Poker Equity and the Pot

The definition of equity is the portion of the pot that you should, on average, expect to collect, based on the circumstances you currently face and staying in the hand until the showdown on the river.

Example: your opponent has AdKd in the hole and is currently ahead in the hand having paired his ace on the flop, you have 2c3c and the board is 6cAc9h, there are 9 clubs remaining in the deck which will give you the winning hand by the river with a flush meaning you are a 35% chance to win in a showdown, this means your equity is 35% of whatever is currently in the pot; if the pot contains $200 then your equity is $70 (35% of $200 = $70).

How to play your hand based on Poker Equity

This is a very useful calculation which can be used to determine how you might choose to play the hand, based on your equity. Your equity can change on the turn of a card, for example, using the same flush draw example, your opponent has a $130 equity in the pot because they will win 65% of all showdown battles in this situation; but if another club appears on the turn, your opponents equity will be $0 because their hand would be drawing dead to your made flush.

It would still be considered correct for your opponent to bet the flop when they are infront, for value, because they understand they're likely to win 65 out of every 100 times in this situation; even though 35 times they make a bet on the flop only to get outdrawn on the turn or river, it's still correct to bet your hand for value when you are in a favourable equity situation. Once you suspect your equity has changed because your opponent has outdrawn you, it is correct to change your strategy to compensate for the change in equity; spotting a change in equity because of a made flush or straight can be obvious, but many other situations such as top pair being outdrawn by two pair on the turn or river can be very hard to spot. Nevertheless, if your equity changes drastically, so should your strategy for that hand.

Your opponent understands that they will make a $65 profit for every $100 they invest into a situation like this, taking into account the situations where they win aswell as when they lose.

How does the flush draw make money with such poor equity?

A flush draw has poor equity against just one opponent normally, because there's usually not enough money in the pot to have a positive equity situation; this means it's preferable to have multiple opponents when chasing a flush draw, to boost your equity.

Example: you have the same flush draw on the button and still have a 35% chance to win the pot, but this time you face three opponents instead of one, your equity will be much better because there is more money in the pot in relation to the size of your investment.