Pot odds calculator
Pot and bet in; the equity a call needs, how often the bettor’s bluff has to work, the minimum defence frequency and the river value-to-bluff ratio out, with the formula and your numbers in it. Add your outs to see whether the draw has the price, and if not, how much it has to win later to make up the difference.
pot P = 10, bet B = 5 call needs = B / (P + 2B) = 5 / 20 = 25.00% MDF = P / (P + B) = 10 / 15 = 66.67% bluff works = B / (P + B) = 5 / 15 = 33.33% river value : bluff = (P + B) : B = 3.00 : 1 (bluffs 25.0% of bets)
| 9 clean outs, facing the bet… | Hit chance | vs needed | Call EV now | Must win later, when it hits (same units) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| on the flop, seeing the turn | 19.1% 9 / 47 | short by 5.9 pts | −1.17 | 6.11 |
| on the turn, seeing the river | 19.6% 9 / 46 | short by 5.4 pts | −1.09 | 5.56 |
| all-in on the flop, both cards | 35.0% 378 / 1081 | enough | +1.99 | n/a: no more betting |
Every common bet size
The price depends only on the bet as a fraction of the pot, so one table covers every stake. A third-pot bet asks for 20.0%; a pot-sized bet asks for 33.3%, exactly a third. The last column is the fewest clean outs that can call a turn bet on the price alone, one card to come.
| Bet | Pot odds | Call needs | MDF | Bluff must work | River value : bluff | Outs to call a turn bet |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quarter-pot bet | 5 to 1 | 16.7% | 80.0% | 20.0% | 5 : 1 | 8 |
| Third-pot bet | 4 to 1 | 20.0% | 75.0% | 25.0% | 4 : 1 | 10 |
| Half-pot bet | 3 to 1 | 25.0% | 66.7% | 33.3% | 3 : 1 | 12 |
| Two-thirds-pot bet | 2.5 to 1 | 28.6% | 60.0% | 40.0% | 5 : 2 | 14 |
| Three-quarter-pot bet | 2.33 to 1 | 30.0% | 57.1% | 42.9% | 7 : 3 | 14 |
| Pot-sized bet | 2 to 1 | 33.3% | 50.0% | 50.0% | 2 : 1 | 16 |
| 1.5× pot overbet | 1.67 to 1 | 37.5% | 40.0% | 60.0% | 5 : 3 | 18 |
| 2× pot overbet | 1.5 to 1 | 40.0% | 33.3% | 66.7% | 3 : 2 | 19 |
| 3× pot overbet | 1.33 to 1 | 42.9% | 25.0% | 75.0% | 4 : 3 | 20 |
Four numbers from one bet
Call P the pot before the bet and B the bet. Calling puts B at risk to win P + B, the pot plus the bet, so pot odds are (P + B) : B. Turned into a probability, the call breaks even when your share of the final pot pays for your call: required equity = B / (P + 2B), because the final pot is P + 2B and you put in B of it.
From the bettor’s side, a bluff risks B to win P, so it breaks even if the caller folds B / (P + B) of the time. The caller who wants to stop that has to continue the rest of the time, P / (P + B): the minimum defence frequency. On the river with a polarised range, the bettor who wants the caller indifferent bluffs B / (P + 2B) of their bets: the value-to-bluff ratio. That is the same number as the caller’s required equity, and that is the whole point: at that ratio a bluff-catcher wins exactly as much as it loses.
Draws rarely get the direct price on the flop and turn. What they hope to win later, when they hit, is implied odds, and the page prices exactly how much each draw needs at every size.
Every bet size
- Quarter-pot bet16.7%
- Third-pot bet20.0%
- Half-pot bet25.0%
- Two-thirds-pot bet28.6%
- Three-quarter-pot bet30.0%
- Pot-sized bet33.3%
- 1.5× pot overbet37.5%
- 2× pot overbet40.0%
- 3× pot overbet42.9%
The ideas behind the numbers
- The prices are exact. Pot odds, required equity, MDF and the bluff frequencies are arithmetic on the pot and the bet, printed as reduced fractions. Nothing is rounded until it is displayed.
- Draw odds are counted. The chance of hitting comes from the outs chart, which deals every turn and river. We assume clean outs: every out wins and nothing else does. Real draws are dirtier, and against a stated range the spot check counts the real equity instead.
- No rake, no future betting unless a page says otherwise. Implied odds are the one place we price a later street, and that page states its model.
- MDF and the river ratio are a toy game, not a solver output: a bettor with only the nuts or air, a caller with only bluff-catchers. They say what stops the other player profiting automatically. They are not a strategy for any single hand.
Pot odds give the price. Whether your hand has the equity depends on what the bettor holds: the spot check counts it against a stated range, with the working.
Check a spot →Put the maths into practice
Turn the price into a decision: try our flush-draw pot odds lesson, then test yourself in three poker spots.