Mathematics: Flushes & Straights : Simple Pot Odds : Implied Odds : Reverse Implied Odds
Watch SplitSuit's video on Flushes and Flush Draws for 8 hand histories involving strategy on playing flushes in Texas Hold'em.
You are on the flop with a pretty decent flush draw. You have two hearts in your hand and there are another two on the flop.
Probability of a chopped pot. However, statistically straight flush holdem odds you will only hit im roulette gewonnen a royal straight flush once every 40,000 hands. Free Slots Android Phone. When the board is paired every player has a pair. But what we really want is the% of winning the hand.The math shows this scenario is extremely unlikely.
Unfortunately, some cool cat has made a bet, putting you in a tricky situation where you have to decide whether or not it is in your best interest to call to try and make the flush, or fold and save your money.
This is a prime example of where you are going to take advantage of 'pot odds' to work out whether or not it is worth making the call.
What are pot odds? What about flushes and straights?
Basically, just forget about the name if you haven't heard about it before, there's no need to let it throw you off. Just think of 'pot odds' as the method for finding out whether chasing after a draw (like a flush or straight) is going to be profitable. If you're on your toes, you might have already been able to guess that it is generally better to chase after a draw when the bet is small rather than large, but we'll get to that in a minute...
Pot odds will tell you whether or not to call certain sized bets to try and complete your flush or straight draw.
Why use pot odds?
Because it makes you money, of course.
If you always know whether the best option is to fold or call when you're stuck with a hand like a flush draw, you are going to be saving (and winning) yourself money in the long run. On top of that, pot odds are pretty simple to work out when you get the hang of it, so it will only take a split second to work out if you should call or fold the next time you're in a sticky drawing situation. How nice is that?
How to work out whether or not to call with a flush or straight draw.
Now, this is the meat of the article. But trust me on this one, the 'working-out' part is not as difficult as you might think, so give me a chance to explain it to you before you decide to knock it on the head. So here we go...
Essentially, there are two quick and easy parts to working out pot odds. The first is to work out how likely it is that you will make your flush or straight (or whatever the hell you are chasing after), and the second is to compare the size of the bet that you are facing with the size of the pot. Then we use a little bit of mathematical magic to figure out if we should make the call.
1] Find out how likely it is to complete your draw (e.g. completing a flush draw).
All we have to do for this part is work out how many cards we have not seen, and then figure out how many of these unknown cards could make our draw and how many could not.
We can then put these numbers together to get a pretty useful ratio. So, for example, if we have a diamond flush draw on the flop we can work out...
The maths.
There are 47 cards that we do not know about (52 minus the 2 cards we have and minus the 3 cards on the flop).
- 9 of these unknown cards could complete our flush (13 diamonds in total minus 2 diamonds in our hand and the 2 diamonds on the flop).
- The other 38 cards will not complete our flush (47 unknown cards, minus the helpful 9 cards results in 38 useless ones).
- This gives us a ratio of 38:9, or scaled down... roughly 4:1.
So, at the end of all that nonsense we came out with a ratio of 4:1. This result is a pretty cool ratio, as it tells us that for every 4 times we get a useless card and miss our draw, 1 time will we get a useful card (a diamond) and complete our flush. Now all we need to do is put this figure to good use by comparing it to a similar ratio regarding the size of the bet that we are facing.
After you get your head around working out how many cards will help you and how many won't, the only tricky part is shortening a ratio like 38:9 down to something more manageable like 4:1. However, after you get used to pot odds you will just remember that things like flush draws are around 4:1 odds. To be honest, you won't even need to do this step the majority of the time, because there are very few ratios that you need to remember, so you can pick them off the top of your head and move on to step 2.
2] Compare the size of the bet to the size of the pot.
The title pretty much says it all here. Use your skills from the last step to work out a ratio for the size of the bet in comparison to the size of the pot. Just put the total pot size (our opponent's bet + the original pot) first in the ratio, and the bet size second. Here are a few quick examples for you...
