Need help figuring Pot Odds for someone (me) who is Math Challanged

I didn't know if to post this here, or in the MTT forum, since this is more of a problem I have during tournaments.

Okay here goes, I've read some books out there, but all they do is leave me scratching my head.

I tend to be a more visual person, and the one DVD I've seen, helped a lot, but I've never been very good with Math period.

How does someone who is math challenged, figure on the spot, if something is worth calling, based on pot odds, especially when one is heads up with just one other player (in other words, I raised, he re-raised, everyone else folded, or even where I simply called a large BB, he raised, and everyone else folded to me, and in both cases, I'm the last one to act)??

I have thought I had figured it right, until just the other night, were someone corrected me, that I really didn't have the pot odds I thought I had, but I couldn't be sure if they were right, because math (especially complex math) isn't my strong suit, nor has it ever been.

Are there any books (DVD's would be even better) out there, that explain the theory of pot odds, in SIMPLE easy to understand terms, that even someone who is math challenged, can understand?

[charlie_t_jr]

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How does someone who is math challenged, figure on the spot, if something is worth calling, based on pot odds...

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Okay, maybe I'm not understanding the real question your asking, or you're making "pot odds" more difficutlt than it really is. If the pot is 5 bets and your opponent bets, the pot is laying you 6(5 plus his bet) to 1. That's your pot odds. Its as simple as that.

Are you really asking about "outs" and if you have enough "pot odds" to call? You can memorize the odds you need for the # of outs you have, or keep a chart next to your computer if playing on-line.

A quick and dirty way to figure your odds on the flop. 47 unseen cards, 3 on flop and 2 in your hand. 47 - # of outs divided by the outs. For example flush draw: 47 - 9 outs/by 9 = 4.2. You'd need 4.2 bets in pot to call. Not exact but close enough for rock-n-roll...if you want exact, memorize.

But its not extremely complicated.

Here are a couple of tools for you:

In Hold 'Em, you can calculate the percentage chance you have to improve your hand by calculating the number of outs you have and multiplying by 4 with the turn and river to come, or by 2 with only the river. This isn't totally accurate, but it comes within 1-2% in a lot of common cases.

Say you hold AQ of spades, and two spades come on the flop. For simplicity's sake, we'll say that you know you can only win the hand if you make your flush. Therefore, you have nine outs, all the remaining spades. 9 x 4 = 36, so you have a 36% shot. Now, say a heart comes on the turn. You still have nine outs, but only one card to come, leaving you a 9 x 2 = 18% chance.

You can use those percentages to calculate the pot odds you need -- if you're not keen on calculating reciprocals in your head (and you don't seem to be -- leave that to the math geeks like me [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] ) -- just prepare a chart. Try this:

50% chance to win: 1 to 1 odds
33% : 2 to 1
25% : 3 to 1
20% : 4 to 1
17% : 5 to 1
15% : 6 to 1
13% : 7 to 1
12% : 8 to 1
10% : 9 to 1

And so on. If your chance to win is equal to or higher than the percentage listed for the pot odds, you can call. For example, say you guess you have a 30% chance to win -- if the pot is giving you somewhere between 2 to 1 and 3 to 1, a call would be correct. (For the picky, I rounded up to the nearest whole percent for simplicity.)

To calculate the pot odds you're getting, rather than try to count every chip in the pot, you can just count the number of bets people put into the pot, assuming you're playing a limit game. In your first example, there's 1.5 bets in the pot to start. If you raise (3.5), he reraises (now 6.5 total if he's not in the blinds), you have one bet to call with 6.5 bets in the pot. If you have at least a 13-15% chance of winning, you can call.

The only problem with counting bets is that if the bets double on the turn, you have to divide it in half -- converting small bets to big bets, essentially. If you don't want to deal with that, count each bet before the flop and on the flop as half a bet, so the above example would be giving you 3.25 to 0.5 to call (still 6.5 to 1 odds).

I'm not sure how much that helps, but I thought I'd give it a shot. Good luck!

A quick way to estimate your winning percentage is the 2/4 rule...You take your number of outs, multiply it by 2, and thats ROUGHLY your chance of making your hand on the turn. Multiply your outs by 4, and thats ROUGHLY your chance of making your hand on the river.

You then take your win percentage, and compare it to the chart that Agent Zero posted, and you have an easy way to calculate your odds.