Drawing Hand Odds
When playing Texas Holdem, you must
always be aware of how many outs you have,
or simply what cards can be dealt that help you
to win the hand. There are times in Texas Holdem
when you know you are behind in the hand but it
makes sense to call based on hand odds. Often there might
be 4 or 5 players in a hand where the pot has
been raised and called around. You're holding
9
10
and call two
bets before the flop where you may have the 3rd
or 4th best hand at that point.
The flop comes
7
8
Q
. What do you do at this
point?
First, you have to figure out
your hand odds, or how many
outs you have. Let's do the math. In this
case you have lots of outs. You have both
a straight and a flush draw. The straight
draw gives you 8 outs (all the 6's and
all the J's) and the flush draw gives you
9 outs (all the hearts in the deck) but
remember you can't count the
6
and J
twice, so you really have 15 outs
at this point, that's a good amount of
outs. Now, you know you have 2 cards and
there are 3 community cards on the table.
That means there are 47 unseen cards (50
- 2 - 3 = 47). You have 15 outs with 47
cards unseen or a 54.1% chance of hitting
your straight or flush.
Instead of explaining how we got 54.1%, I will provide a chart (below) that tells you the odds of making your hand, based on the number of outs you have, after the flop has been dealt. I recommend committing this chart to memory if you plan on becoming a serious Texas Holdem Poker player.
Lets cut the chit chat, and Just Play Texas Holdem.
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Next, it's important to realize that even though you have lots of outs, your probably still way behind in the hand. All you have is 10 high, where there is a good possibility somebody has made at least a pair of Queens, an overpair, or is drawing to a higher flush. This is where, in Texas Holdem, it gets a little complicated and where a good amount of feel is needed.
From this point forward in the hand there are many factors that influence how you should proceed: your position to act in the hand, the size of any bet in relation to the total amount of chips in the pot, the type of players that are at your table (see Know Your Opponent), the amount of chips you have in relation to everyone else, what stage of the event your in, whether your opponent will pay you off if you hit your card, just to name a few. (Read this Clove's Column regarding Implied Odds to learn more.)
Here in lies the beauty of Texas Holdem, how to navigate through these tough decisions and survive to fight another day. What makes the difference between a good Texas Holdem player and a great Texas Holdem player is their knowledge of hand odds, and the judgment they exercise in playing these types of hands, all the intangibles.
One thing is for sure, the successful Online Texas Holdem players are very aware of how many outs they have to draw on and so should you. Based on the Outs and Odds chart (below) you can figure out what the chances are of you making your hand no matter what it is. For example, if you have a small pocket pair, your chances of making a set (2 outs) on the turn or river, is 8.4%. Hardly enough to stay in a raised pot after the flop, I would think...
( See Full Size Chart under
"Outs and Odds" section
)
If you simply want to play then click on how to get started.
Lets cut the chit chat, and Just Play Texas Holdem.