Common Sense Holdem Odds Calculators

Beware of odds calculators for Texas Holdem that do not do practical estimations of what the opponent might be holding. Many calculators simply read our hand and tell us how bad or good it is without comparing them with what our opponents still active in the hand have.

Holdem calculators should never cheat by peeking directly at the cards of our opponents. And anyway, the online casino makes sure this does not happen. But calculators need to give us their opinions of what opponents might have. These are sometimes called "likely odds." Simply put, these are odds the opponent is likely to have based on the opponent's reactions at the table.

For instance, we hold pocket queens at an 8-man table. Then we make a pre-flop raise that is thrice as much as the big blind. That makes 4 callers see just how intent we are with our raise. Then the flop comes out with a useless A-A-K. It is possible that one of the 4 players is holding an ace or probably a king. At best, all we can hope for is have a queen later—at the turn or river.

Now, the question is what if a player makes a big bet? Our logic would strongly recommend folding the hand. It looks like we're surely beat, after all. Common sense tells us that. But a lot of odds calculators won't see it this way and tell us to pursue the hand—after all, we have two pairs and a strong kicker. Right?

But look again. Who would dare raise or put an equal bet against our bet that is thrice the big blind if that player has no monster hand? The problem with calculators limited to just reading our hand is that they don't pay attention what the opponent is doing or reacting. And this will cost us much.

Beware of calculators that do not have some deductive capability. They cannot calculate what the opponent is likely to have, or plainly what's likely to happen in a hand. They're not loaded with common sense features. As long as we have playable hands and the board looks a bit promising, they'll keep giving us the go signal.

So be sure to get a Holdem calculator that has common sense. It should be practical enough to also consider what opponents are likely to hold basing on their bet patterns or reactions. Odds calculators should give us the whole table scenario as much as possible.