Practical Poker Math

will flop this same hidden Set once every 12–18 minutes
online and once every 25–40 minutes in the casino.
Most pre-Flop odds calculations relate to the likelihood that
certain hands will improve. To help organize these calculations,
almost all possible starting hands can be placed into
one of four classifications:
1. Pocket Pairs
2. 2 Suited Cards
3. Big Cards
4. Rags.
Most of the work in this section refers to the odds of
improvement of certain hands. Players generally find “odds
of improvement” easier to work with than “probability of
improvement” because, for them, it is easier to relate those
odds to the money odds in order to determine expectation.
Any expression of odds can easily be converted to an expression
of probability. For example, with a Pair in the pocket,
the odds against flopping a Set and a Set only are 8.28 : 1.
To convert these odds to an expression of probability:
WILLNOTs : WILLs
8.28 : 1
WILLs = 1
+ WILLNOTs = 8.28
Total Possibilities = 9.28
WILLs
* 100 = Probability as %
Total Possibilities
69
Before the Flop