of the pot and divide it by what you have to call. In this case 2 to 1.

Example #2:

There is $3 in the middle and your opponent bets $1.50.

$3 + $1.50 = $4.50,

$4.50/ $1.50 = 3 to 1 pot odds.