Percentages to other odds conversions

[SternSwiss]

I have seen at times wrong figures being used / referred to for converting percentages into other classical ways of calculating the chances that an event will occur.

Percentages are a widely spread calculation tool, but they are difficult to use live on the tables


So, below are the 2 most common ones used in poker litterature and the ways to convert from one to another.

It is very important to understand them correctly in order to make the appropriate claculations / decisions



1) "1 in x"

It is for me the most practical one to use at the table.

Example. I have 9 outs for my flush draw, 47 cards remain unknown so I have 9 in 47 chances to hit.

or a "1 in 5.22" chance (47 / 9 = 5.22)


I then compare this figure with pot odds

F.ex, how big is the pot and how much do I need to call it:

The pot is 1000, I need to pay 150 to call my draw, so my pot odds are 6.66 (1000 / 150).

My pot odds are better than my drawing odds, so I call.

Or in other words: I have to pay 1/6.6 of the pot with 1/5.2 chances to win (I assume that hitting will give me the winning hand).

If I had to call 250 then my pot odds would be 4 and I wouldn't call (much smaller than 5.22)


With a bit of practice, this become quite easy and intuititve to calculate live and make deicisions.




2) "X to 1" (X:1)


If I have 1 in 5 chances to hit it means I will loose 4 times and win 1 time, I have a "4 to 1" chances to win, often written "4:1".

YOu see this very often and not rarely people confuse it with the point 1 above (as it is a bit counter intuitive)




Formulas for conversion:


"1 in X"
and "X to 1": Subtract or add one ("1 in 3" = "2 to 1")


Percentage to "1 in X" One-hundred divided by the % will give you the X in "1 in X"
Ex: 25% -> 100 / 25 = "1 in 4" (which is "3 to 1", see above)



That's all folks. Looks like nerdism, but it is often misunderstood and needed for reading poker litterature / understanding odd charts / making good decisions on the table...