Many calculations

[fulltilt]

hey poeple,
I've been reading a lot of poker books, like the theory of poker and other stuff by sklansky. i was just wandering whether proffesional players honestly make all these calculation every time they decide what they want to do. I mean i think it would take me a while to figure all these calculations out and then decide my course of action. Let me know if u guys do all these calculations as well before u decide on most hands. Thanks.

fulltilt

[jtr]

Most people don't do a lot of calculating at the table, although many serious players would go as far as estimating their number of outs, and comparing their odds of making their hand with what the pot was offering them for a call.

The calculations you're talking about are more likely to be things you do away from the table so as to develop a better intuitive sense of whether a particular situation calls for a raise, call, fold, or whatever.

[johnc]

It's really difficult if not impossible given the speed of the game to do all the numerous calcs at the table but the ones I do are the pot odds for my draw including partial outs, pot odds for possible draws out there ie. flushes, gutshots, open enders, board pairing (if I suspect sets). One valuable step I take is to severely discount those outs that could complete draws that beat my hand, sounds like a no brainer but I suspect many overlook this in haste to throw their chips in. Otherwise do the more complex analysis away from the table.

[tacos]

For me, starting out I always calculated my odds as I played. Thing is - some situations come up so often, I ended up memorizing the odds against making several hands. I'd suppose that is what happens with a lot of players.

The ones I seem to use most are:

-After flopping a 4 card flush, odds against making a flush on the next card are a little worse than 4:1.
-Odds against completing on the next card with an open-ended straight draw are not quite 5:1.
-Drawing to an inside straight, 11:1 against.

If you have much trouble computing these sorts of things as you play, find a chart and memorize all you can. Of course you can derive some odds from others you already know (making a set with a pocket pair (2 outs) is half as likely as hitting a gutshot (4 outs)). To simplify computation - if you're playing limit - count bets as they go into the pot.

[ScottC]

[ QUOTE ]
-Drawing to an inside straight, 11:1 against.

[/ QUOTE ]This is a particularly worthy figure to know, IMHO.

Many people just assume drawing for an inside straight is a bad play. But if the pot is giving you 12:1 or better... Added value is found in the extra calls on the river and tilt factor of the beaten hands.

[Guthrie]

This happened to me just last night. I was on the button and ready to throw in the gut-shot when everybody started calling. I started counting, and was hovering over the call button when the CO gave me my price. I clicked, made the straight, and put the CO seriously on tilt. How dare I suck out on his set! Then he gave me the rest of his chips.

[ianlippert]

Count your outs, multiply by 2. That essentially gives you the percentage chance of hitting your outs in 1 draw. Its gets more inaccurate over 15 outs, but its a great rule of thumb.

[Megenoita]

Most pros know the math cold from years of playing and off-table thinking about poker. The math is much more intricate than stated in this post, but it's a lot like chess in that the situations are worked out before coming to the table, either by experience or by crunching the numbers.

M