The odds in poker can change depending upon the circumstances.  This tutorial will try and teach you how to determine the simple odds quickly.  The simple odds are definitely not perfect.  A more advanced tutorial on determining poker odds will come later.

First we must remember a few things about a deck of cards:

• 52 cards in a deck.
• 4 suits in a deck (c – clubs, h – hearts, d – diamonds, s – spades).
• Each suit has 13 cards.
• Each deck has 4 of the same kind.

Now we can begin to take a look at how the odds in poker can be calculated.  We will look at scenarios to make it easier to understand.

Scenario #1

There are three players at the table.  Each has been dealt the two pocket cards and the flop is showing a 3 5 6.

Player 1 has 10 & 7.  We don’t know what Player 2 & 3 have in their hands.  Now in order to decide whether or not to pursue the hand is important; the odds that a 4 will pop up on the turn card or the river needs to be determined.  If the 4 pops up, then Player 1 will have a straight, a respectable hand definitely worthy of winning the pot.

To calculate the odds:

There are two cards left to be drawn.  We must assume that there are four 4’s left in the deck as none are showing.  We then need to know how many cards are left in the deck at this point.  There are 6 cards held by Players, 3 cards on the flop, and 2 burn cards before the turn card will be drawn.  This is a total of 11 cards out of the deck.  52 – 11 = 41.

So 4 cards out of 41 will help you.  Your simple odds are 4/41 or a 9.76% chance of hitting a 4. 

Scenario #2

There are eight players playing.  Play 1 has 8 & Ace of clubs.  The flop is 4h 9c Jc. 

Player 1 has to decide whether to call an all in bet.  In order to decide, knowing the simple odds of hitting 1 more club on the turn and the river will be very useful.  Hitting 1 more club will give Player 1 an Ace high flush, a very good hand.

The simplest odds (which aren’t exact, but close enough):

There are four suits that can come up on the turn.  Player 1 wants the clubs only, so the simple odds would be 1/4 = 25% chance.  Then again on the river there is another 25% chance, for a total of 50% chance of hitting the clubs.  This is the simplest way to do odds quickly in your head if you’re not great at math.

There are ways to make the math more advanced such as figuring out the actual odds by counting how many clubs are already out of the deck compared to other cards.