A Poker Odds Calculator is a Perfect Tool for Poker?

[Wexnident]

If you were an old player, chances are you're already playing around your mind the chances of the other side actually exceeding your hand. Even if the chances aren't 100% accurate, it should be somewhere close tbh, as long as you can take into account the cards in the table and your cards, it should be quite plausible. Still, this is the most basic since other skills that ignore the win/loss of the standoff such as bluffing can also be applied. Ofc, if you were to get the strongest hand, there'd be no way for a bluff to work lmao.

~

Well, the AA pair is a strong pair to start with but it doesn't necessarily guarantee a 100% chance of winning by the time river comes out. Tbf, the hand you have at the start just increases your chance of winning, not making sure you win. This honestly gives you more room to maneuver with imo unlike hands with numerical pairings that aren't near each other, 2 and 9, for example.

[KTChampions]

I thought about this: let's say you have AA in your arms. You go allin. And according to the odds calculator, your odds are ~ 90% (I didn’t check, I just guess as this information is not important for further discussion). But your real chances are less because if someone answers you, he (presumably) will have a stronger hand than the "average" with respect to which the chances are calculated.
I'm right?

it's more complicated than that. in holdem, when it comes to starting hands, hand strength is not static. it changes relative to your opponent's holdings.

statistically, AA is the best possible starting hand. KK is the 2nd best possible starting hand. however, when it comes to AA vs KK, the KK player would be better off holding something like a low-mid suited connector like 65s, which would give him a 4.5% better chance of winning at showdown.





this represents the value of "live cards" where your opponent doesn't have you dominated pair over pair or out-kicked.

That is exactly what I meant. The probability calculator gives some numbers, taking into account the fact that he “knows” the opponent’s hand or gives these numbers with respect to all possible combinations. But the game situation is completely different from these calculations.

[Barnabe]

In my experience, relying on such a calculator can hurt your performance. When using a program like this, I tended to focus too much on odds instead of just playing the game and focus on each player way of playing...
They can be great for beginners, but one should drop them as soon as possible and learn poker theory and strategies.

[Reid]

I think this is the same calculator that they are using at poker games streamed on television.
Right?
You can see percentage of winning of one player just as the camera saw his cards.
But it changes. Even a 2 and 3 of diamonds could get a high chance of winning once the flop happened.
Pair of Aces can lose any time once every card is facing up.
That is why I want to finish it at the start when I have that pair. 

I don't think it's a good tool for me, anything could happen.

[Kong Hey Pakboy]

In my experience, relying on such a calculator can hurt your performance. When using a program like this, I tended to focus too much on odds instead of just playing the game and focus on each player way of playing...
They can be great for beginners, but one should drop them as soon as possible and learn poker theory and strategies.

Indeed. Using this kind of tool will hurt your performance in gambling, and the essence of enjoyment of playing poker will be gone because when you play poker, you will only depend on using the odds calculator. I also think this kind of tool is not perfect for helping you to win because it will only give you chances or the probability if you will win or lose that it will not show you the exact outcome of the cards that will show in the hands of the dealer.

[South Park]

You heard it right, there is a tool that can calculate the odds of poker game and know your chances of winning.
I took a snapshot when tried to test how accurate it is but I saw that it will remain unpredictable against the odds of your opponent.
But have a try first before you will share your thought and probably it will works on you.

snip

https://www.pokernews.com/poker-tools/poker-odds-calculator.htm

The Poker Odds Calculator will help you calculate your chances on a given hand, in any situation. One of the most interesting features of the PokerNews Poker Odds Calculator is the guide on the right column, which will show you which cards should strengthen (green) or weaken (red) your hand.

^ Nevertheless, let us discuss and share your thought!

Calculators like this have been around for a long time, they are good for the newbies since they can help you see more clearly the chances you can hit the hand you are looking for but once you have some experience in the game you will know how to do that in seconds, the real challenge of poker strives on being able to guess why your opponent is betting the way he does and if he has something better than what you have, this is very difficult to do when playing online but when playing live you can try to see any change on his behaviour and whether this change is favourable for you or not and then decide what to do with that information.

