Pot Odds and Outs: The Poker Odds Chart for Hold'em Draws
Pot odds are the price the pot is offering you on a call. If there is $100 in the pot and your opponent bets $50, you call $50 to win $150, so you need to win more than 25% of the time for the call to pay off. Compare that number with your equity, the chance your hand wins, and the decision makes itself: call when your chance of winning is higher than the pot odds, fold when it is lower.
How to calculate pot odds
| Bet size | Example | Equity needed to call |
|---|---|---|
| One-third pot | $33 into $100 | 20% |
| Half pot | $50 into $100 | 25% |
| Three-quarters pot | $75 into $100 | 30% |
| Pot size | $100 into $100 | 33.3% |
| Twice the pot | $200 into $100 | 40% |
Counting outs and the rule of 2 and 4
An out is any card still in the deck that gives you the winning hand. After the flop you have seen five cards (your two and the three on the board), so 47 are unseen. With a flush draw, nine of the remaining cards of your suit complete it. A quick way to turn outs into a percentage: multiply by 2 when one card is left to come, and by 4 when you will see both the turn and the river. The table compares the shortcut with the exact numbers, which we calculated from the 47 and 46 unseen cards.
| Draw | Outs | Turn only | River only | Turn or river | Rule of 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pocket pair to a set | 2 | 4.3% | 4.3% | 8.4% | 8% |
| Gutshot straight | 4 | 8.5% | 8.7% | 16.5% | 16% |
| Two overcards | 6 | 12.8% | 13.0% | 24.1% | 24% |
| Open-ended straight | 8 | 17.0% | 17.4% | 31.5% | 32% |
| Flush draw | 9 | 19.1% | 19.6% | 35.0% | 36% |
| Flush draw and gutshot | 12 | 25.5% | 26.1% | 45.0% | 48% |
| Flush and open-ended straight | 15 | 31.9% | 32.6% | 54.1% | 60% |
The rule of 4 runs a little high once you pass about eight outs, so knock a few points off big draws. "Turn or river" assumes you will see both cards, which is only true if you are all-in or the next bet is small.
A pot odds example with a flush draw
You hold A♥9♥ and the flop is K♥7♥2♣. You have nine hearts to make the nut flush. There is $60 in the pot and your opponent bets $30.
This is where implied odds come in: if you expect to win more money on the turn or river when you hit, a call at 19% can still be right. If the bet is all-in, you see both cards for one price, your 35% beats the 25% needed, and the call is clearly correct.
Pot odds and sports betting use the same math
A sports bet at -110 asks you to risk $110 to win $100, so you need to win 52.4% of the time to break even, exactly the way a poker call needs a minimum equity. Converting a price into a break-even percentage is the first step in our guides to reading betting odds and expected value. Shopping for a better price at the sportsbooks we track lowers that break-even number, just like a smaller bet gives you better pot odds.
Pot odds start with the hand you choose to play. The Texas Hold'em starting hands chart shows how often each of the 169 hands wins before a single bet goes in.