Pot odds

[Steven Punk]

How are they defined as? What is there relevance to poker?

[CrazyEyez]

Pot odds is the amount of money in the pot vs. what it costs you to stay in.

Simplest example: You have 4 to a flush on the turn in Hold 'em. Your only opponent bets. There are now 5 big bets in the pot. It costs you one big bet to call. The pot odds are 5 to 1 (or "The pot is laying 5 to 1" or "I'm getting 5 to 1"). Odds against you making your flush are approx. 4 to 1. Therefore you call. The four times you don't hit your flush, you lose 1 BB for a total of 4 BB's. The 1 time you hit, you win the 5 BB pot. You make a profit of 1 BB for every 5 times.

It's a concept you MUST master if you're at all serious about poker. You'll pick it up if you keep reading this forum or pick up some books.

Hope that helps.