# Pot Odds

When you have a drawing hand, that is a hand you feel needs to improve to win, a typical question is whether it is profitable for you to call a bet and try to make your draw.

### What are Pot Odds?

Pot odds is the ratio of the current bet to size of the pot. So if the bet is $10 and the pot is $100, you are getting 1 to 10 pot odds. What this means is that if you happen to be in this exact situation many times over, you would break even if you managed to win one pot for every 10 you lost.

### Using Pot Odds

We can use this information to determine whether to go for our draws. If we expect to make our draws more frequently than the pot odds (1 in 10 in our example) then we would be very likely to call. If we make our draws less frequently than the current pot odds then we would be more likely fold.

In the previous example if there had been only one opponent betting the $10 against us with a $100 pot, and we had a 1 in 5 chance of making our draw, we would typically call since the pots odds are 1 in 10.

It's important to note that we are losing money on the call and would have preferred to check and see the next card for free. How so? Well against one opponent betting $10 we and he together put in $20 this betting round and we only expect to win it back 1 in 5 times, so we are losing $6! If we fold we save that $6, but lose the $20 of the $100 pot we expect to win on average. So by calling we lose less than by folding. But both actions lose money, which is why if you are playing against someone on a draw you should bet even if they are getting proper odds to call. You make money for every dollar they call--not as much as if they fold but you can't force someone to play poorly!

### Caveats

Pot odds are just a guide to calling--although a good one--and there are various factors that pot odds do not take into consideration. For example if you feel it's likely someone yet to act will raise after you call your effective pot odds might not be as good as they would seem. On the other hand if you believe that if you happen to make your draw you will make lots of chips because your opponents will call your bet with worse hands, you might make a call that seems unjustified from the current pot odds (this is called implied odds).

Poker Academy will calculate the pot odds for you and display it in the sidebar. You should practice mentally estimating the pot odds and using the sidebar to check your intuition.