Explain these poker concepts to me... like I'm a 2 year old.

[flyangler]

I have tried to get these concepts down by reading answers to posts but I need a more dumbed down version please.

1. Value Betting
2. Pot Equity

TIA

-flyangler-

[Sightless]

The best way you can learn those and other basic concepts is by reading books about poker -_- So I'd advise you to buy a book such as Small Stakes Hold 'em

[bozlax]

As much as I hate how many posts around here are replied to with, "Read (re-read) SSH," in this case he's right. Invest in a few books. Keep your eyes peeled, some of the online sites give 'em away when you sign up.

[GTSamIAm]

Value betting is when you bet expecting to get called by a weaker hand. There is a number SSH gives you? I think you should value bet only if you figure you will called by a weaker hand 55% of the time. Value betting often comes up on the river where many players miss them. They add a lot of profit. Things like betting with one or two overcards with a pp or betting with middle pair against fish.

Pot equity is how much of the pot you expect to win on average. It is your chances of winning times the size of the pot. This is useful for both made hands and drawing hands. It often helps determine if a value bet is profitable.

And yes, buy a good book. SSH is amazing.

[TALLBrad]

I think I'll have to disagree with the statement of Value Betting. Value Betting is when you bet and are a favorite to win the hand.

As an example: You raise PF with a pair of Aces, and "villian" re-raises (because unbenounced to you he has pocket kings) so you cap Pre-Flop.
The flop comes 2, 7, J rainbow. According to Poker Stove the pocket Aces are now a 91.6% favorite to win. When you bet this flop you are making a "value" bet, because for every bet you make, if matched by your opponent you are getting more money than the odds to win the hand.

Pot equity is just the amount of the pot in terms of big blinds or whatever unit you are using. So if you are playing 0.50/$1 limit, and you have a flush draw (4 flush currently) after the flop and there are 7 small bets in the pot before you have to call, you'd be getting 7:1 from the pot (not counting any implied action on later rounds if you hit the draw) so you therefore the pot has enough "equity" to make it profitable for you to call and hopefully hit your draw.

It's explained better in books. Yada Yada Yada

[Deamon2]

that's a definition of pot odds, not pot equity

pot equity concerns when you should raise for value. You get it by calculating how many players are in the pot, and then compare that to your chance of winning it. If you are putting in a more % of the money than your chance of winning it, and assuming you are getting the correct odds to chase, you call. If you are putting in less % of the money than you are likely to win the pot, you raise for value.

Example with a flush draw:

You are HU with a flush draw on the flop. We'll give you 9 outs to make it simple. You are putting in 50% of the money, and are a 30% favorite to win the hand. You call (unkess you decide to semi-bluff, but that's not for value).

Same flush draw. There are 5 people in the pot, and you are in last position. You are a 30% favorite to win the hand, but only putting in 20% of the money. After everyone calls, you raise for value.

a bet for value is one where you hope to get called

[Deamon2]

someone please correct me if I got that wrong. it was as much to explain it to OP as to make sure I understand it

[Catt]

Nice value bet explanation, though I'd add that a value bet also needs the condition that you'll likely win money by betting. Even with the best hand, if you know your opponent will fold to the value bet, then there is no value in betting -- you win nothing additional by betting or raising.

Pot equity is a little different from your explanation, though. Your "pot equity" is the amount of the pot that is "yours" by virtue of the strength of your hand.

A few pot equity examples. HU you have a flush draw and Villain has a strong made hand on the flop. Assume you will win if you hit your flush and Villain will win if you don't. Your pot equity is ~35% since you will win on the river about that often. If the pot is 10 SBs, your pot equity is about 3.5 SBs and Villain's is about 6.5 SBs. Every bet that goes into the pot before you hit a flush costs you 0.65 BBs since Villain is "entitled" to 65% of the pot and all bets going into the pot. If there are three others in the hand (and your flush will still beat everyone else), you still have pot equity of about 3.5 SBs; but Villain's pot equity will go down depending on the strength of the other player's hands. You might have 35% equity, Villain might have 40% equity with a strong hand, and the three remaining players might be sharing the remaining 25% of the available equity because they are behind and drawing pretty thin. You "own" 0.35 of your bet and evryone else's bets that go into the pot; Villain "owns" 0.40 of your bet and all other bets. With four callers, your bet or raise costs you 0.65 bets but "earns" 0.35 bets X 4 players or 1.4 bets, for a net gain of ~1 bet for every bet or raise you make. Your share of pot equity determines whether or not betting or raising is appropriate (disregarding for a moment non-equity reasons to bet/raise such as bluffing, semi-bluffing, attempting to buy a free card, etc.).

If your own pot equity is greater than your "fair share" (the total pot divided by the number of players without regard to the relative strength of hands), then a bet or raise is generally called for. Going back to the flush draw example, HU your equity is only 35% whereas your fair share is 50% -- you don't want to be betting or raising because you don't have an equity advantage. With four opponents, your equity is 35% versus a fair share of 20% -- you generally want to get as much money as possible into the pot without losing more than two players (and reducing your fair share below 35%), even if you currently do not have the best hand (provided you think a flush wins the hand -- if you knew your opponent flopped a full house, your equity sucks because hitting the flush still doesn't win the hand for you).

Hope that helps.

[Catt]

[ QUOTE ]
someone please correct me if I got that wrong. it was as much to explain it to OP as to make sure I understand it

[/ QUOTE ]

I cross-posted with you (typing my post while you were posting yours) and I chose to use the exact example you were using, too! I think you have a solid handle on pot equity [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

[UATrewqaz]

Pot equity is simple, to understand it I'll just give you an insane example.

Say hypothetically you had a 10% chance of winning the lottery, would you play it? I mean, 9 out of 10 times you're going to lose your $1.

The principal is quite simple, even in a situation where the majority of time you will lose the situation can be very very profitable.

The classic poker example is a 4 to the nut flush draw on the flop. In a 10 handed game you wanna make the pot as big as freaking possible.

Your contribution to the pot 10%, amount of the pot you "own" 36%