Poker Implied Odds

What Are Implied Odds In Poker?

Poker implied odds are an often abused concept, despite it's relatively uncomplicated nature; this failure results from it's general subjective calculation.  Implied odds are often used to justify poor preflop decisions and illogical post flop calls.  Implied odds are simply the amount you can expect to win if you hit your hand.  It is also possible for implied odds to be negative (this is called reverse implied odds). 

 

The chance of flopping a set starting with a pocket pair is 1:7.5; so the implied odds argument says if you can make 7.5 times your investment when you hit your hand, it can be justified to call even if the real odds are not there.  Now, you do not not have to win 7.5 * your initial wager in further wagers because pot odds will always pay some of that 7.5 times.  So if the pot is 4x your wager, then implied odds can be evoked to make up the remaining amount needed in order to justify the call.

 

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If your opponent could see your cards you would never have implied odds and for this reason it is unwise to rely on implied odds when taking on a player you consider to be your peer or even superior to you in the field of hand reading, because it is far too likely they will fold when you beat them and call when you bluff.  While you almost always can count on some degree of implied odds, far too many players count on winning more money than is reasonable if they hit their hand.

 

Hand reading can help you determine how much you will make from implied odds.  Ironically, when you are drawing you generally want your opponent to have a very strong hand (but one that will be weaker than the hand you hit) because then they will often pay off, where as if they have a weaker hand they will be more likely to fold.  If you know someone only raises AA or KK from UTG, you can almost always call with any pocket pair because it will often be easy to extract a good deal of money from them after the flop if you hit.