Texas
Holdem Pot Odds - What they are and how to use them
to win big money
Recently, I received a question
from one of my students. It stated, "What exactly
is pot odds and is Texas Holdem pot odds strategy worth
pursuing?"
One thing to remember, any
kind of Texas Holdem odds can and usually do get very confusing.
However, let me break pot odds down in very simple terms.
Please note that we are only discussing Pot Odds. Not outs,
implied odds, simple odds or anything else like that.
In short, pot odds
are the odds you get when determining the ratio of the amount
of money in the pot to the amount of money it will cost
you to call the bet.
For example, let’s
say you’re heads up with Player A. If there is $150.00
in the pot after the flop and Player A places a $20.00 bet
it will cost you only 13% of the pot to stay in the hand.
If your likelihood of winning is greater than 13% it's a
no-brainer to call because you’d have good pot odds.
That's all there
is to it really. Texas Holdem pot odds boils down
to one thing. If your chance of winning is better than the
ratio of the pot size to the bet then you have good pot
odds. If it's lower than you have bad pot odds.
One more thought
about Texas Holdem pot odds. You're still playing
the player more so than anything else. Play the player more
than your starting
hands or the size of the chip stack and even,
yes the pot odds.
If you can learn to read
your opponents well you can utilize pot odds to help justify
or solidify your decision. But Texas Holdem pot
odds do not have to be an end all whenever you make a poker
decision.
Knowing and understanding
how Texas Holdem pot odds work can be a useful and successful
strategy. But again don't make Texas Holdem pot
odds your only strategy.
|
