Maths
Pot odds in poker
The price a call is offering you, expressed as the minimum equity that makes it break even.
Pot odds convert the size of a bet into the equity you need to call it profitably.
Facing a $50 bet into a $100 pot, you are risking $50 to win $200, the $100 already there, the $50 bet, and your own $50. You need to win 50 / 200 = 25% of the time to break even.
The general form is bet ÷ (pot + bet), where pot already includes the bet you are facing. Larger bets demand more equity: a pot-sized bet needs 33.3%, a half-pot bet needs 25%, a quarter-pot bet needs 16.7%.
Compare that number to your actual equity. More equity than the price means calling makes money; less means folding does.
Related terms
More from the glossary
- Next stepSee the terms in one pictureThe preflop charts are where most of this vocabulary lands: ranges, position, combos and frequency, all in a grid you can read at a glance and print.
- 3-betStrategy
- BlindsTable
- BlockersStrategy
- ButtonTable
- All terms16 entries
- Odds calculatorTry the maths
Hear when the course opens
The glossary stays open. The lessons that put pot odds to work, in order and graded, open without a card while Learn GTO is in early access.
Held in this browser only, nothing is sent anywhere yet.