What is Implied Odds?

Implied odds extend the concept of pot odds by factoring in the future money you expect to win on later streets if your drawing hand completes. Pot odds only consider the chips currently in the pot against the cost of a call; implied odds ask a further question: when my draw hits, how much more will my opponent pay me off? Worked example: you hold a flush draw on the turn with roughly 18% equity to hit on the river. The pot is 100 and your opponent bets 50, so you must call 50 to win 150 — pot odds of 3-to-1, or 25% required equity. On raw pot odds the call is unprofitable, because 18% is below 25%. But suppose that when your flush completes you can reasonably expect to extract a further 120 on the river. Now you are effectively risking 50 to win 270, which only requires about 16% equity. The call becomes correct once those implied odds are included. Implied odds matter most in deep-stacked play and against opponents who pay off second-best hands. They are highest against loose, calling-station opponents and lowest against tight players who fold the moment a draw-completing card appears. A common mistake is to overstate them: beginners justify weak calls by imagining a full stack will go in, when in reality a wary opponent shuts down the instant the obvious draw lands. Reverse implied odds — the money you lose when you make a hand but it is still beaten — are the mirror risk. See also pot odds, equity and outs.