- $20 bet into a $100 pot = 120:20 = 6:1
- $0.25 bet creating a total pot size of $1 = 1:0.25 = 4:1
- $40 bet creating a total pot size of $100 = 100:40 = 2.5:1
That should be enough to give you an idea of how to do the second step. In the interest of this example, I am going to say that our opponent (with a $200 stack) has bet $20 in to a $80 pot, giving us odds of 5:1 ($100:$20). This is going to come in very handy in the next step.
This odds calculation step is very simple, and the only tricky part is getting the big ratios down into more manageable ones. However, this gets a lot easier after a bit of practice, so there's no need to give up just yet if you're not fluent when it comes to working with ratios after the first 5 seconds. Give yourself a chance!
To speed up your pot odds calculations during play, try using the handy (and free) SPOC program.
3] Compare these two ratios.
Now then, we know how likely it is that we are going to complete our draw, and we have worked out our odds from the pot (pot odds, get it? It's just like magic I know.). All we have to do now is put these two ratios side to side and compare them...
- 5:1 pot odds
- 4:1 odds of completing our draw on the next card
The pot odds in this case are bigger than the odds of completing our draw, which means that we will be making more money in the long run for every time we hit according to these odds. Therefore we should CALL because we will win enough to make up for the times that we miss and lose our money.
If that doesn't make total sense, then just stick to these hard and fast rules if it makes things easier:
If your pot odds are bigger than your chances of hitting - CALL
If your pot odds are smaller than your chances of hitting - FOLD
So just think of bigger being better when it comes to pot odds. Furthermore, if you can remember back to the start of the article when we had the idea that calling smaller bets is better, you will be able to work out that small bets give you bigger pot odds - makes sense right? It really comes together quite beautifully after you get your head around it.
What if there are two cards to come?
In this article I have shown you how to work out pot odds for the next card only. However, when you are on the flop there are actually 2 cards to come, so shouldn't you work out the odds for improving to make the best hand over the next 2 cards instead of 1?
No, actually.
Even if there are 2 cards to come (i.e. you're on the flop), you should still only work out the odds of improving your hand for the next card only.
The reason for this is that if you work using odds for improving over two cards, you need to assume that you won't be paying any more money on the turn to see the river. Seeing as you cannot be sure of this (it's quite unlikely in most cases), you should work out your pot odds for the turn and river individually. This will save you from paying more money than you should to complete your draw.
I discuss this important principle in a little more detail on my page about the rule of 2 and 4 for pot odds. It's also one of the mistakes poker players make when using odds.
Note: The only time you use odds for 2 cards to come combined is when your opponent in all-in on the flop. In almost every other case, you take it one card at a time.
Playing flush and straight draws overview.
I really tried hard to keep this article as short as possible, but then again I didn't want to make it vague and hazy so that you had no idea about what was going on. I'm hoping that after your first read-through that you will have a rough idea about how to work out when you should call or fold when on a flush or straight draw, but I am sure that it will take you another look over or two before it really starts to sink in. So I advise that you read over it again at least once.
The best way to get to grips with pot odds is to actually start working them out for yourself and trying them out in an actual game. It is all well and good reading about it and thinking that you know how to use them, but the true knowledge of pot odds comes from getting your hands dirty and putting your mind to work at the poker tables.
It honestly isn't that tough to use pot odds in your game, as it will take less than a session or two before you can use them comfortably during play. So trust me on this one, it is going to be well worth your while to spend a little time learning how to use pot odds, in return for always knowing whether to call or fold when you are on a draw. It will take a load off your mind and put more money in your pocket.
To help you out when it comes to your calculations, take a look at the article on simple pot odds. It should make it all a lot less daunting.
Go back to the sublime Texas Hold'em guide.
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Royal Flush
The best possible hand is a royal flush, which is a straight and a flush with the top five cards: ace, king, queen, jack, and ten. When you get these five cards all of one suit, you can’t lose in poker. Most games don’t make distinctions in suit rankings. A royal flush happens once in every 649,739 hands, so it’s a rare happening. Bet with conviction when playing these cards.
Straight Flush
A straight flush is any combination of five cards in sequence with the same suit. Getting the 2-3-4-5-6 of clubs is a straight flush, while getting the K-Q-J-10-9 of spades is a straight flush. If two happened in the same pot, the high card would win. This is also rare, about 1 in 72,192 hands or, at a 9 player table, about once every 8,000 pots.
