Posts Tagged ‘implied odds’

I’ve finally gotten around to adding some more of my poker strategy articles and World Series of Poker trip reports to the archive. The sad part is that my girlfriend/webmaster does all the work, all I have to do is give her the stuff when it’s ready to go up, and I can’t even be bothered to do that consistently. Anyway, here’s what’s new:

Hand Reading Made Simple- By far my requested article ever, this one outlines a simple method for categorizing an opponent’s hand as strong, marginal, or weak/drawing. It also explores some of the applications of this information in common no-limit hold ‘em situations.

Debunking Myths About Implied Odds- This poker theory article offers some new thinking about one of the most important concepts in big bet poker, especially no-limit hold ‘em, and debunks some common misunderstandings and mistakes.

Relative Hand Strength- This is one of the most advanced concepts I’ve ever explored in writing. It’s about learning to think about your hand solely with regard to its equity relative to your opponent’s range rather than how highly it ranks in the hierarchy of possible poker hands.  Read the complete post...

by Andrew Brokos

Implied odds are at once one of the most important and one of the most misunderstood concepts in no-limit hold ‘em. This is a case of a little knowledge being a dangerous thing. Many players reduce this complex concept to a sound bite- “If I flop a big hand, I can stack him…”- and go about merrily lighting money on fire with their pre-flop calls. This article aims to debunk some common misunderstandings about implied odds so that you can start making, rather than losing, money with them.

Myth #1: “I Can Chase a Set for Up to 10% of the Effective Stacks”

This is by far the most common misunderstanding about implied odds, and while it’s been addressed elsewhere, I’d be remiss not to debunk it here.

Suppose that in a $.50/$1 NLHE game, you raise to $3 with a pair of 7’s. You get re-raised, and it is $7 more for you to call. It’s unlikely you can win unimproved at showdown, but you’re about 8.5:1 to flop a set. Factor in the risk of getting cold decked by something like a higher set, and back-of-the-envelope math suggests that you can profitably “set mine” if you expect to win about ten times your investment, or $70, the times that you hit  Read the complete post...

My latest poker strategy articles, Debunking Myths About Implied Odds, has just been published in the June 2009 issue of 2+2 Magazine. The article explores one of the most important and misunderstood concepts in big bet poker:

“Calling a late position raise with a suited connector when you have the button is a good example [of implied odds that don't depend on making a strong hand]. Since the pre-flop raiser probably has a wide and not particularly strong range, you can’t count on winning a big pot on the rare occasions that you make two pair or better. Because his range is so wide, though, you will often be able to steal the pot when you flop a weak draw or even a scary board texture. Whether you want to call it implied odds, bluff equity, or something else, this is as much a justification for taking slightly the worst of it on an early street as is drawing at a monster hand.”

Read more about this and other misunderstood aspects of implied odds in the 2+2 Magazine!