Introduction to Implied Odds

In poker, Implied Odds are much the same as Pot Odds, except that the player is taking into account future bets – not just the current bet. If your Pot Odds on the Flop are 10:1, you must assume that you will be placing another bet after the Turn, and another after the River.

Since these bets are not yet known, the player must make an educated guess, resulting in the Implied Odds. To sort this out, you’ll need to do a little math. Let’s try some examples, starting with the Cahcnes of hitting an Out (card needed for the better hand), Pot Odds, then the Implied Odds.

Example 1:

-Know your Outs

You have a Flush draw on the Flop, leaving you 9 outs to a better hand. There are 47 cards left in the deck. 47/9 = 5.22
100%/5.22 = 19.15%

You have a 19.15% chance of getting hitting the Flush.

-Know your Pot Odds

The pot has $100 in it. You need to call a $10 bet to stay in. The Pot Odds are 100:10, broken down to 10:1.
You need to convert this into a percentage, so we’ll add the pot to the bet, then divide by the bet amount.
10+1=11 , 11/1=11
The Pot Odds are 11%.

When the Pot Odds Percentage is lower than the Outs percentage, you’re in good shape. Now for the Implied Odds…

-Know your Implied Odds

There is no way a player can know exactly what he will be required to toss in the pot before it actually happens. Instead, we go by the percentage of hitting an Out, which is 19.15%. You do not want to bet more than 19.15% of the entire pot, or your expected value becomes too low.

To better explain this theory, let’s say you are buying one of 25 lottery tickets. The prize is $250. What is the most you would be willing to pay for the ticket? The expected value would be $10 ($250/25=10). If you pay more than $10, your chances of winning are less than the expected value. Poker odds work pretty much in the same way. Now back to our example…

Let’s say on the Turn, the pot is up to $220, $10 of which you put in there already. You now must call a $20 bet to stay in the pot. The amount you can win is the total pot, minus your current bets, so $210. Your total bets would be $30 ($10 + the upcoming call).
The Pot Odds ratio becomes 210:30. Broken down, that’s to 7:1 (210/30=7). Converting that to a percentage we get the following…
7+1=8, 8/1=8%

You will only be contributing to 8% of the total pot. As we said before, if your contribution to the pot is a lower percentage than your chances of hitting the Out you need to win, you should make the bet.

However, we don’t know yet that the pot will be up to $220 with a $20 call, right? Right – that’s why they’re called Implied Odds.

Let’s say at the Flop, there are 5 people left in the hand. Let’s assume that at least two more players will be folding before the Turn. If only 3 players are left betting, your Implied Odds percentage is going to rise.

Here’s a good way to look at it - Chances are that half of the field will fold after the Flop, therefore the Implied Odds will be about double the original Pot Odds. If your initial bet’s Pot Odds percentage was half or less of the chances of hitting an out, make the bet.