First of all, you must have an understanding of pot odds before you even care about implied odds.

Here’s a quick example of implied odds.

You’re dealt
6 6 .

No Limit Game. You’re in a late position. There are two raises ahead of you. Let’s say it’s the first hand. Two people raise for 125 chips. Since you’re in a late position, you run little risk of that getting pumped higher. Do you call? Maybe.

You’re likely beat by one of those raisers, already.

If you run little risk of the pot being inflated, here’s why you call. Your chances of flopping the set are roughly 1 in 8.

Your dream flop is
a 6 4 . Why? You just flopped your set. One of the raisers also probably hit their ace. So, you have an opportunity to take their entire stack, or possibly 2 entire stacks.

That is one thing people talk about when they talk about implied odds. If you hit, you have a much bigger payoff, bigger than the 8-1. If you don’t flop your set, and have nothing else, exit at your first opportunity. This is also something you shouldn’t do when you feel the pot might get inflated. You don’t want to be in a 3 way all in race with a 66, and you don’t want to lose your 125 without seeing a flop. So, thinking about implied odds in an early position is riskier.

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