[Ryker1]

Well, I am in the realm of poker games and for years playing of this kind of game I did not consider that this calculator will help you while you are in actual sitting in your table or even in online poker. Doing the math will kill your time and perhaps you will interrupt from those tools. However, there are certain calculators if you want to find them I will drop link below.
Indeed, for the beginners that is right. If you want to learn poker this will be the best thing for you, but as they said above, --this will not give exact results because of this tool cant guess what an in your opponent has. Perhaps a learning calculator for new players of poker but not in actual play.
Links of calculators! [1] ^{https://www.cardschat.com/poker-odds-calculator.php} [2] ^{https://www.cardplayer.com/poker-tools/odds-calculator/texas-holdem}

[abel1337]

This would be really helpful for the beginner's or the players who are trying to play the game more efficiently because this can help them win a game, But for the experienced players, I think they don't need this kind of tool because there is a possibility this tool can distract them or they could be dependent in this tool. As per the players who desperately want to win a game, Having this should be an advantage to them and can make their winning chance higher if his table mates are at his caliber level.

Of course for beginners out there who want to try this please remember that this is a tool to help them improve their skills and not by just relying in the tool all the time. This tool can be good training for self-improvement in terms of poker.

[figmentofmyass]

That is exactly what I meant. The probability calculator gives some numbers, taking into account the fact that he “knows” the opponent’s hand or gives these numbers with respect to all possible combinations. But the game situation is completely different from these calculations.

even if you don't know the opponent's hand, you can still assign them a range of possible hands based on their table play, or just a generic range if you have no reads.

so, let's say you're facing a very active/aggressive raiser to your left who 3-bets ~ 2x per orbit, likes to barrel postflop, and has shown down some bluffs. you are dealt KQs and it folds around to you. you raise, he 3-bets. what is a range we can put him on? based on our limited history and assuming a full ring game, he is 3-betting preflop 22.2% of the time. assigning a generic range based on the top 22.2% of starting hands we have:

66+,A3s+,K7s+,Q8s+,J9s+,T9s,A8o+,KTo+,QTo+,JTo

let's see how our equity holds up. preflop:



now, let's imagine a hypothetical flop. for simplicity's sake, we will avoid flush possibilities:



we're in good shape against villain's range, but he continuation bets on the flop and calls a raise. we see a turn card:



villain fires a 2nd barrel. what's our play?

unfortunately with this type of LAG player, we can't narrow his range all that much. this is why LAG players are tough to beat---they make you gamble with higher variance in order to defend your equity. we know he could have hit a set or a straight, or turned a stronger pair. after all, he did call the raise on the flop. we also he know he could have a weaker pair, he could be semi-bluffing a gutshot straight draw, etc

anyway, this is just to highlight a spot where i think people give the villain too much credit. yes, our equity dropped on the turn, but it's really important to consider villain's entire range rather than automatically assuming he made a better hand by the turn. LAG players are often skilled at reading players, especially OOP, so the likelihood that he called the flop raise based on pot odds and is bluffing the turn---knowing he can likely scare us off the hand---is still pretty decent.

[Darker45]

I think this is the same calculator that they are using at poker games streamed on television.
Right?
You can see percentage of winning of one player just as the camera saw his cards.
But it changes. Even a 2 and 3 of diamonds could get a high chance of winning once the flop happened.
Pair of Aces can lose any time once every card is facing up.
That is why I want to finish it at the start when I have that pair. 

I don't think it's a good tool for me, anything could happen.

Same here. LOL!

It may sound absurd but I sometimes do all in if I have that card. No need to wait for the flop. Make the bad cards fold as early as possible and deprive them of ever seeing their probability of winning rise.

It is better to let the game end like a purely random game rather than have your pair of aces be defeated by a 2 and a 6. LOL!

[Mauser]

I think this is the same calculator that they are using at poker games streamed on television.
Right?
You can see percentage of winning of one player just as the camera saw his cards.
But it changes. Even a 2 and 3 of diamonds could get a high chance of winning once the flop happened.
Pair of Aces can lose any time once every card is facing up.
That is why I want to finish it at the start when I have that pair. 

I don't think it's a good tool for me, anything could happen.

Same here. LOL!

It may sound absurd but I sometimes do all in if I have that card. No need to wait for the flop. Make the bad cards fold as early as possible and deprive them of ever seeing their probability of winning rise.

It is better to let the game end like a purely random game rather than have your pair of aces be defeated by a 2 and a 6. LOL!

It all depends on what you are planning to do with poker. If you only play once every two weeks with friends, I get your approach. It's all about having fun. The variance in your cards is much higher.

