Odds talk – what is being 'pot committed'

• 30.06.2025 1:41 pm
• headhunter
• 0 Comments

Pot odds

It is easy to understand what pot odds are. For instance, if your hand keeps hitting 30% most of the time, assuming that it takes the pot with its hit, it is only logical to expect the hand to lose 70% of the times. For this reason, you need to ensure that you have the correct odds each time you play the hand.

You need to ensure that there is $3 on the pot for every $1 you put in the pot. This will ensure that even after you lose the pot twice, you will still profit from the one time you win. Drawing without the correct odds is not recommended. This will mean that, it will be hard to get pot odds that will chase a draw from you even as you head- up to the flop.

The implied odds 

This is the other type of odd there is in poker. An implied odd is generally the money that will be added to the pot after you play a current street. These implied odds are very advanced in no limit than in the limit games.

This is because; it is easy to tell the number of times your opponent is going to bet. This is why it is always advisable to start off in poker with limit games as you get the whole concept of implied odds. It is harder to calculate implied odds in a no limit game. One such type of odd is the calling train.

The call train

If the players who act after you are the loose aggressive type, it will be easier to calculate the implied odds here. The calling train basically, lets say you have a guy to your right who raises, you act next by calling and there are seven other players who need to act  after you and they all call; this is a calling train.

The opponent who plays behind you most probably understands the calling train, in which case he makes a move same as yours knowing that he is calling with a bad hand in a pot that is raised.  If you and the guy behind you call, then the next player decides to call, he is getting a 3:1 call without the dead money.

All the other players who act after this player will have their odds add by 1. This makes all the other calls easier making it expected without considering the cards held by some players. This will give you the implied odds to call even when you do not have pot odds to call.

"Pot committed"

This is a term used like an excuse for a player to make poor calls. This is how players justify themselves after making a wrong call. For it to be understandable, look at the example below:

There is a woman to your left in a five way hand game. She has T-J as well as a flop straight open ended draw. The hand extends to the river and she is to act third. There is a larger than average pot and the five players are all in the game.

On the river, the pot stakes are $350 as the first player ins it all, as the second players does the same.

The board looks like 9 –Q-A-6-7 and 3 hearts, coming on the river last. The woman is only left with $10; the pot is at $420

Her odds are at 42:1. She glances at the pot and then shows you her hand and says "I'm pot committed" as she bets her $10. As much as she can only win once is 42 times as per her odds, this is still playing ridiculously.

Going by the bet story, it is clearly impossible for the woman to win. Assuming that the first all in was a high 3 bluff, it is still impossible that even the 2nd all in was meant to be a bluff under a jack high. Odds will not be of any importance in dead draw.

The whole idea on this story is to show that it is always –EV to cash in on the pot when drawing dead, regardless of the odds. There is fine distinction between the time to play the odds and the time to ignore the odds and release the hand.

Folding your last $10 when taking part in a $1000 pot when you are sure your losing is not a good idea, you should use this opportunity to make money. It is hardly that the odds can be this high in real poker games. The decision to pot commit is entirely up to you depending on how much confidence you have in your reads.

Pot jamming  

This is one of the major mistakes made by poker players; this is a way to distort the odds. There are six players in a pot that is already at the flop, as you flush draw flop. The pot is at $50 and there are checks from the first 4 players. The man seated to your right makes a bet of $30 as he leaves $100 behind. You make a raise to $80 as every other player folds with the pot at$160.

The first bettor puts it all in at $130 and the pot goes to $260. You are now required to make a $50 call on a pot worth $260; your odds are at 5:1. You are left to call the pot odds.

The problem for you in this hand is that you made the $80 raise in poor play. It is obvious that no player would call after you raise before the original bettor. This is why they will all check, if they had monsters they would fold or raise.

This means that you raised and forced all other players to put it all in or fold. When one of them put it all in, you will have no choice than to call. If you failed to raise the $80, you would have no odds to pot draw at $130.

Looking at it from a results point of view, you place half of the money on the pot. As much as calling all in was a smart idea, it was a bad idea to get into such a situation. You lacked the odds to go after the flush causing you to jam the pot; you distorted the pot and had to force your hand.

Gamblers do not like folding flush draws. A good poker player knows when they should fold and will make their play as a way to justify the fact that they are gambling.

It is therefore wrong to jam the pot as you will end up losing a lot of money. The trick is to play correct odds, this way, you will make money irrespective of the cards your opponents have.