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An Introduction To Poker Odds Calculators
By Scott McIntosh, Fri Dec 9th
B>Introduction Knowing
the true odds in a poker-playing situation will oftenmake you rethink
the way you play a hand. Most players useintuition, and are often
quite good at doing this, to guess whatthe odds are and therefore
how to play a hand. However there isa more exact (although less practical)
way to determine odds andthat is with poker odds calculators. These
can be found at manyplaces on the Internet, downloadable or Internet
based, and forfree or for sale. In this article I will be using the
Free Online Poker Odds Calculators that Ihave developed to demonstrate the basic principles behind theiruse.
Hand Odds Calculators This group of poker odds calculators allows players to enter theplayer and board cards, hit a "Calculate" button and have theresults displayed about how often each player will win, tie orlose. These poker odds calculators can be found for all types ofgames from Texas Holdem
to Draw Poker. Free online examples ofthese calculators are Texas Holdem Odds
Calculatorand Omaha Odds Calculator. Use these toget a feel to how certain hands fare against each other. Quiteoften you will be surprised that your intuition does notcorrespond to the true odds - for example in Texas HoldemAce/King suited is only a 50/50 chance against a pair of twosbefore the flop. The shortcomings of these types of oddscalculators are that they assume a player will not fold andextra money that
may be added in future betting rounds. Tournament Equity Calculator Tournaments are a form of poker where players start with anequal amount of chips and continue playing until one player hasall the chips. Prizes may be paid for multiple places, thenumber depending on the event. A question that is quite oftenasked is "Given the amount of chips each player holds at acertain point in a tournament, how much prize money on averageshould each player win?" This
is where a tournament equitycalculator comes in (see Poker Tournament
EquityCalculator for an example). A valuable fact that is learntfrom this type of odds calculator is that the value of chipsdecrease as the player gains more chips. For example doublingthe amount of chips a player has increases that player's equityless than double. This would mean that in tournaments you shouldfold more often than in cash game, especially with marginalhands. If you play a lot of single table tournaments, PartyPoker SnG tournaments like I do for example, you will find manysituations where a tournament equity calculator can help pointto the right play. This is particularly true as you get close tothe prize money or "bubble". The limitations of these types ofcalculators are that they usually assume equal skill levels anddisregard the size and position of the blinds.
Conclusion
Poker odds calculators can be a very helpful resource in thearsenal
of serious poker players. However one must take care notto overemphasize
the results given and to realize theassumptions and limitations of
these calculators. |
