There's a 100% odds you're reading this to improve your chances of winning at poker. Well, who would not want to win? Everyone who is hooked on the game wants the same thing to happen to them. Just think of the recognition, the glory, and of course, think of the cash. Like what everyone says, it is not the player who walks away from the game winning the most pots that's considered a winner; it is the player who walks off winning the most money. Surely, between the two, you would choose to be the latter, wouldn't you? That's the point of poker anyway--- to win bundles of money. And oh yeah, it is also about having fun.
Since online poker rooms burst into the Internet gambling scene years ago, many people jumped on the bandwagon, thinking that playing poker online is loads easier than playing in brick and mortar card rooms. This is because the environment in online poker rooms are less intimidating, making playing slightly more hassle-free. But even though playing at poker rooms over the Internet is a lot more laid-back, it does not necessarily mean that competition isn't tough. In contrary, since online poker rooms have a bigger player base, chances are, the wide assortment of players also include adept and world-class poker players. For this reason, any sharp poker player knows that he must increase his knowledge and improve his skills in poker to acquire a better edge over other players.
This is where odds come in. Calculating odds is another poker strategy that many poker players adopt when they are intent upon winning. Odds play a big part in betting and in determining your next move. Knowing your odds allows you to plan your next action and gives you definite advantage over your opponents. Being able to calculate the odds lets a player have somewhat a bird's eye view on the game, allowing him to decide whether he should bet, raise, check, fold or whatever.
The handiness of calculating odds is actually one reason why poker is such a popular game. Being able to calculate the odds in poker makes the game beatable. This is also the same reason why casinos don't give precedence to poker because the card game favors the players rather than the house, in short, the odds of them making profit out of poker is near nil. In poker, the odds always change with every card dealt off the deck, and for players, it means that their odds at winning may change for better or for worse with every betting round or for every card meted out of the deck.
But before you get all psyched up over calculating your odds, you should know that the entire process is a bit intricate. You might as well review all you know about statistics and probability because calculating your odds is, well, as mathematical as it could get. To say that calculating odds needs mathematical prowess is an underestimation, because you definitely have to be really skillful and fast with numbers to be able to keep up with the changing odds.
Two types of odds are commonly utilized in poker: pot and card odds. When a player is calculating his pot odds, he is weighing up the kind of money fix he will get if he wins the pot as opposed to what amount he is going to bet. On the other hand, card odds are simply the probability that a player will hit his hand. These two always go side by side, and anyone who wants be a good player (that is, winning more than he is losing) knows that he should learn both pot and card odds calculation by heart.
Before you start calculating your card odds, you should first be aware of the outs you got in your hand. Outs are basically the remaining cards on the deck. These cards are not exposed to the players, so any of those remaining outs on the deck have the possibility to help you get your hand. When you already know the outs you got on your hand, make use of it to compute for the percentage where you will likely get a hit during the river. Single events, such as a turn over of a river card after the turn, require a simple computation of the total outs divided by the remaining cards. The formula for the two cards (such as from the flop to the river) on the other hand, is more complicated. This can easily be determined by knowing the probability that your cards would not be hit twice in one row. The flop-river percentage is calculated using this formula:
flop-river = 1 - [ (47 - number of outs / 47) * (46 - number of outs / 46)]
The number 47 corresponds to the cards left after the flop that still remain on the deck. That is simply 52 cards minus the two cards in your hand, and the three cards on flop. This is just an assumption since the remaining number of cards may not really be 47.
For instance, if you got a 2 overcard draw that has three outs for every overcard, you would have six outs for the top pair draw. Using the flop-river formula, you get a 24% possibility of drawing overcards from the flop to the river, with the computation as:
2 overcard draw = 1 - [ (47 - 6) / 47 * (46 - 6) / 46 ]
= 1 - [ (41/47) * (40/46) ]
= 1 - [ 0.87 * 0.87 ]
= 1 - 0.76
= 0.24 or 24%
Now that you know how to calculate odds, you need plenty of practice to master it. Once you get the hang of calculating odds, you would not have any difficulty analyzing what your next favorable move would be. Admittedly, calculating your odds is somewhat a mean feat if you fail memorize the formula. If it's any consolation, the calculation of odds in Texas Hold'em is relatively a lot easier because there are only a few revealed cards and numerous situations to take into account. One key to taking half the burden off calculating during game play is familiarizing yourself with the odds against hitting specific hands on situations you regularly come across with.
>>> Next: Calculating Odds The Short Way
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