Pot odds, explained
Pot odds are the price the pot offers you for a call. Turn that price into a percentage and you know how often you need to win for the call to pay. Compare it with your chance of winning and most calling decisions answer themselves.
The one formula
Equity you need to call = amount to call ÷ (pot after you call).
Say the pot is 100 and your opponent bets 50. The pot now holds 150, and you must put in 50 more to see the next card, which makes 200. You need to win at least 50 ÷ 200 = 25% of the time. In the "odds" form the same price is 150 to 50, or 3 to 1: for every time you win you can afford to lose three times.
Example: a flush draw on the turn
You hold two hearts and the board has two more. The river is the last card: 9 hearts out of 46 unseen cards win for you, a chance of 19.6%. Facing that half-pot bet you need 25%. The call loses money on average by the price alone; it can only be right if you expect to win more chips on the river when the flush comes in. That is the idea of implied odds.
Example: the same draw on the flop, all-in
Now your opponent moves all-in on the flop, so there is no more betting and you will see both the turn and the river. Your chance becomes 35.0%. Against a half-pot all-in that needs 25%, the call pays. The draw did not change, the number of cards you get for one price did.
Common bet sizes
The larger the bet compared with the pot, the more equity you need. A bet the size of the pot always asks for a third.
| Bet you face | Pot odds | Equity needed | Outs needed, one card (the river) | Outs needed, two cards (all-in on the flop) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A quarter of the pot | 5.0 to 1 | 16.7% | 8 | 5 |
| A third of the pot | 4.0 to 1 | 20.0% | 10 | 5 |
| Half the pot | 3.0 to 1 | 25.0% | 12 | 7 |
| Two thirds of the pot | 2.5 to 1 | 28.6% | 14 | 8 |
| Three quarters of the pot | 2.3 to 1 | 30.0% | 14 | 8 |
| The size of the pot | 2.0 to 1 | 33.3% | 16 | 9 |
| One and a half pots | 1.7 to 1 | 37.5% | 18 | 10 |
| Twice the pot | 1.5 to 1 | 40.0% | 19 | 11 |
Pot odds are a floor, not a verdict
- Outs are not always winners. If your flush card also pairs the board, an opponent may make a full house. Count only clean outs.
- More betting changes the price. A call on the flop that must be followed by another call on the turn costs more than the first bet. That is why the one-card figure is usually the right one when there is more betting to come.
- Folding costs nothing more. Chips already in the pot are not yours any more; only the next call counts.
Work any spot out in seconds with the outs and pot odds calculator, or look up your draw in the odds chart.