But if you actually play thousands of hands over a longer period of time (good players easily play 4-8 tables at once on multiple screens) then going all in randomly is not the best approach. Over a long period of time AA will beat 26 off easily.

[Debonaire217]

It all depends on what you are planning to do with poker. If you only play once every two weeks with friends, I get your approach. It's all about having fun. The variance in your cards is much higher.

This perhaps doesn't need any deep skills to learn such as memorizing the deck because your intention is just to have fun. But if you are playing with your friends and there's still a huge bet involved, it is in your advantage to win if you are familiar with the cards you and your friends are holding.

But if you want to have fun and to look professional when playing with your friends online, you can use these Odds Calculator, it might not directly help but it will increase your chance of predicting the outcome of the game.

[South Park]

I think this is the same calculator that they are using at poker games streamed on television.
Right?
You can see percentage of winning of one player just as the camera saw his cards.
But it changes. Even a 2 and 3 of diamonds could get a high chance of winning once the flop happened.
Pair of Aces can lose any time once every card is facing up.
That is why I want to finish it at the start when I have that pair. 

I don't think it's a good tool for me, anything could happen.

Same here. LOL!

It may sound absurd but I sometimes do all in if I have that card. No need to wait for the flop. Make the bad cards fold as early as possible and deprive them of ever seeing their probability of winning rise.

It is better to let the game end like a purely random game rather than have your pair of aces be defeated by a 2 and a 6. LOL!

Since a pair of aces is the best hand you can get pre-flop it makes sense to play aggressively with them, however there are many merits on playing your hand slowly and trapping your opponent especially if he is the aggressive type.

Also it makes sense to mix up the way you play to keep your opponents out of balance and always guessing about your playing style, and if you can incorporate this to your playing style you will become a more effective poker player.

This is a link to the top 5 traps of the decade, while that title is debatable you will see some impressive traps and the first one on the video is of a pocket pair of aces. Enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VBKhAMSvNg

[figmentofmyass]

Since a pair of aces is the best hand you can get pre-flop it makes sense to play aggressively with them, however there are many merits on playing your hand slowly and trapping your opponent especially if he is the aggressive type.

playing it aggressively preflop is always advisable, so you don't end up in family pots. against 3 random hands, AA only wins at showdown ~60% of the time. when you isolate one player before the flop (with a raise) you have much better chances of winning.

Also it makes sense to mix up the way you play to keep your opponents out of balance and always guessing about your playing style, and if you can incorporate this to your playing style you will become a more effective poker player.

in micro/low stakes, a generic tight-aggressive style still works pretty well. in mid-high stakes, i agree that you need to switch things up.

[Darker45]

Since a pair of aces is the best hand you can get pre-flop it makes sense to play aggressively with them, however there are many merits on playing your hand slowly and trapping your opponent especially if he is the aggressive type.

playing it aggressively preflop is always advisable, so you don't end up in family pots. against 3 random hands, AA only wins at showdown ~60% of the time. when you isolate one player before the flop (with a raise) you have much better chances of winning.

I agree. Unlikely close competitors should be eliminated before the flop happens. Don't give them the slightest chance to have a winning window.

However, I am sometimes torn hard between trying to make money and trying to weed out the bad cards as early as possible. A perfect raise, not too high for those holding better cards to scare away instead of gambling on but too high for the ones holding a 2 and a 7 to pay just for the flop, is hard to estimate.

Also it makes sense to mix up the way you play to keep your opponents out of balance and always guessing about your playing style, and if you can incorporate this to your playing style you will become a more effective poker player.

in micro/low stakes, a generic tight-aggressive style still works pretty well. in mid-high stakes, i agree that you need to switch things up.

I guess it is much better not to show any single pattern. Be the aggressor at times. Trap them at times. Bluff and intentionally lose at times.

[jademaxsuy]

It looks like the calculator would not be liable since there are only few cards in poker could be use and higher chances that high cards could be in the hands of other players. There is no really calculator could help you win in poker. If you have played in e games poker that has a indicator that your cards holding has higher chances to win. Yet, even if it has indicator I still get lost though I have the high chances of winning for other players were lucky to surpass the cards being held at hand.

