Implied Odds: More Examples

Here's another hand: I am on the button with Js-9s. There are 5 limpers, and I limp along (forget for now that this may not be the right play!). Both blinds call, making a $35 pot, and 7 of us see the flop of A-7-8, rainbow. On this flop, both blinds check, an early position player bets out, and there is one caller and 3 folds to me. I don't think that I can win if I hit a jack or a nine, since in low-limit hold'em, I believe that someone will have an ace, considering the large number of limpers. Now, there is $45 in the pot, and it costs me $5 to call, so my pot odds are 9 to 1. I know that my odds of making my gut-shot straight on the next card are about 10.5 to 1 (that's the 43 cards which will not make my straight vs. 4 tens which will complete my hand). However, if the ten comes on the turn, I can probably expect more action from any player with an ace. This additional action will compensate me for the fact that the pot is not offering me the exact payoff required for me to call solely on the basis of pot odds.

Finally, consider the applications of implied odds in no-limit hold'em. Assume you're playing no limit hold'em, with $5-$10 blinds, and every player at the table has $100 in front of them. Now, if I have a hand like 6-7 suited, and a player raises to $20, I'm probably not going to call him, because I will flop a straight or better very rarely, and I only stand to win $100, since that's the most any player has. My implied odds are capped out at $100-$20, or 5-1.

However, if everyone at the table has $10,000, I can call a $20 raise with many hands, assuming I have faith in my ability to read my opponents. Do you see why? The amount I can potentially win if I make my hand dwarfs the amount of the pre-flop raise, and gives me the implied odds necessary to get involved with sub-premium hands. Of course, my entire stack is also at risk! I'm not advocating playing garbage hands with huge stacks, only using this simple example to illustrate that the amount you stand to win in future rounds is always worth considering. Don't ignore your implied odds!