When the pot is paying you ....

[EddieRich]

This comes up alot in articles and forum posts, but I'm still unclear on this. I have read ( or heard ) that any money you put in the pot is no longer yours. It's gone, it belongs to the pot.

So if the bet, say $5, comes around to me and the pot has $45, even if $20 of the pot was originally my money, is the pot paying me 9:1 ? In my head, after I call for $5, the pot would be at $50 and would pay me 2:1 since $25 of the pot was originally my money.

[TIME]

First ... welcome back Eddie.

Second ... your opening premise is true. The money in the pot is not yours. It is available to be won but you have no claim to it ... so if the pot has $45 in it, regardless of how much of that $45 you put in, and the bet is $5 then you are receiving 9-to-1 odds on that call. If you begin to feel that you have "your" money in the pot it encourages weak/bad/loose calls.

[RyckyRych]

This includes any blinds you posted... once you post, its in the pot.

[Queso]

Eddie... "I love you, man!"

That is a great question, it truly is. It makes me laugh, but it shows someone who really thinks about the game. I feel bad for you though in some respects because this game is hard enough to think through on its own, much less to overthink it! But what a great question. I think I said this to you before, but it's like my wife, a recent football fan (american football, brits)-- she'll ask these great questions that I would never think to ask, such as "can the guy running with the ball just jump on another guy's back, and the two of them run in piggyback for a touchdown?" etc. It makes me laugh, but it just shows that she truly wants to understand the game.

Money you put in the pot is gone, it belongs to the pot. Always calculate your odds based on exactly what the POT is offering you at any given time. It's always the ratio of what's in the pot, to what it costs you to call and continue. See? That makes it easy, right?

[Queso]

Originally Posted by EddieRich

In my head, after I call for $5, the pot would be at $50 and would pay me 2:1 since $25 of the pot was originally my money.

Hey, I'm sorry, but I just realized this also-- thinking that way would handicap you unbelievably! If you dump a draw on the turn because you are thinking, "well, I'm only getting 2:1 here when I need more than 4:1", you just cost yourself a fabulous opportunity to draw when the odds were, in reality, 9:1-- a fantastic overlay!

[EddieRich]

Originally Posted by Quesofromage

It's always the ratio of what's in the pot, to what it costs you to call and continue. See? That makes it easy, right?

I got it, thanks.

I am a software engineer, so I spend alot of time working out math algorithms. I also like the stock market, so I spend alot of time "calculating odds" there too. I think I look at the pot the same way I do stocks. It doesn't matter how much I "invest" in each betting round. If I start the hand with $100, bet a total for the hand of $50, and win a pot of $150, then I doubled ( 2:1 ) my investment.

I just need to get out of that mindset when I play poker.