Online poker has grown quite popular in recent years and for obvious reasons. There are many more games to try out than you would typically find in a live poker establishment or casino. And you can access any of them without leaving your home. The best part, the game is just as thrilling.
That said, one of the most commonly used strategies in poker is implied odds. Most players have heard about it but don’t really know how to use it. If you understand implied odds and how they work, you can make better assessments and refine your play to make a profit.
So, let’s dissect this term a little more.
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What Are Implied Odds?
When betting in online poker, the end goal is to, of course, win the pot. That is the total chips from all bets. But you don’t have to win every time to stay profitable.
This is where implied odds and pot odds come in, since they help you calculate how much you need to win to make a profit.
Implied odds refer to how much money you can win when you complete your draw in later stages of the game, that is, by hitting one of your outs. A draw is a situation where you have a set of cards that are incomplete and therefore need additional cards to become valuable.
These additional cards are called outs. For instance, say you have four cards of the same suit. You need one out to hit a straight flush. So, good implied odds justify making a call when your opponent is giving you incorrect odds to make a call.
How to Use Implied Odds in Online Poker
With implied odds, you get better as you play. But there are simple ways to go using implied odds on WPT poker online as a beginner.
First, you need to know your pot odds. Basically, pot odds refer to the ratio between the size of the pot and the size of the call (bet) you are about to make. Let’s take an example. Assume there is $40 in the pot. Your opponent bets $20. So, now the pot total is $60. So, the pot odds are 60:20, or simply 3:1.
The simplest way to calculate your implied odds is to subtract your pot odds from the odds of completing your draw. You can get the latter from a poker odds chart for free online. Say your odds of completing a draw are 5.1:1. Subtract your pot odds which are 3:1 and your implied odds will be 2.1:1. Then, multiply the implied odds (2.1) with the amount you have to call ($20), and you get $42.
This means that if you want to at least break even when you call $20, you will need to get $42 from your opponent.
Apply Your Implied Odds Knowledge for Better Bets on WPT Poker Online
Poker, whether online or live, is a mathematical and probability game. And so, understanding pot odds and implied odds will help you tell between profitable bets and bets that will lose you money. That said, disguise your hand, study your opponent and be careful not to be too optimistic about making more contributions to the pot once you get your outs.
