Poker
Basic poker odds
The chance that a poker hand will appear or improve, shown as a probability or as odds against it happening.
Key points
- Count outs and compare the chance of improvement to the pot odds offered on a call.24
- If the chance of improvement is better than the pot odds, the call has positive expectation.4
- One-card drawing probability is outs divided by unseen cards.45
- Odds can be written as (1/p)-1:1, where p is probability.1
Where this term is used
Not the same as
- Poker odds chart — a lookup table of hand odds, not the general concept of calculating odds
- Pai gow poker odds — odds specific to Pai Gow Poker, not general poker odds
- Poker hand odds chart — a chart listing exact hand frequencies, not the underlying calculation
Related terms
Poker
Implied odds poker
Considers future betting when deciding whether to call.
Poker
Pot odds poker
The ratio of the current pot to the cost of a call.
Poker
Poker hands
Ranks and probabilities of standard five-card poker hands.
Poker
Omaha poker
A variant where players use two of four hole cards and three community cards.
Poker
Flush poker
A hand of five cards all in the same suit.
Poker
Quads poker
Four of a kind, a high-ranking poker hand.
Sources
- Poker probability en.wikipedia.org Provides the total number of 5-card hands, odds against a royal flush, and the odds formula.
- Pot odds en.wikipedia.org Defines pot odds and gives the 4-to-1 example.
- Poker strategy en.wikipedia.org Supports the pot odds example.
- Draw (poker) en.wikipedia.org Explains outs-based odds and the positive expectation rule.
- Out (poker) en.wikipedia.org Supports the one-card drawing probability formula.
Sources are drawn from regulators, universities and published research, and each one is labelled with what it actually is — a preprint is not called a paper. Bookmaker and affiliate pages are never cited here, because a page that sells betting is not a neutral authority on it.