Pot Equity

By Reggie VelJohnson

How to easily calculate the pot equity of a poker hand.

More useful than pot odds is the concept of equity in poker since it covers the whole hand rather than just a single calling situation. Equity is basically the chances that you have to make your hand by the river. Here is how you can find your equity number:

Count Outs First

The first step to finding equity is calculating your outs, or number of cards in the deck that will give you a made hand. For example, if you have 7-8-9-10 (including the board), you would have 8 outs since both a 6 and J would give you a straight (and there are 4 of each in the deck).

Find Your Hands Equity

After finding your outs, it is time to calculate equity. To do this, multiply outs on the flop by 4, and multiply outs on the turn by 2. So in the above example, your calculations would look like this:

(Flop) 8 X 4 = 32%
(Turn) 8 X 2 = 16%

So you’d have 32% equity on the flop, and 16% equity on the turn.

That means that if someone raises you for 20% of the pot after the flop you should call as the odds are in your favor. If they did this after the turn your pot equity is smaller then the raise so you should likely fold if you  believe that your opponent has already made their hand.