Implied Odds

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Introduction
Implied odds in poker is a concept that is one that you will get better at as you become a more experienced player. When we discuss implied odds we are generally talking about whether or not a player feels that calling a bet will be ‘worth it’ after the later rounds of betting have been completed. As an extension from calculating pot odds, you would think this concept uses maths principles as well. That is not necessarily the case. When you are working out the implied odds you are trying to work out the future value of the pot. You may not have the pot odds to call, but if there are many players in the pot or you have strong reason to believe if you make your hand you will be paid off handsomely then it is worth the call.

How to use Implied Odds?
The best way to explain how to use implied odds is to use an example. Let us say that you are on a flush draw and there is only one other person in the hand. They bet the flop and you call. They bet the turn and you call. You then hit your flush on the river. They then check to you and then you bet. They may or may not call but the point is you have not received good value for making the calls.

Another example is when there are three cards of the same suit on the board and you have the ace of that suit. Your opponent fires a large bet at you and you call. The turn card gives you the nut flush and your opponent checks. It is very unlikely at this point that you win any more money from this pot. If you miss your flush on the turn that means that you are going to be faced with another large bet.

These two examples above show you that playing drawing hands that look dangerous to your opponent isn’t a good idea. As soon as the danger card comes they are going to be scared off and be hesitant to wards contributing to the pot any more. The idea behind implied odds is that you want to continue to be paid off once you hit your draw. This is where the value of calling a bet comes in when you don’t necessarily have the pot odds to do so.

An example of a situation on where you will receive implied odds worthy of playing against your pot odds calculation is when you have an open ended straight draw. The key here is that your hand can be disguised a lot better than what a flush can. When you hit your draw your opponent is likely to keep betting into you. If your opponent has a strong hand like two pair, a set or even top pair with a solid kicker you can easily be paid off here. When you make your draw bet it aggressively and more often than not you will be rewarded nicely for it.

These examples that we have just taken you through should give you a clear idea of the fundamentals of implied odds. Much of the concept is based around the ‘feel’ of how the hand is going to turn out. The more you play and begin to understand the concept the better you will get at being able to judge what type of hands will pay you off. The key to using implied odds is to play hands that your opponents will find hard to put you on. If they have trouble putting you on a certain type of draw then this is when you will be paid off the best.

Closing Thoughts
Some poker players like to use strictly a math based game or one based on gut instinct. If you like to use a mixture of both like many players to than it is important to understand this basic concept. Put simply, if you have great implied odds you can ignore the pot odds. If you don’t have great implied odds then it is time to make you decision based on your pot odds calculation.