Types of outs in poker – calculations and use

In today’s article, we will try to deal with such a term as Out or Out in English, which literally means “out”. In poker, an out is a playing card that is not in the hand, remaining in the deck – outside the hand. Outs are needed in order to strengthen an incomplete combination or a draw hand. A player who knows his possible outs – missing cards to strengthen, can fully assess his position in the game. And this, in turn, will help him make the right decisions about raising or folding cards.

How to count the number of outs By and large – all cards that can improve your combination or starting hand can be called outs. Let’s assume the situation in Texas Hold’em – the player has a king of spades and a jack of spades in his hands, a queen of spades, a deuce of diamonds and a five of spades appear on the flop – here we see a Flush draw of five of spades, a jack, a queen and a king. So, the player has four suited (spade) cards – there are 13 spades cards in the deck, a simple calculation – in order to improve to a full flush there are nine possible outs – 13 minus 4 is 9. The number of outs varies depending on the cards in hand and on the board, as well as from potential combinations. Recall that a full-fledged combination in Texas Hold’em consists of five cards and has its own hierarchy. Which is based on a simple rule – the less chance a player has to collect five certain cards, the higher and stronger the combination is considered. Types of outs in poker – net and discounted Of course, not all, or rather not all, outs can make our position winning. There are main types of outs in poker – these are the so-called “clean” outs – which will surely strengthen the player’s hand and discounted ones – which are better not to be taken into account. Let’s learn how to identify them using an example: On the flop we have two suits and a straight draw (potential or holey straight) with the following cards: in hand – king of spades and jack of diamonds, and on the flop – three of spades, queen and ten of hearts. In this situation, there are chances to improve to a straight – there are eight possible outs for this: four nines and four aces, respectively, but there is a possibility that one of the opponents, when a nine and an ace of hearts appear, will have a flush, which deprives us of a winning position , because the flush is higher than the straight. So these two outs are considered discounted – and it is better not to take them into account. This means that we have six “clean” outs, which means that the chances of winning are slightly reduced. How to Calculate the Odds of Strengthening a Hand with Outs Experienced players can see the number of outs clearly and are able to calculate the likelihood of their hand improving on further rounds of betting, which gives them the ability to understand the percentage of a positive result. To do this, they use a simple formula – the ratio of the number of possible outs to the number of unknown (remaining in the deck) cards will be equal to the probability of strengthening their cards in percent. Let’s look at an example: On the turn, the player has a flush draw with nine possible outs. Let’s try to calculate the chances that at the next stage – on the river, the player will improve successfully. So, we know only six cards – two of them are in hand and four are open on the board (on the table), which means 52 (the number of cards in the poker deck) minus 6 equals 46 – this is the number of unknown cards. Applying the formula – 9 (outs) divided by 46 (number of unknown cards) equals 19.6 percent. This means that the probability of improving your flush draw to a full flush in the next round is almost twenty percent. There is another way to calculate, simpler or faster. Many players do the following – they multiply the number of outs by two and add two. Let’s look at the formula, using similar data from the example above, 9 (number of outs) times two and add two equals 18 + 2, that is, 20. We can notice that this method is less accurate, but the result is practically the same as the previous one. Poker professionals never tire of repeating that mathematical calculations, observation and logical thinking are the basis of a successful game and big wins. If you are still a beginner, try to study well the basic rules, the main mistakes of beginners and terminology. Master the math of outs to better navigate the poker table and make the right decisions. Regardless of the format in which you play – whether it’s a poker room or a live game at the table, you will undoubtedly benefit from the knowledge gained through careful preparation. Summing up, we repeat once again – outs are those cards that remain in the deck and can strengthen your hand or the hand of your opponent. In different combinations, the number of outs varies, this should be taken into account. There are two main types of outs – clean ones that can really help you in the game and discounted ones that can improve your opponent’s hand. We’ve learned two ways to calculate the percentage chance of your cards improving, now you can add all this information to your knowledge of poker and feel more confident. But poker also likes a cool head, so don’t forget that victory depends on a lot of surrounding circumstances.