» What are pot odds?

Pot odds are the ratio of the size of the pot to the cost of a call. For example, let's say you are at the river and the pot is $150. Player 1 bets out for $50, making the total pot size $200. You are getting 200:50 (because the pot is $200 and you have to call $50), or 4:1 pot odds on the call.

    This is one of the first and most important things to learn in your poker journey. Once you know and understand pot odds, you can determine if a call is correct based on your holding and the range of hands you put your opponent on.

    Let's use the situation above in another example. You have AT on an A25J7 rainbow(no flush draws) board. Your opponent bets $50, making the pot $200. Depending upon the opponent, the correct action may be to call since you only need to be right one out of four times. Put another way, if your pot odds are 4:1 and you win the hand, you net $200. You can lose the hand 4 times at $50 per, for a total loss of $200, making the call a breakeven play.