Introduction: Odds and Holdem

Introduction: Odds and Holdem

Outs and Draws (and the magical rule of four)

Odds and Wagers

Tilted Donkey's Pot Size Rule of Calling

Important Calling Examples

Betting and Raising

Wonders of Betting and Raising

Making Estimates

General Points

Rules of Thumb for Drawing

Odds are a way to describe how likely it is that something will occur.

Odds are best understood by most people as a percentage.

For example

• "there is a 20% chance of rain today";
• "there is a 50% chance I will win this next coin flip."

At every point in the poker action, we would love to know our exact odds of winning!

If a voice from the heavens would tell us “you have an 96% chance of winning this hand” then we would probably bet pretty hard!

Follow the links on the left to learn all about odds, the professional player's best friend. We will do it all in percentages.

P.S. It's easy! Every poker player has to read Outs and Draws (and the magical rule of four)

If you'd just like some easy to follow rules of thumb check this out: Rules of Thumb for Drawing

Exact Odds and Estimates

Odds are particularly useful when one is drawing for cards. It is quite simple to figure out the percentage chance that you will hit the cards you need.

You can amaze your friends by pulling out exact percentages (odds) once you read Outs and Draws (and the magical rule of four).

This is a very useful talent because you can use it to decide whether you should fold or continue to draw for cards!

If you are drawing to the best or worst possible hands you can use odds to calculate your exact chance of winning a hand.

In any other case, you have to estimate the odds of winning a hand. Making a quality estimate is as much art as it is science (despite what some books may say).

The rest of this text and our interactive tutorials can help you make world-class estimates of your odds in any situation.

Practice Your Skills

Our Mini-Game Chances of... tests your knowledge of the odds. Its fun and informative.