Simple Poker Math for the Texas Hold-Em Player

An important component of becoming a successful poker player is being able to calculate the odds of winning a hand. Regardless of raising, regardless of the other players' hold cards and regardless of psychological intimidation at the poker table, being able to quickly and accurately calculate the odds of hitting your hand will make you a better poker player, which inevitably turns into more profits for your pocket rather than lost entry fees. Even though there are pro poker players who rely more on street smarts and being able to read their opponents, most of the top professional players have at least some knowledge of how to calculate hand odds quickly. Master the following easy strategy and remember the subsequent odds for specific starting hands, and you're on your way to improving your game.

The following poker strategy sounds much harder than it really is, so you may need some practice to perfect this method of calculating the odds of hitting your hand. Basically, you multiply the number of outs you have to wind the hand by two, per the cards that have yet to come (the flop, the turn and the river). For example, if you want to figure out the odds of winning a hand on the flop (should you decide to go all in), you would count the outs, multiply by two, and then multiply that number by two as well (because you have two cards coming out, the turn and the river). This gives you a rough but pretty good estimate on your chances of hitting the nuts and winning your hand. Take the following example from Bluff Magazine for a better idea of how this math strategy works at the poker table.