Poker is a game of numbers. Knowing the odds you are getting when you play a hand or when you are contemplating a call, raise or fold is critical to your long-term success. As well as knowing odds, knowing the difference in the types of odds you are getting is a critical skill that all poker players must know. The most important odds in poker are Implied Odds and Pot Odds.
Pot Odds
When you bet or call a bet, you are of course trying to win the money that is in the pot. The number of times you have to make the correct decision in terms of the size of the pot is called Pot Odds. For example, there is $100 in the pot, and the opponent bets $20 into the pot on the river. There is now $120 in the pot. Before deciding, think about your odds. You are getting 6-1 on your call, which means if you made this call 7 times, you only have to be right 1 time out of those 7 for the call to be break even. You lose your $20 call 6 times for a net loss of $120. 1 time you are right, and you win the $120 in the pot. If you are right more than 1 out of every 7 times you make the call, you will be making a huge profit.
Another classic example is when you have a Poker Star flush draw on the flop. On average, you are going to make your flush draw 1 out of every 4 times. Therefore, you need at least 4-1 pot odds. If you are facing a bet of $10 into a $20 pot, you are not getting the proper odds since the pot is so small. If however, you are facing a $10 bet into a $70 pot, you are getting the proper odds to chase your flush.
Implied Odds
Implied odds is a concept much different than Pot Odds. Implied odds not only deal with the money that is in the pot, but it also deals with the money that is in your opponents stack. In other words, implied odds deals with what you can win additionally when you hit your outs. For example, you are in the big blind with 22, and a player with 3000 chips raises to 90. It folds around to you, who also has 3000 chips, and you have to call 60 to see the flop. Therefore, there is 120 in the pot (there is no small blind this hand) and you need to call 60. Your PokerStar.com pot odds are 2-1, not enough to call, but your implied are huge. If you hit your set, you could win his whole stack. Assuming you knew you would win his whole stack if you hit a set, you would be getting 50-1 odds. That is plenty to call.