Draws are a lot of fun in no limit, so let’s talk some strategy. The first thing to remember is not to place too much emphasis on draws like many new players do. Draws are great and all, but they aren’t guaranteed money. Most of the time they won’t even hit, so don’t count on them winning your pots for you.
Also, don’t put too much emphasis on your implied odds. It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that it’s ok to chase with bad odds in no limit because you can take your opponent’s whole stack if you hit that draw. That’s just not true. We’ll get more into that later.
The main things I want to talk about today are:
1. Pot Odds
2. Implied Odds
3. Reverse Implied Odds
4. Aggression with Draws
Pot Odds
This is the most basic concept when it comes to draws. It’s important to understand pot odds before you do anything else with draws. Pot odds are used to compare the size of the pot to the size of the bet you have to call. You then compare your pot odds to the odds of your draw hitting. Don’t worry, there’s not really any math involved. Pot odds are easy to figure out.
The best way to explain it is to give an example:
If someone bets $20 into a $20 pot, the pot is now $40 and you have to call $20 to stick around. You are getting 40:20 pot odds which reduces down to 2:1.
Now all you have to do is figure out if the odds of your draw are better than the pot odds you’re getting. Let’s use a flush draw in this example. The odds of a flush draw hitting on the next street are about 4:1.
Since 4:1 is worse than the pot odds of 2:1, you cannot make this call and expect to make a profit over the long run. The amount of money you stand to win if you hit the draw is not enough to make up for the amount of money it’s going to cost you to call and miss all the other times.
The easiest way to do this at the table is to just memorize a couple of the more common draw odds. It doesn’t take long and it will make it simple for you at the table.
Here’s a list of the common draws you should memorize or keep handy. (Red text used simply to help distinguish across rows)
You Hold You Hope to Make Odds on Next Card Odds on Next 2 Cards
Flush Draw Flush 4:1 2:1
Straight Draw Straight 5:1 2:1
Two Pair Full House 11:1 5:1
Inside Straight Draw Straight 11:1 5:1
OESFD Flush, Straight, SF 2:1 1:1
OESFD = Open Ended Straight Flush Draw (8s9s on a 2d6s7s board)
When figuring out whether or not to chase, go by the next card only odds. The only time you should use the odds on next 2 cards numbers is when you’re facing an all-in situation on the flop.
That’s all there is to it. Just add up the pot odds and compare it to the drawing odds and you’re good to go.
Implied odds are similar to pot odds except they take into account the future bets you expect to make if you hit your hand. For example:
In a $100 pot, your opponent bets $50, giving you pot odds of 150:50 or 3:1. The chances of hitting a flush draw are only 4:1 so you’re not getting a good deal and should fold.
But, let’s say you think you can get an additional $100 out of this villain on the river if you hit that flush. So now instead of getting 150:50, you’re actually getting 250:50 when you add in that extra $100. This reduces down to 5:1, which then makes your 4:1 flush draw OK to chase.
That is how implied odds work. The only problem with this is that it’s only a guess and us poker players, being the positive bunch we are, sometimes get a little overoptimistic about our implied odds. Your opponents can see the board too and they know there’s a chance whatever draw you’re on just hit, so don’t put too much stock in your implied odds.
A perfect time to count on implied odds is when you’re up against a crazy, reckless opponent. This type of person is more likely to pay you off when you hit a draw. Just make sure to look at the stack sizes. There’s no point in chasing a draw with bad odds if the opponent doesn’t have anything left to pay you off.
There are many definitions for reverse implied odds, but basically reverse implied odds is a term used to describe the situation that occurs when you hit the draw you’re chasing but still lose the hand.
If you’re chasing a flush draw on a paired board, you’re probably getting reverse implied odds because if you hit that draw, you’re either going to scare the opponent away (because of all the scare cards out there) or you’re going to lose a bunch of money because he already has a better hand than you (the full house in this example).
The most important lesson to take away from reverse implied odds is to not chase non-nut draws. If the draw doesn’t make you the nuts or close to it, it’s not worth chasing unless you have a strong read that your opponent has a weaker hand (like a big pair).
Aggression With Draws
Raising and betting with draws are strong moves in no limit. Not only do you have the chance to win the hand by hitting your draw, but you might also win the hand by getting everyone to fold.
Being aggressive with draws also helps by mixing up your game. Your opponents will never know if you are raising with a real hand or just a draw. If they catch you raising a draw once in a while, it’s going to get your made hands paid off more often. Additionally, if you raise a draw and hit it, your hand is pretty well disguised.
Before you raise a draw, however, there are a couple of things to consider. First, look at how many people are in the pot with you. Against one person, your chances of getting a fold are pretty decent, but as soon as there are two or more people in the pot, your chances of folding everyone out drop sharply.
You also want to look at the style of the opponent. If you’re up against a loose calling station, a raise has a much higher chance of getting called. You might as well save the money and see if you hit the draw before you make any bets. If that opponent really is a calling station, he’ll pay you off anyways.
Equally important are stack sizes. If you’re up against a shortstack, you don’t want to raise and potentially have to deal with a difficult decision if he decides to push. If you’re up against a deep stack, a raise has more merit because there’s a lot of money left to win. It helps disguise your hand which is a major benefit when playing deep stacked.
No comments:
Post a Comment