Implied Odds in Poker

Implied value is a concept that takes into account future betting on later streets, and is most often used to anticipate your opponent calling on the river. Very often you can be in a situation on the turn where you have a flush draw but are being offered pot odds of only 2 to 1 or 3 to 1 on the turn to see the next card.

If you have read much poker literature about poker odds then you will know that the pot odds are too low as you will need at least 4 to 1 to make it a profitable call. However, that’s a very simplistic way to look at it as it’s not taking into account the future betting which will occur on the river if you hit the draw.

If you anticipate that your opponent will call you on the river if you do hit your flush draw, then although you are currently only getting 2 to 1 or 3 to 1 pot odds, you are anticipating 4 to 1 pot odds or better, and so are able to make the call.
A mistake many new poker players make is they overestimate the implied odds. If you hit your draw on the river you can’t assume that the other player will call a river bet. This is where it gets tricky in trying to calculate accurate implied odds. If you are playing against a very passive player that always folds to any scary cards on the river when a flush draw hits, then you probably don’t want to be chasing your draws on the turn because you will not bet paid off.
When attempting to calculate future bets and implied odds you obviously don’t have a lot of time to do so. This is where note taking can really help. If you have seen how the opponent has played on the river before it will give you more information about how they will likely play this hand.

If you have seen them call big river bets because they don’t like getting bluffed off medium strength hands or they feel they are pot committed, then chasing those draws becomes a lot more attractive because it can be very lucrative.

Another point worth mentioning is making sure you disguise that you have a drawing hand. If you check/call the flop and the turn and make a big bet on the river when the flush draw hits then it’s pretty obvious that you have a made hand.

Whereas if you bet with your draws then it’s not so obvious that you are chasing, that’s why I always like being aggressive with strong draws because you usually get the implied odds on the turn to call because you hand is disguised enough to get called on the river if you hit.

In conclusion, don’t go crazy chasing your draw type hands but with good reads on your opponents you can definitely be getting the implied odds to make a lot of money.