Poker odds fordummies

What are pot odds?
Pot odds refers to the price of calling a bet relative to the size of the pot. For example, if the pot is $100 and your opponent bets $100, then you have to call $100 to win $200 (their bet plus the pot). This means you're getting odds of $100 to $200, or 2/1. It can be tricky to work out pot odds exactly, but estimating is usually fine.
What are good odds?
Good odds simply means that the odds you have to call are better than the odds of making your hand. For example, if you have a flush draw and face an all-in bet on the flop, you will have a roughly 40% chance of making your flush and winning. That 40% is around 3:2, so if you have to call a bet of $200 to win $300 or more, you're getting good odds and should call.
What are the odds of flopping a set?
If you have a pocket pair, you will flop a set roughly one time in nine.
What are the odds of flopping a flush?
If you have two suited cards, you will flop a flush roughly one time in 118. You'll flop a flush draw around one in ten times, though.
What are the odds of being dealt pocket aces?
On average, you'll be dealt pocket aces once every 220 hands.
How do the odds change with more players?
The more players that are involved in the hand, the lower your chances of winning the pot – even if you're a favourite. For example, the most powerful starting Hold'em hand is pocket aces. If you're up against a random hand, you'll be a huge 85% favourite. If you're up against five random hands, you'll still be a huge favourite, but you'll only win the pot 49% of the time.
On top of that, the more players in the pot, the higher the chances that they hold some of your outs. If two players have flush draws, they only have seven outs (not nine) to hit their flush – and one of them will lose a big pot!
How many different hands are possible in Texas Hold'em?
If you do not distinguish between suits (which are not ranked in most poker games), then there are 169 different starting hands in Texas Hold'em. The best is A-A and the worst is either 7-2 or 3-2 unsuited. If you do differentiate between suits, there are 1,326 possible combinations of two cards.