In a poker game with more than one betting round, an out is any unseen card that, if drawn, will improve your hand to one that is likely to win . Knowing the number of outs you have is an important part of poker strategy. For example in draw poker, a hand with four diamonds has nine outs to make a flush: there are 13 diamonds in the deck, and you've seen four of them. If you have two small pairs, and you believe that it will be necessary for you to make a full house to win, then you have four outs: the two remaining cards of each rank that you hold.

Note that the hidden cards of one's opponents may affect your calculation of outs. For example, assume that a Texas hold 'em board looks like this after the third round: 5♠ K♦ 7♦ J♠, and that you are holding A♦ 10♦. Your current hand is just a high ace, which is not likely to win unimproved, so you have a drawing hand. You have a minimum of nine outs for certain, called nut outs, because they will make your hand the best possible: those are the 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, and Q of diamonds (which will give you an ace-flush with no possible better hand on the board) and the Q of clubs and hearts, which will give you an ace-high straight with no higher hand possible. The 5♦ and J♦ will also make you an ace-high flush, so those are possible outs since they give you a hand that is likely to win, but they also make it possible for another player to have a full house (if he has something like K♠ K♣, for example). Likewise, the Q♠ will fill your ace-high straight, but will also make it possible for some opponent to have a spade flush. It is possible that your opponent could have as little as something like 7♣ 9♣ (making a pair of sevens); in this case even catching any of the three remaining aces or tens will give you a pair to beat his, so those are even more potential outs. So you have nine guaranteed outs, and possibly as many as 18, depending on what you expect your opponent to have.

See also: Poker probability (Texas hold 'em)

Back | Home | Up | Next