pot odds and calling

[cove1]

still studying and playing and need to know something simple...if the pot odds arent there...justifying a call...do you always fold...except when bluffing...it seems that even if the odds are with you...you can always be beat...so when do you go against the odds and when do you go on?

[elmitchbo]

of course you can always be beat. thats really what pot odds are about.... will i make enough money the few times i win to compensate for all the times i lose. as a general rule, you fold when you don't have the pot odds to call. if you want to bluff at the pot choose your spots wisely.

[WhiteWolf]

Calling with or without odds comes down to a few situations:

1) If you have the odds, always at least call. Over time, it will be more profitable that folding.

2) Even if you don't have the pot odds currently, but it's close, you can sometimes call because of 'implied odds' - the extra money you can pick up from future bets if you do hit your hand. This requires some judgement, because you need to guess how likely it is that your opponent will pay off if you do hit.

3) Other times, when you do not have the immediate odds to call, a raise may be in order - this is called a 'semi-bluff.' The odds of an oppenent folding, combined with the odds of you actually hitting the hand, may make raising more profitable than just calling. Once again, judgement is involved, because you'll have to guess how likely it is to make your opponent fold.

There are other factors to consider as well, but these are the major ones.

All of this is covered in great detail in the book 'Theory of Poker,' which you should definitely read if you want more info on this.

Edit: I just noticed this line in your thread:

[ QUOTE ]
it seems that even if the odds are with you...you can always be beat

[/ QUOTE ]

Do you mean that even if you hit your hand, you may still be beat? If so, yes that should be a concern. The way to handle that is to estimate how strong your hand will be if you do hit, and discount some of your odds if you are drawing to a hand less than the nuts. Some examples: drawing to the nut flush, I count all possible 9 cards of my suit as full outs, because if I hit I almost certainly win. However, if I just have overcards, I don't count the 6 cards that give me top pair as full outs, since top pair is often beaten. This is why overcards are typically valued as 1.5 (not the full 3) outs each....

HTH,

The Wolf