How Counting Outs In Poker Is A Good Thing

Once you learn how to play poker, the next thing that you need to get your hands on is poker outs. It is a crucial skill that every poker player needs to master.

What exactly is poker outs?

It is the calculation of the total number of outs a player has to win a hand. Sounds complex, but if you practice the game regularly, you will get hold of poker outs.

It is true that playing with strong starting cards increases your possibility of winning the hand. But it is not possible to get the desired cards in every hand you play. Sometimes you receive poor or average cards and you put money into the pot with the expectation of completing the hand using the cards on the board. In such a situation, you can find out the possibility of making a hand that is better than your opponent, may be on turn or river, by calculating outs. Outs help you analyze whether your in-hand cards will help you create a winning hand.

Let’s take an example here:

You are playing Texas Hold’em poker. The dealer dealt A♣ K♣ to you and J♦ 9♦ to your opponent. The community cards on the flop are T♠ J♣ 3♣. Suppose your opponent shows you his hand, then how many outs do you have to win the hand. You have three aces and three kings - the outs to a higher pair, four queens for the nut straight, and nine clubs for the nut flush. So, you have 19 outs. Is the outs calculation right? NO; we double-counted one of the outs - the queen of clubs was counted twice. In total, you have 18 outs. An 18-out draw is very big as many cards are there to help you on the turn, and makes you a favorite against top pair on the flop.

Hand Range of Opponent

In any poker game, your opponent will never show you his hole cards. All you need to do is put your opponent on an approximate hand range to calculate your outs. No poker player can ever 100% analyze the hand of the opponent, so calculating outs will never be 100% accurate. Your outs calculations will be dependent on the hand range you put your opponent on.

Suppose in the above example you assume your opponent cards as J♠ J♥, then you would have fewer outs. Your three aces and kings would have given you the winning hand. You may have hit your hand on the turn but lose the hand on the river if the pair hit on board.  Always be prepared to hit the bad hand because sometimes a card that you think is an out may not give you the best hand.

Half Outs in Poker

There is a probability factor in the game of poker, because of which your assumed outs may sometimes count as half outs. To understand this, let's take a quick example:

You are deal 8♠ 9♠, and the board reads T♥ J♥ 3♦. You have eight poker outs - four sevens and four queens that will give you a straight. Correct? Sounds confusing! Actually, you have seven outs. In this case, you may hit the straight but that card can also make a flush for your opponent. You will have the second best hand on the table. Here, the Q♥ and the 7♥ are not full out and should only be counted as half outs. Meaning, in reality, you only have seven outs.

Hidden Outs in Poker

In this game of skill, players occasionally come across a hand that has hidden outs. These hidden outs may not immediately help your hand but they may affect your opponent's hand. Let’s take an example:

You are holding A♥ A♣ and your opponent is holding two pairs - 6♠ 5♥. The board reveals 5♠ 6♣ 9♦ K♥. On the river, you may hit the set by the A♦ or the A♠ or you may have the board pairing either with the nine or the king. This scenario would counterfeit two pair your opponent is holding and would give you an upper hand with higher winning two pair. It still improves your hand to a winning two pairs in case neither a nine nor a king hits your hole cards.

The golden rule - practice makes a man perfect - applies really well in online card games, and especially in a poker game. Once you learn how to calculate your outs, it will be easier for you to determine the pot odds and decide whether to continue with a hand or not. Once you master this key skill required in the game, the game gets simplified as you can play it two ways - investing your money in good cards or investing your money with good odds.