Four of a Kind
The four of a kind is just that: four of any one card rank. You might have 4 aces, 4 sevens, or 4 twos, but each is a great hand. If two go head-to-head, the high card wins. The odds of getting this combination is one in every 4,164.
Full House
This is 3 of one card and 2 of another. If you had the 3 kings and 2 queens, it’s a full house. If you held 3 twos and 2 threes, it’s a full house. The odds of holding this hand is 1 in 694, so somebody at your table is likely to see a full house once every 75 hands or so.
Flush
The flush is simply 5 cards of any one suit, but not in sequential order. This excludes the royal flush and straight flush. A typical flush might be the king, jack, eight, five, and three of hearts.
The odds of this happening are 1:508, so a little less likely than the full house. Players should be aware in Texas holdem of the “nut flush”. Holding the nuts simply means holding the strongest possible hand from the cards showing.
The community cards show Q-J-10 and you hold the 9-8, you should be aware that you’re holding a flush which could be beat. If someone else holds a K-9, you lose. If someone holds an ace-king, they have a straight flush and you are really dominated. Since it’s a lot more likely someone holding A-K is likely to be in the pot than someone holding K-9, you must consider the possibility.
Royal Straight Flush Odds
Straight
The straight is 5 cards in a row, regardless of suit. The straight might be an A-Q-J-10-9 or it might be the A-2-3-4-6, or some combination in between. Remember that the ace can fill out a straight as a high or low card. The odds you’ll get a straight are 1:254, or twice the probability you’ll draw a flush.
Three of a Kind
The three of a kind is a simply 3 of any one card rank. You might hold 3 aces or 777 or 3 twos. In any cases, triples is a strong hand in Texas holdem. This happens once in every 46.3 hands, meaning some is going to hold three of a kind once every 5 hands at a 9-player table.
Two Pair
Two pair is a two of one card and two of another. You might think this would be rarer than a 3 of a kind, but hold 2 pairs is a 1 in 20 proposition. This happens almost every other hand at a big table. Players with two pairs are urged to bet enough to push out gamblers on a draw, because the longer the hand goes, the more likely someone is going to outdraw your two pair.
One Pair
Holding one single pair. This is considered a strong starting hand, but a player needs to consider that a higher pair might be on the table. One in every 1.36 hands dealt are going to contain a pair. If you hold a pair of 2’s, that’s not nearly as good as holding a pair of A’s. Even a pair of aces is in a dangerous position if you don’t improve on the hand by getting trips, two pair, or a full house.
High Card – No Pair
The weakest hand in poker is no pair, which is called “high card”. Whatever your highest card is where your hand is ranked. If you have an ace, you would hold aces high. If you held a 7-5-4-3-2, you would have seven high, which is the weakest possible hand in most games of poker. If you were playing either the Omaha or seven-card stud hi/lo game variant, this would be a strong hand.
Otherwise, you’re going to be beaten, which is why holding a 7-2 offsuit is considered the weakest starting hand in Texas holdem. You simply hold no way to improve with flush or straight, so you’re hoping to pair 7s and 2s.
Mastering the Hand Ranks
Knowing the hand ranks gives a player a quick signpost for their strength when betting into a pot. A successful poker player needs a detailed knowledge of the hand rankings. When I say you need to know the poker hands, I’m not talking about whether a pair of aces beats a pair of kings.
I’m talking about that mass of card combinations between the best and worst hands. Whenever you hold any set of cards, a gambler needs to know its strength relative to the rest of the possibilities. To do this, card players should study hand ranking charts not much different than what you would study in blackjack.
Several experts have made tables which detail the playable hands in Texas hold’em, Omaha holdem, seven-card stud, razz, and the various hi/lo 8-or-better variants of the games already mentioned. Study these for the game or variant you want to master. That way, you know which hands to play and which to fold.
Even if you decide to play a hunch or make a bluff, you do so with the knowledge that you’re diverging from classic poker strategy. Predicate all you do in poker on a firm understanding of the hand ranks.
Royal Straight Flush Probability Texas Holdem
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