A Quick and Easy Lesson in Calculating Outs and Pot Odds
Calculating outs (the number of cards that could improve your hand) and pot odds (ratio of the money in the pot versus the amount required to make your next call) is often used as a basis for a Texas Holdem Poker player on whether to draw and try to make their hand.
However this in my opinion should not be the sole basis of your decision on whether you should draw for another card.
You also have to decide on whether the hand that you are trying to hit will win you the pot or not.
How to calculate pot odds:
In this example, if the current pot contains $80, and the amount required at the next call is $20, the pot is laying you odds of $80 to $20 or 4 to 1.
As long as your odds of making the best hand are 4 to 1 or better than making the call is the right move. A hand that is 4 to 1 means that you will hit once in every 5 tries. You will hit the draw 20 percent of the time.
This next example takes into account calculating pot odds and outs.
Assume that your hole cards are a six and a seven (for this example suits do not matter) and the flop came down...