How To Count Your Poker Outs
.n the game Poker, outs refers the the number of cards that will net you a winning hand. In draw poker, you look to draw outs to continue a straight or flush run perhaps; in hold ‘em type communal games, where there are 2 cards dealt to each player, and 5 community cards dealt face up on the table, you look to flop your outs. All card games are mathematically calculatable and poker is no different. In fact, in many ways, poker is all about math and percentages.
There are many different names for outs- inside, gut shot, clean, tainted and partial. The similarity is that they are all controlled by the mathematical probability that you will flop the right card. Let us explore.
In your hand, you are holding 7 of clubs, 9 of clubs. The flop comes Ace of clubs, 5 of clubs and 6 diamonds. You need 1 more club to make your straight. We all know there are 13 clubs in a deck, and you can now see 4 of them (two in the hand, and two in the flop) so there are 9 possible outs for you to pull a straight. At this point, it does not matter if someone else has a card you need, because unless another player tells you, you will never know what they are holding. If you are playing another form of poker where you can see their cards, Stud for example, you can subtract the clubs you see from your possible outs. In this case, for out calculating purposes the answer is nine. Now, if you suspect that one of the players has paired the Ace, you will need to draw an eight to beat them. There are four eights in the hand, we do not see any of them here, so you are left with 4 possible outs. So, total outs for you for this hand are the 9 possible clubs, plus the four eights, but we have to remember that one of those clubs is an 8. So the total outs for this hand is 9-1+4=12, so 12 possible outs.
Let us take another hand, you hold 10 of diamonds, and 9 of diamonds. The flop comes Ace of spades, 8 of clubs, and 7 of hearts. You need either a Jack or 6 of any suit to make a straight. There are 4 Jacks, and 4 6’s in every suit, so the total number of outs is 8. Eight outs to make your straight.
Now let us examine “inside” or “gut shot” straight draws. You are holding 10 of spades, 9 of clubs, the flop is 7 of hearts, 6 of clubs and Queen of diamonds. You need the 8 of any suit to make your straight. Because it falls between or inside your other cards, this is known as the inside or gut shot draw. There are four 8’s in the deck, so your only possible number of outs is 4. Or, if you are holding 8-7 whatever suit, and the flop comes 10,6,4. Now, you have two inside possibilities, because a 5 fills the 4,5,6,7,8 straight, and 9 fills the 6,7,8,9,10 straight. There are four 5’s and four 9’s, so a possible of 8 outs to fill what is called the double gut shot straight.
Next the clean, tainted and partial outs. Clean outs are cards that can help you and you alone. Tainted outs are cards that can help your opponent, should you know their cards- say they accidentally knock them over- the tainted outs are cards that may help them. For example, you are holding 10 of hearts and 9 of hearts, the flop is Ace of hearts, 8 of hearts and 7 of clubs. One of your opponents jumps and knocks his cards over and you see he has two more Aces for a complete set. Now, the 7 of hearts will not help you with your flush, because it will fill up his full house- Aces full of 7’s, which beats the flush. The only possible win you have is a straight flush. In this example, the 7 of hearts is a tainted out, while the 6 of hearts is a clean out to complete the straight flush. Some players count tainted outs as 1/2 an out, so in this case you only have 1.5 outs. The tainted out can also be referred to as a partial out, as it helps your hand, but not enough to close out the win. In many cases the partial out needs one more card to be of any real help. This is where the turn and river cards can be of help, but if you miss either one, you have lost the hand.
