Poker is an extremely easy game, but at the same time, it is also an exceptionally misunderstood game as so plainly evidenced by virtue of the fact that there plenty of novices who have knowledge or experience of the game and who think that they are engaging in a game of pure luck. Whereas other casino games such as baccarat and roulette are genuinely games of chance, poker has a great deal of skill and strategy involved in it.
One of the fundamental skills which is simply critical to the ultimate success of your poker career is being able to competently calculate and process the pot odds associated with a particular match. Pot odds is actually very easy to work out, as the following scenario will hopefully point out to you. Say for argument's sake that the value of the pot stands at a total of $100, and the minimum wager necessary in order to stay in the game is valued at $10. What this means then, you have to gamble $10 for the possibility of being able to win $100.
Therefore, the pot odds would be demonstrated as follows:
100:10 or to break it down 10:1.
As useful as this little trick is, sadly, this alone is not enough to ensure that you are guaranteed to win any and every game of poker. Therefore, you will need to get to grips with another important calculation the card odds. Card odds refers to the probability that a player will be able to complete the hand they currently have before the turn has arrived. The most common method of determining the card odds (which coincidentally also happens to be the most straightforward as well!) is to compare the number of cards that could potentially help you, versus those that will potentially not help you.
Once you have ascertained both the card and pot odds, you need to then compare the two figures. If the pot odds happens to be higher than the card odds, then you should place a bet. If not, you need to fold.
One of the fundamental skills which is simply critical to the ultimate success of your poker career is being able to competently calculate and process the pot odds associated with a particular match. Pot odds is actually very easy to work out, as the following scenario will hopefully point out to you. Say for argument's sake that the value of the pot stands at a total of $100, and the minimum wager necessary in order to stay in the game is valued at $10. What this means then, you have to gamble $10 for the possibility of being able to win $100.
Therefore, the pot odds would be demonstrated as follows:
100:10 or to break it down 10:1.
As useful as this little trick is, sadly, this alone is not enough to ensure that you are guaranteed to win any and every game of poker. Therefore, you will need to get to grips with another important calculation the card odds. Card odds refers to the probability that a player will be able to complete the hand they currently have before the turn has arrived. The most common method of determining the card odds (which coincidentally also happens to be the most straightforward as well!) is to compare the number of cards that could potentially help you, versus those that will potentially not help you.
Once you have ascertained both the card and pot odds, you need to then compare the two figures. If the pot odds happens to be higher than the card odds, then you should place a bet. If not, you need to fold.
