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Counting Outs
Your outs is the number of unseen cards that will give you the best hand if you
hit any one of them on the next card. A quick method to calculate the approximate
chance of getting the best hand is to multiply your outs by two and add one. This gives
you the percentage chance of hitting one of your outs on the next card.
Example #1 (Flush Draw)
| Your Hand |   |
| |
With 9 unseen diamonds, you have 9 outs. Probability of hitting
one of the 9 cards on the next card = (9 x 2) + 1 = 19.
You have about a 19% chance of hitting a diamond on the next card. This implies
an 81% chance that you will not hit a diamond on the next card. So the odds are
81 to 19 which approximates to about 4 to 1 odds.
Example #2 (Gutshot Straight Draw)
| Your Hand |   |
| |
In this example, you must hit a Jack to make a straight. With 4 unseen Jacks, you have 4 outs. Probability of hitting
one of the 4 cards on the next card = (4 x 2) + 1 = 9%.
You have about a 9% chance of hitting a Jack on the next card. This implies
a 91% chance that you will not hit a Jack on the next card. So the odds are
91 to 9 which approximates to about 10 to 1 odds.
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