Pot Odds

Also known as: pot odds, price to call

The price of a call expressed as the equity you need to break even, computed as the call divided by the final pot after you call.

Pot odds turn a bet you face into a single threshold number: the equity your hand needs to make calling break even. The formula is

\[ \text{pot odds} = \frac{\text{call}}{\text{pot}+\text{call}} \]

where pot already includes the opponent's bet. This is exactly your required equity to call; if your hand's equity exceeds it, calling is profitable in chips. Pot odds compare directly to outs via the Rule of 2 and 4: convert your outs to an equity percentage and check it against the price.

Two caveats keep pot odds honest. First, they measure only the immediate price — they ignore future streets, which is where implied odds and reverse implied odds take over. Second, against a polarised range you must weight your raw equity by how often you'll actually realise it; drawing hands rarely realise full equity out of position. In tournaments, the chip-EV price is not the whole story — a risk premium raises the effective equity you need.