Pot odds, in plain language

Every call is a price. Pot odds tell you what that price is as a percentage, so you can compare it with your actual chance of winning and stop guessing.

The one calculation

Suppose the pot holds £80 and someone bets £20. Calling costs you £20 to win a pot that would then be £120 — the £80 already there, their £20, and your £20. So:

20 ÷ 120 = 17%

That's the percentage you need. Win this hand more than 17% of the time and calling makes money in the long run; win it less often and it loses money, however good it feels.

The trap is forgetting to add your own call to the pot. Comparing £20 against £100 gives 20% — close here, but the error grows with the bet size.

Working out what you actually have

Count your outs — the cards that would win you the hand — and use the rule of 2 and 4:

On the flop, with two cards still to come: outs × 4
On the turn, with one card to come: outs × 2

Nine cards complete a flush, so on the flop that's roughly 36%, and on the turn roughly 18%. Against 17% pot odds, calling on the flop is comfortable; on the turn it's borderline enough that the rest of the hand matters.

The shortcut drifts high with a lot of outs — a fifteen-out draw is about 54% by the river, not 60%. The calculator shows the exact figure beside the estimate so you can see the gap.

Common counts

Draw	Outs	By the river, from the flop
Flush draw	9	35%
Open-ended straight draw	8	32%
Flush and straight draw together	15	54%
Gutshot straight draw	4	17%
Two overcards	6	24%

Two things pot odds don't tell you

What you win later. Hitting a flush on the turn often wins more chips on the river, which makes a marginal call better than the raw number suggests.

Whether your outs are good. Making a straight when the board has three of one suit can be exactly how you lose a big pot. Count outs that win, not outs that merely improve.

Check a real spot

The calculator does both halves: the equity you have, and — once you enter the pot and the amount to call — the equity you need, with a plain verdict.

A flush and straight draw against ace-king — the hand from the table above
Aces against a made straight flush draw — the favourite is not who you'd think

The verdicts are chip-value maths from the cards you enter — not tournament prize-pool strategy, and not a solver.