Implied
odds can be a mental horror
to deal with on every hand.
Statistical odds in general
can easily claim the hardest
of all the strategies typically
used by poker players. Implied
odds are a bit easier to quickly
think of than your pot odds
but are also less factual
and less consistent.
Implied
odds highly rely on the actions
of your opponent(s) and therefore
have an exceptionally high
degree of uncertainty associated
with them. However when you
get right down to it implied
odds are not difficult to
comprehend and not that bad
to put into practice but the
information from implied odds
is far from any stand alone
deciding factor in any decision.
Implied odds take into account
the amount of money in the
pot as well as what is expected
to be in the pots. It’s this simple idea that creates the
confusion and uncertainty with implied odds. For example: in a pot that is $100
that costs $10 to get into will give you pot odds of about 10 to 1. The implied
odds take into consideration the other players that may also join this pot.
So perhaps you think two of the other eight players will join in this pot, this
makes your implied odds 12:1. This is all hypothetical and that is where much
of the credit is lost.
For implied odds to properly
reflect a well established
number you need to know to
a decent degree your opponents
and their actions. Knowing
your opponent pays off in
doubles when you can couple
that knowledge of an opponent’s play style with implied odds to help your statistics
even more.
Implied odds are more of a
tipping point strategy for
most players. Since there
is so much doubt in the mathematics
and it relies so highly on
your understanding of your
opponents the result is that
you have a high degree of
uncertainty. So when your
pot odds and your intuition
cannot decide whether or not
to make that call or whether
to fold, perhaps the implied
odds that you can project
may help you to make that
tight call and make it with
some sort of reason backing
it up. The math may prove
to be difficult but if you
using pot odds as well then
this is relative easy to calculate
off of those numbers you will
already have figured out.
It cannot be reiterated enough
that players need to not use
implied odds on their own,
it is ineffective if not used
with other informational strategies
and methods.
Both these strategies need
to be recognized and can have
their pay offs, both are exceptionally
dependent on the opponent.
Playing small pair cards is
dangerous and are most of
the card combinations that
need to be played directly
to your opponent. By that
it is meant you need to play
the hand to best counter the
psychology and movements of
the other poker players at
the table with you to best
achieve the largest stack. |