[Mauser]

It looks like the calculator would not be liable since there are only few cards in poker could be use and higher chances that high cards could be in the hands of other players. There is no really calculator could help you win in poker. If you have played in e games poker that has a indicator that your cards holding has higher chances to win. Yet, even if it has indicator I still get lost though I have the high chances of winning for other players were lucky to surpass the cards being held at hand.

Sorry mate, but this is wrong. It seems you just don't play enough poker to actually profit off the correct plays. It's all about statistics, AA or KK will win in most cases over low value cards. But if you only play a few times a year poker than this doesn't matter for your so much. As in any form of gambling you just can be unlucky and be suckered by a worse card. It happens, you just need to be playing more.

But then in the end, is it really worth it? If it's just a game of fun and you play for a small stakes, I wouldn't bother with a calculator like this. Better to have fun with friends, then trying to take their money away.

[figmentofmyass]

playing it aggressively preflop is always advisable, so you don't end up in family pots. against 3 random hands, AA only wins at showdown ~60% of the time. when you isolate one player before the flop (with a raise) you have much better chances of winning.

I agree. Unlikely close competitors should be eliminated before the flop happens. Don't give them the slightest chance to have a winning window.

However, I am sometimes torn hard between trying to make money and trying to weed out the bad cards as early as possible. A perfect raise, not too high for those holding better cards to scare away instead of gambling on but too high for the ones holding a 2 and a 7 to pay just for the flop, is hard to estimate.

very true, and it will differ at every table depending on player styles, so there is no such thing as a perfect raise. on tables with a high % of players seeing flops, it can be difficult to isolate one or even two players preflop. in those cases, it can be prudent to increase your initial raise and 3-bet amounts, to give the gamblers worse odds to call you.

the important thing to remember is that AA in a multi-way pot---especially on a wet (draw-heavy) board---is not that strong of a hand. against 3 random hands preflop it's not far from a coin flip, and postflop in that situation it's much worse yet. still, often times people find it difficult to ever fold AA, even in that situation.

the worst thing you can do IMO is limp with AA and then refuse to fold postflop in a family pot. it's a recipe for disaster. the best strategy is usually to bet starting hand equity when you have it, not wait until your equity declines on the flop.

[Barnabe]

I heard that when playing in fixed limit poker you can be guaranteed to win in certain conditions using this sorts of calculators. Does anyone have heard of this ?

[Darker45]

playing it aggressively preflop is always advisable, so you don't end up in family pots. against 3 random hands, AA only wins at showdown ~60% of the time. when you isolate one player before the flop (with a raise) you have much better chances of winning.

I agree. Unlikely close competitors should be eliminated before the flop happens. Don't give them the slightest chance to have a winning window.

However, I am sometimes torn hard between trying to make money and trying to weed out the bad cards as early as possible. A perfect raise, not too high for those holding better cards to scare away instead of gambling on but too high for the ones holding a 2 and a 7 to pay just for the flop, is hard to estimate.

very true, and it will differ at every table depending on player styles, so there is no such thing as a perfect raise. on tables with a high % of players seeing flops, it can be difficult to isolate one or even two players preflop. in those cases, it can be prudent to increase your initial raise and 3-bet amounts, to give the gamblers worse odds to call you.

the important thing to remember is that AA in a multi-way pot---especially on a wet (draw-heavy) board---is not that strong of a hand. against 3 random hands preflop it's not far from a coin flip, and postflop in that situation it's much worse yet. still, often times people find it difficult to ever fold AA, even in that situation.

the worst thing you can do IMO is limp with AA and then refuse to fold postflop in a family pot. it's a recipe for disaster. the best strategy is usually to bet starting hand equity when you have it, not wait until your equity declines on the flop.

Against 3 random hands pre-flop, I don't think an AA is as weak as having only a coin flip winning probability. But if after the flop you remain to be only as strong as AA, then it is indeed more or less a coin flip.

And things would get even worse if you finally reached the river with still only the AA as your hand. At that point, you are already definitely losing that early advantage. Your AA is now a hand which is not worth calling every single raise.

But, to stay on topic, that odds calculator might still actually give you a high chance of winning depending on the community cards on the table. If that happens, you should treat it as nothing special.

Although, yes, I personally find it really difficult to fold an AA especially after having raised earlier and then called a number of times. But I might be forced to finally concede defeat and fold if the raise is getting very high. It all now depends on the game, and how much is left with you, and whether you're already starting to shiver trying to hopelessly defend that pair of Aces against a bully.