Figuring out percentages

[art_vandelay]

Is there a quick way to figure out the probability of your hand holding up or catching up, assuming that you can put the other players on a specific hand?

In other words, is there a quick and dirty way to get the percentages that ESPN posts on the probability of each hand winning?

Thanks very much and I aplogize if this has been asked and answered many times already.

[HeavyP]

The problem with the ESPN percentages and such is that you don't know the other persons hand at sequential part of the hand. So if you're trying to figure out your chance of winning a hand it's better just to figure out your outs.

However, if you want to go over someones hand and track it all the way through and see how much of an underdog one of you were to take the pot.. Then This Link (http://www.twodimes.net/poker/) should help you.

[art_vandelay]

Thanks. To clarify, what I am looking for is a quick way to determine relative percentages of winning assumming that I can put the other players on an exact hand (a dubious assumption I know).

Any help would be much appreciated.

[pzhon]

[ QUOTE ]
To clarify, what I am looking for is a quick way to determine relative percentages of winning assumming that I can put the other players on an exact hand (a dubious assumption I know).

[/ QUOTE ]
To learn what the hands are worth preflop, spend some time at www.twodimes.net/poker (http://www.twodimes.net/poker) .

After the flop, you should count the outs for the weaker made hand to improve to surpass the stronger made hand. Then you can look up the number of outs in a table such as this (http://casinogambling.about.com/library/weekly/aa050103.htm). (That is not the nicest link, but one of the first turned up by Google.)

This is not accurate when there are redraws, or the number of outs predictably changes on the turn. For example, if you have a straight draw against a set, making the straight does not mean you win, since the player with the set could fill up. If the board pairs on the turn, you have no outs on the river. It's good to use Twodimes on common examples.

[emp1346]

figuring out the percentages of one hand versus another, as doing so would not only be too much for me to think about... if this is what you're looking for, i agree that sticking to figuring out your own outs is the best route...

i think a more relative question here, though, would be what the likelihood of the other player(s) having a hand better than yours...

take an example from a thread i saw earlier... you hold QQ, flop comes QT9 rainbow... how do you determine the odds that someone flopped a straight or two pair with a draw to beat your top set?

[Will C]

The quick and dirty way is to determine the number of outs you have to win the hand. The number of outs you hold, divided by 24 will roughly give you the percentage you have of winning the pot (if you think about it, you'll see why this is approximately true).

For example, say you hold Ac5c, the board is Kc10s3c, and you have put him on KJ or KQ. Thus you are fairly certain that any ace, as well as any club would likely make you the winner. Your outs are 3 aces and 9 clubs, or 12 outs. 12 divided by 24 says you should roughly have a 50% chance to win the hand, which is approximately correct. When I throw the numbers into pokerstove with holdings of Ac5c vs KhQs with a board of Kc10s3c, I get the Ac5c having an equity of ~45.6%. Hope that helps.