Texas Hold’em Poker

There are four stages: (i) everyone gets two cards, (ii) three cards are dealt face up in the middle (this is the “flop”), (iii) a fourth card is dealt face up in the middle (“fourth street” or the turn), (iv) then a fifth (“fifth street” or the river). After each stage is a round of betting. At the end each person makes the best hand they can with their two cards and three of the middle cards. The person with the highest hand wins.

According to Sklansky, at the Mirage in Las Vegas, on the first round of betting, the first player to the left of the dealer must bet $5, the second must bet $10. After that the third player may either fold, call or raise the bet to $20. Raises before the flop are in increments of $10 with a maximum of four raises. After the flop checking is allowed. On fourth and fifth street, raises are multiples of $20.

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Probability is a huge factor in Texas Hold 'em. Players use odds to determine their actions. The chances of finishing a flush or a straight, the probability of getting an overcard, the percentage of times you're going to flop a set to match your pocket pair are all important factors in poker. Knowledge of these statistics is key to winning. In online games especially, statistical knowledge becomes the main factor when choosing whether to bet, call, or fold.

Here are some terms that you'll hear on this site and whenever you're talking about poker odds...

Outs	The number of cards left in the deck that will improve your hand. "I had four hearts on the turn, so I had only 9 outs left to finish that flush."
Pot Odds	The odds you get when analyzing the current size of the pot vs. your next call. "There's $200 already in the pot, and only another $10 bet coming at me, so my pot odds are good if I hit that flush."
Bet Odds	The odds you get as a result of evaluating the number of callers to a raise. "With a 1 in 5 chance of hitting it, and knowing all six of these guys are gonna call my bet, my bet odds are good too."
Implied Odds	The odds you are getting after the assumed result of betting for the remainder of the hand. "Since I think these guys are going to call on the turn and river, my implied odds are excellent."

In Texas Hold 'Em, you commonly use outs and pot odds the most. This is also the starting point for those who want to learn about poker odds. To those out there who "ain't good at countin' much", you better get good because that is how it's done. At this point it's only simple division. The numerator will be the number of outs you have. The denominator is the number of cards left that we haven't seen. The result will be the percentage chance of making one of those outs. Therefore, the most math you'll be doing will be dividing small numbers by 50 (pre-flop), 47 (after the flop), or 46 (after the turn).

Pot odds are as easy as computing outs. You compare your outs or your chance of winning to the size of the pot. If your chance of winning is significantly better than the ratio of the pot size to a bet, then you have good pot odds. If it's lower, then you have bad pot odds. For example, say you are in a $5/$10 hold’em game with Jack-Ten facing one opponent on the turn. You have an outside straight draw with a board of 2-5-9-Q, and only the river card left to make it. Any 8 or any King will finish this straight for you, so you have 8 outs (four 8's and 4 K's left in the deck) and 46 unseen cards left. 8/46 is almost the same as a 1 in 6 chance of making it. Your sole opponent bets $10. You if you take a $10 bet you could win $200. $200/$10 is 20, so you stand to make 20x more if you call. 1/6 is larger than 1/20, so pot odds say that calling would be a good idea.

Say it's another $5/$10 holdem game and you have a four flush on the flop. Your neighbor bets, and everyone else folds. The pot is $50 at this point. First you figure out your chance of hitting your flush on the turn, and it is 9/47 (about 1 in 5). You have to call this $5 bet vs a $50 pot, so that's a 10x payout. 1/5 is higher than 1/10, so bet odds are okay, but you must consider that this guy's going to bet into you on the turn and river also. That's the $5 plus two more $10 bets. So now your facing $25 more till the end of the hand. So you have to consider your chances of hitting that flush on the turn or river, which makes it about 35% (better than 1 in 3 now), but you have to invest $25 for a finishing pot of $100. $100/$25 is 1 in 4.

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