Poker Odds Outs and Percentages

Outs & Pot Odds

- An Introduction to "Outs"
- Recognizing the Percentages
- Outs + Pot Odds = Smart Poker

- An Introduction to "Outs"
Outs refer to the number of cards remaining in the deck that can
improve your hand. If you are holding Kc-Kd and are up against
Ac-Ad with a board showing 3h-8s-9c-5d, there are only 2 cards
remaining in the deck that could give you the winning hand - Kh &
Ks. Therefore you have 2 outs. If the board was showing
9c-10h-Jh-3d, then there would be 6 cards (6 outs) remaining in the
deck that could give you the winning hand, those being 2K's and
4Q's (Making a K high straight).

- Recognizing the Percentages
Knowing your available outs can help you determine your chances of
hitting your hand on either the turn or the river. Study the
following table to improve your chances of making the right decision:

% of Hitting On...
# of Outs Turn or River River
1 4.4 2.2
2 8.4 4.3
3 12.5 6.5
4 (Inside Straight Draw) 16.5 8.7
5 20.3 10.9
6 (Two Overs) 24.1 13
7 27.8 15.2
8 (Open Ended Straight Draw) 31.5 17.4
9 (Flush Draw) 35 19.6
10 38.4 21.7
11 41.7 23.9
12 (Flush Draw & Gut Shot) 45 26.1
13 48.1 28.3
14 51.2 30.4
15 (Straight Flush Draw) 54.1 32.6
16 57 34.8
17 59.8 37
18 62.4 39.1

- Outs + Pot Odds = Smart Poker
Pot odds are basically a ratio of reward to risk, with reward being
the amount of money you could win and risk being the additional
cost you would incur.

Example: Playing $5/$10 holdem, you call from middle position with
Js-10s. One limper and both blinds also call. The flop comes
Ad-3s-Ks giving you an inside straight draw & a flush draw (12
outs). You call a $5 bet along with everyone else, so the pot now
contains $40. The turn comes [Ad-3s-Ks] 6h and a bet of $10 forces
out the 2 players in front of you. You still have 12 outs from the
remaining 46 cards in the deck. That's 12 'good' cards to 34 'bad'
cards, or a bad to good ratio of 34-12 or 2.8-1. There is $50 in
the pot and it will cost you $10 more to see the river card. This
means the pot is laying you odds of $50-$10 or 5-1. Being less than
a 3-1 underdog to hit either the flush or gut shot straight, you
are being more than compensated to make the call.