Pot Equity

Could Someone please explain pot equity to me?
Im a newb.

[Catt]

Pot equity is the chance that your hand will be the winning hand at showdown, represented as a percentage. If you have the best hand on the flop, your pot equity is very likely to be greater than your fair share of the pot based on the number of players in the hand (fair share against 2 opponents = 33% since you are one of three players in the hand). If you are drawing to the best hand, you pot equity basically represnts the chance that you will draw to the winning hand by the river.

[obsidian]

Also, equity can be looked at preflop as well. If you have a hand like JQs in the BB and 3 loose players limp and the SB completes you probably do not have the best hand, but your equity is large enough against players who are probably playing much worse hands to toss in a raise.

ieatrice-

Catt & obsidian gave great definitions. I recommend reading "Getting Started in Holdem by Ed Miller (GSHE) and then "Small Stakes Holdem" by Ed Miller et al. (SSHE).

As a fellow beginner, I think these are the great books that explain pot equity and all the other basic concepts you need to improve your play. Reading thesebooks and being an active particpant in 2+2 will pay-off hugely!

[I am fish]

From your perspective, your pot equity is the likelihood of you winning the hand by the showdown. You should constantly be evaluating what you feel your equity is at each stage in the hand... Preflop, Flop, Turn and compare it to the pot equity you feel you feel your opponents have and to how much money is in the pot. I recommend downloading a free software called Pokerstove that let's you analyze equity. Pokerstove

I know I didnt explain it that well, but I hope this helps along with the other responses.

[cpk]

Equity = chance your hand has of winning * amount in the pot

If the equity > the cost of an action, then you can profitably take that action based upon the money in the pot.

Equity doesn't take into account implied pot odds (say you're facing one bet and are trying to decide what to do), but you can adjust the size of the pot upwards and achieve a figure which has no convenient name but you might call "implied equity."

Equity shows us that we should sometimes make nonintuitive plays if it helps us to win the pot. For example, if we have 3.5 BB of equity in the pot, and we're facing two bets on the turn, then we can profitably reraise to defend our equity if it achieves a strategic purpose.

ok, so what are the specific differences between pot equity and pot odds?

[I am fish]

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Equity = chance your hand has of winning * amount in the pot


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Theory of Poker - Sklanky

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Pot odds: The ratio of the amount of money in the pot to the bet you must call to continue in the hand.

Pot odds are the odds the pot is giving you for calling a bet.

ex.
If there is $50 in the pot and the final bet was $10, you are getting 5-to-1 odds for your call. p35.



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I recommend buying some poker books to learn the basics. You can go to the books forum for that.

peace

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ok, so what are the specific differences between pot equity and pot odds?

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Pot odds come into play when deciding whether or not to call. If the bet to you is $20 and there is $100 in the pot, pot odds dictate whether your hand is an overlay. If your hand has a better than 5 to 1 shot winning, you should call because the bet would have a positive expected value.

Pot equity comes into play when you decide whether or not to bet, as no odds have been set. There is just a pot up for grabs. The lower your pot equity (chance of winning), the less reason you have to chase the pot with a bet (unless you decide to bluff).

When you bet with low pot equity, you, as the underdog, are sweetening the pot for your opponent who is the favorite.


I'm basically paraphrasing from "Theory of Poker."