Whether you're playing live or online you're going to need to be aware of your odds if you want to be a winning player. The following table gives odds for situations you're likely to encounter in Texas hold'em. Following the chart, I've provided an explanation on how odds are calculated. For more on poker odds, see PokerSavvy's discussion of expected value, pot odds, and implied odds.
| Outs | Example Holding | Drawing To | 2 to come | 1 to come |
| 21 | .43:1 | 1.2:1 | ||
| 20 | .48:1 | 1.3:1 | ||
| 15 | open straight flush draw | straight, flush, straight flush | .85:1 | 2.07:1 |
| 14 | .96:1 | 2.28:1 | ||
| 13 | 1.08:1 | 2.54:1 | ||
| 12 | gutshot straight flush draw | straight, flush, straight flush | 1.22:1 | 2.83:1 |
| 11 | 1.40:1 | 3.18:1 | ||
| 10 | 1.61:1 | 3.60:1 | ||
| 9 | four flush | flush | 1.86:1 | 4.11:1 |
| 8 | open straight draw | straight | 2.18:1 | 4.75:1 |
| 7 | 2.59:1 | 5.57:1 | ||
| 6 | 3.14:1 | 6.67:1 | ||
| 5 | 3.91:1 | 8.20:1 | ||
| 4 | gutshot straight | straight | 5.07:1 | 10.50:1 |
| 3 | 7.01:1 | 14.33:1 | ||
| 2 | pocket pair | 3 of a kind | 10.88:1 | 22.0:1 |
| 1 | 3 of a kind | 4 of a kind | 22.5:1 | 45:1 |
How are the odds calculated?
Lets look at the example of having 4 outs. Say you're holding 6c 7d and the flop comes 9s Th Kc. In this case you need an 8 to make the straight.
Odds with one card to come:
Calculating the odds with one card to come is relatively straightforward. When you're looking to make the inside straight, you have four outs. There are a total of 46 unknown cards (52 minus the card in your hand [2] minus the cards for the flop [3] and the turn [1]). 42 of the cards don't make your hand and four do. 42:4 or 10.5:1.
Odds with two to come:
To calculate the appropriate odds with two cards to come, you must first determine the total number of two-card combinations possible after the flop. The easiest way to calculate this is by multiplying the number of cards available for the turn (47) by the number of cards available for the river (46) and dividing that number by 2 (because a card can't match itself). 47*46/2 = 1081.
A certain number of these 1081 two-card combinations will have eights in them. To determine odds properly, you need to calculate two more figures:
Eights on both the turn and the river
One of the four eights can appear on the turn. And if one does, there will be three left for the river. If you multiply 4 by 3 and divide by 2 (because a card can't match itself) you see that there are six unique pairing of 8s.
Eights on either the turn or the river but not both
If an eight comes on the turn, there are 46 unseen cards remaining. But you're no longer interested in the three remaining eights, so you can subtract those. This leaves 43 unseen cards that will make a unique pair with one of the eights. Multiply 4 (the number of 8s in the deck) by 43 (the number of unseen cards) to arrive at 172.
Finish the Calculation
172 plus 6 comes to 178 -- the total number of two-card combinations that have at least one eight in them and as many as two eights.
Out of 1081 possible two-card combinations on the turn and river, 178 of those combinations help us make our hand. Subtract 178 from 1081 to find the number of combinations that don't make the straight (1081-178=903). The odds against making a straight by the river are: 903:178, or 5.1:1.
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