- US players acceptedWebsites of online poker provide a lot of various types of poker games, such as Omaha, Texas Hold’em, stud games and draw games. Regardless of which game you decide to play, though, after learning the basic rules of card play poker, you can learn about different probabilities that can help you look forward to the chances of getting certain hands and whether it would make sense to bet chips while trying to get those hands or not.
Take pot odds, for instance. The majority of experienced players should have played sufficient poker hands to know by instinct what any situation’s pot odds are. However, they needed to learn all about pot odds at some point. Do you know what pot odds are?
If you play Texas Hold’em and get 8c-7s with the turn just arriving to make Ad-9c-6s-2h, you will hold an open-ended straight. $200 lies inside the pot and your last opponent has gone all-in with $100. Should you fold or call?
Six cards have been revealed to you by now, so 46 cards still remain unseen. You are aware that eight of them could give you the greatest hand. You are also quite certain that your opponent holds an Ace, so pairs won’t help. This means that eight cards out of 46 could give you the greatest hand. Your odds of getting a straight would therefore be 38-to-8, 4.75-to-1 or 17.4%.
Pot odds describe the overall ratio of the existing pot size to how much you need to call. So, after your opponent goes all-in and the pot size is $300, you know you have to call $100 to stay in. So, this situation’s pot odds would be 3-to-1.
Should you call, then, or not? Naturally, a part of the decision-making process should involve your knowledge about the playing style of your opponent. However, math also needs to be taken into consideration just like in blackjack, and this is where the pot odds appear.
If we strictly refer to the proper play from mathematical perspectives, you should really fold when it comes to this situation because the overall pot odds are not in your favor than your odds in getting a straight. You would need minimum pot odds of 4.75-to-1 to make the call profitable.
Naturally, calling may win you the hand. However, in the long run, calling all the time, even if pot odds aren’t in your favor, will make you lose.
