Drawing Odds - Texas Holdem


    One question that many players learning the game of poker ask is "What are the odds of completing my hand?". If a player needs a card to complete their hand, say they have four hearts and need a fifth for the flush, the cards that will complete the hand are called Outs.

    The table below will show how many "outs" there are when trying to complete some of the more common poker hands.

 
Number of Outs Available to Improve Your Hand
Outs You Hold Hope to Make
2 A Pair Three of a Kind
4 Two Pair Full House
4 Inside Straight Straight
8 Open-ended Straight Straight
9 Four Flush Flush
15 Open Straight Flush Draw Straight, a Flush, or Straight Flush


    Once you know how many outs you have, the table below will be useful in finding out what your chances of "catching" an out, and completing your hand are. The table shows both the percentage chance, and the "odds-to-one" chance of catching your card for the turn, or the river, or both.

 
Probability of Catching an Out
  Percent Odds Percent Odds Percent Odds
Outs Turn (%) Turn (X:1) River (%) River (X:1) Turn or River Turn or River (X:1)
20 42.6 1.35 43.5 1.30 67.5% 0.48
19 40.4 1.47 41.3 1.42 65.0% 0.54
18 38.3 1.61 39.1 1.56 62.4% 0.60
17 36.2 1.77 37.0 1.71 59.8% 0.67
16 34.0 1.94 34.8 1.88 57.0% 0.76
15 31.9 2.13 32.6 2.07 54.1% 0.85
14 29.8 2.36 30.4 2.28 51.2% 0.96
13 27.7 2.62 28.3 2.54 48.1% 1.08
12 25.5 2.92 26.1 2.83 45.0% 1.22
11 23.4 3.27 23.9 3.18 41.7% 1.40
10 21.3 3.70 21.7 3.60 38.4% 1.61
9 19.1 4.22 19.6 4.11 35.0% 1.86
8 17.0 4.88 17.4 4.75 31.5% 2.18
7 14.9 5.71 15.2 5.57 27.8% 2.59
6 12.8 6.83 13.0 6.67 24.1% 3.14
5 10.6 8.40 10.9 8.20 20.4% 3.91
4 8.5 10.75 8.7 10.50 16.5% 5.07
3 6.4 14.67 6.5 14.33 12.5% 7.01
2 4.3 22.50 4.3 22.00 8.4% 10.88
1 2.1 46.00 2.2 45.00 4.3% 22.50