Elementary Pot Odds Question

[goodfelladh]

Hey all, any help with this quick question would be appreciated...

Calculating pot odds isn't really a problem for me -- I've committed many of the more common odds/situations to memory so that I don't have to worry about doing a lot of calculations at the table. The issue I am having is deciding which odds I should use in certain situations. For example:

I flop four to a flush. Now I know that I am at 1.86-to-1 dog to make my flush on the turn and river. But I am a 4.11-to-1 dog if I only consider making my flush on the turn. So would I need to be getting better than 1.86 or 4.11 to 1 in order to call in this situation? The 4-1 seems to make more sense to me, but I'm not totally sure.

Also, if I were to use the 1.86-to-1 number, what odds would I need to call a bet if I missed on the turn, because haven't I already committed myself to the river if I used this 1.86-to-1 odds on the flop?

Any help his appreciated. I did a search and found a lot of good information on pot odds, but this issue is still confusing me.

[TomCollins]

The 4-1 number is roughly correct, but if you know you will get called if you bet if you hit it, you can actually make this play getting a little less than 4-1 odds. If it's heads up, you can also figure that there will be a bet on the turn, so if you are getting 1.86-1 on calling the 1.5BB to win the pot + 1.5BB (the other players bets), see the river. This is because you never will have to face worse than this by someone raising. Also, if you think you have any other outs, keep this in mind.

If you are in a multiway pot, you also have the chances of someone making a smaller flush (or you making a smaller flush), and getting paid off hansomely (or paying someone off).

If it's close, you aren't making a big mistake either way though. If you are getting 1.5 to 1 on a 1.8 to 1 on a $5 bet, its really only costing you $-5*(.64) + $7.5(.36) = -3.2+ 2.7 = $.50 to make this mistake. There are plenty of worse mistakes to make.