Knowing the pot odds is an extremely necessary part of playing poker. Without it you have no real idea how much it will cost to keep playing the hand you’re on or how much money you’re likely to win if you get that card you need. When you understand the relationship between the odds against make your hand and the money you figure to win it makes the game much more enjoyable.

When figuring pot odds you’re taking the total number of unknown cards with the number of cards that will complete your hand then dividing. For example, whenever you hold four cards to a nut flush on the turn in a Texas Hold’em game, there are 46 unknown cards, (52 minus your two pocket cards and four on the board). Of those 46 cards, 37 cards won’t help you, but those other nine cards are the same suit as your flush draw and any one of them will give you the nut flush.

In this example the odds would be 37-9 or 4.1 to 1. When betting it’s wise to remember when you have a 10% chance of winning the cost of your call should not be more than 10% of the pots total. With a 32% chance you can call a bet up to 1/3 of the size of the pot.

There are many ways of figuring your odds and many help charts available. Don’t hang on to unprofitable draws or persist in drawing to long shots. Find the most comfortable way for you to figure your odds and don’t go into a game blind not knowing how to properly bet this is a sure way of decreasing your chances of winning.