Hold Em' question concerning pot odds and calls.....?

Question

If I am on a draw, is a good call after the flop only a good call if I get to see the turn and the river? What I mean here is, when you determine pot odds after the flop, (8 outs = 32%, for example), that percentage is based on me hitting an out on the turn OR the river, right? What happens when I don't hit my out on the turn and my opponent makes another bet that would now be a bad call once my odds are cut in half (8 outs = 16% after the turn)? Is a good call after the flop only a good call if you get to see the turn AND river? It seems to me that a call after the flop is only good if I take full advantage of the odds which were calculated which could mean seeing the hand out to the river. How do you adjust for this?

Answer 1

A good call is one the wins the pot! LOL.

Consider your odds of winning verse the return you are getting on your bet.

For example, let's take that 32% probability. And we have to assume that if you do hit it, it will be the winning hand. ( A 32% chance of hitting a flush when you have only the Q high and the A & K are stilll out there may NOT be a winning hand if you do hit the flush!)

So you are likely to win the pot about a third of the time. If the amount you have to bet means you can win a pot of 4 or more times the value of your bet, then this is a good call, provided you make it consistently. You are getting 4 to 1 odds on your money for a three to one chance of getting the winning hand.

Let's try an example. You are unraised on the BB and have Jd 10c, two players called and are in the pot before the flop with blinds at 200/400. $1200 in the pot now. The flop comes Qd, 9s 4d. You have 8 outs for the straight, most likely a winning hand, or 32% as you calculate it.

A player bets $400 and another player calls. $2,000 in the pot. If you call ( and win ) you get a 5 to 1 return on your $400 call, with a 3 to 1 chance of getting the best hand.

If you do this consistently, you will hit your percentage of winning hands. And you get a bonus when you hit one of your outs! This is the way to take FULL advantage of the odds!

Let's say the 8h hit on the turn. You have a well disguised high end straight, and you can slow play to the river, you can simply call, you can check raise, or you can fake a bluff with an all in call.

When that happens you can rake in some serious chips!

So pot odds are not just about what happens wjhen you call but what happens when you hit!

Here is some poker strategy that works: http://www.thedoverpro.com/poker-strateg...

Good luck and have fun at the tables!

Answer 2

If your paying to see the next card, then you figure the odds of just seeing the next card.

If you have 8 outs, in hold 'em there are is usually 47 unseen cards a this point (2 in your hand and 3 on the board leaving 47.  

So take 8 and divide that by 47 which is 17%.  Those are your odds.

Answer 3

Yes that sounds right percentage wise. I would most likely fold before the river most of the time. But sometimes you have to take a risk and re-raise the guy if his bet after the turn is kind of small. Force him to fold if you can. I'm not saying to do this all the time but you have to push back with nothing to be successful at this game.