Being a good poker player means knowing more than the cards. Outside of basic card play there are several factors that should be considered when devising a strategy, whether it spans the entirety of your game or just a single hand. Key among these factors is poker odds.
“Odds” is a basic term, but there are several specific types of odds that are incorporated into poker. One common type of odds is pot odds. Pot odds are essentially what are in the pot compared to what you will need to put into the pot to win it. Another common type of odds and one that we are going to explore further is future or “implied” odds.
Future odds in poker are as the name implies the odds of something happening later in the hand; in this case they usually apply to your getting a certain combination via the turn or river. Future odds are usually compared to pot odds to determine if a move is a good or bad risk.
A good example of how this works is drawing a flush. Your odds of drawing a flush on the turn are four to one. If the bet is $20 then for this to be good odds you want the pot to be at least $80, so that the pot odds are also four to one. This balances your risk and gain potential.
However your future odds of drawing the flush on the river are slightly better, meaning the pot odds can be slightly worse and it will still be a decent risk.
Odds are not a guarantee though they are only an estimate of likelihood. Playing future odds like playing any odds, can backfire in those rare cases where the odds don’t play true. Likewise many people skew their actual pot odds estimating that their opponents will contribute much more to the pot than they actually will.
Many times players using future odds forget other strategies, like reading their opponents and bet big early.
This can lead to a number of things ...
Firstly the other players may fold early, leaving you with a significantly smaller pot.
Second you may not give a player meeting your bets proper respect. They are not in the hand still simply to pump the pot, they are in it because they think they will win the pot. A flop heavy in one suit can mean an easy flush draw not only for you but also for another player.
Future odds and pot odds are important things to consider when playing advanced poker, but to play your best you should incorporate them with other poker strategies.
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