Hold Em Authority - Texas Hold Em Strategy and advice for all levels of players

We just got done learning about pot odds, and now it’s on to something a little more complicated, but along the same line of pot odds. Implied odds are factoring in to pot odds the extra amount of chips you expect to win later in the hand.
There is a great example on PokerSavvy of implied odds that shows math isn’t as important as it is in pot odds.

These odds rely a bit more upon feel, but again, the math isn’t as complex, because most of the time, the answer will be pretty obvious, as you can see from the PokerSavvy example. Now, on to another example.
Here’s my example. Using the example from pot odds but adjusting the numbers a little bit, assume that your opponent bets 500 into you instead of 100. Since there is 500 in the pot (1000 now that your opponent has bet 500), and you only have a 20.45% chance of hitting your nut flush, pot odds (500/(1000+500)) 33% are not dictating a call. However, you figure that since your opponent bet so aggressively on the turn, he/she will not lay down his hand for anything on the river, and will end up with all his/her chips in the middle. If your opponent has as little as 1000 chips left, implied odds show that it is right to call, because the odds have gone from (500/(1000+500)) 33% to (500/(1000+1000+500)) 20%.

Our final part in the odds series will touch on effective odds. Effective odds aren’t as vital as the others, but can be an (dare I say it) effective tool when thinking about your odds with two cards to come.

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 27th, 2006 at 12:15 am and is filed under Holdem Statistics & Calculations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.