Copyright 2007 Full
Tilt Poker
November 28th 2007
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Poker Lessons)
Poker Lesson: Implied Odds - Part
1
Author: Andy Bloch
Most people have a pretty good understanding of
pot
odds - whether the amount of chips in the pot justifies making
a call - but they fail to realize that making this calculation
only solves part of the poker equation. Often, these players forget
to think about how the rest of the hand is going to play out if
they make a call, and fail to factor that information into their
calculations. That's where implied odds come into effect.
In short, implied odds are a way to calculate the amount of money
that you can possibly win if you make your hand. To put it another
way, your implied odds are the total amount you could win divided
by what you're putting into the pot.
Suppose you have 7-8 of diamonds on the turn, and there are two
diamonds on the board. There are 1,000 chips in the pot and your
opponent bets 500. You're almost certain your opponent has top
pair and isn't on a diamond draw, so catching a seven or eight
just won't cut it. That leaves nine outs to your flush draw -
you need pot odds of about 4 to 1 to make a call, but you're only
getting 3 to 1.
Now, if your opponent has a lot more chips left in front of him
and you think he'll pay you of if you hit your hand, implied odds
will come into play. Say your opponent will pay off at least the
pot - 1,500 chips in this case - when you make your hand. You're
calling 500 to make 3,000, implied odds of 6 to 1. That's more
than enough to justify trying to suck out on him.
While your total implied odds may be larger if you're playing
a Pot-Limit or No-Limit game, the concept of implied odds is often
more relevant in Limit poker where you can usually determine how
likely you are to get your opponent to call an extra bet or two
on the river. In Pot-Limit and No-Limit
games you often have no idea of how much bigger the pot could
get or if your opponent will even bet at all.
Like all poker
games, your implied odds in any hand are also strongly influenced
by your opponent in the hand. Is he loose? Tight? Will he call
a bet on the river with top pair and a weak kicker or second pair?
You need to use your knowledge of your opponent's style to help
determine what your potential pay-off for the hand may be. You're
going to have to take a guess as to how many chips your opponent
will be willing to commit to the hand, but you can make an educated
guess based on your past experiences with that player.
Implied odds are much more complicated to figure out than pot
odds. You're not only thinking about what hand you have at
the moment and what your odds are, you're thinking about how the
hand is going to play out in the future on all fronts. That's
the difference between implied odds and pot
odds. When you figure it out, it's a very powerful concept.
The more you're thinking about implied odds and the future of
a hand, the more you're thinking like a pro.
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