Understand Poker Odds to Win

Learning about poker odds is the best way a player has of giving himself every advantage over his opponents. While understanding the odds can seem tricky at first, it is worthwhile investing in this form of poker strategy. You would be surprised at how many regular poker players do not know how to play a good poker hand. If you want to increase your poker winnings by separating yourself from those that know how to calculate the odds and those that don't, read on.

How do you know when to fold? This is a good question in poker and one that many players regularly ask. In basic terms, you should fold when you have little chance of making the winning hand. You can work out your chances of obtaining the remaining cards that you need in a deck by calculating the poker odds.

Firstly, consider how many outs you have. Outs are those cards remaining in the deck that will help you achieve your desired card combination. Subtract these from the total number of cards in the deck along with the community cards on the board and the hole cards in your hand. If it takes nine cards to help you achieve your hand, this is the number you need to divide the cards that will not help you in your poker game by. The number you are left with represents the poker odds of making your specific hand.

Remember the importance of playing a strong starting hand. Most advanced players will use poker odds and their first hole cards to determine whether or not to continue in a game. When you take into account that a smart player will fold more times than he plays on, you get an idea of just how much the poker odds affect a poker game.