If you’ve even just watched poker on TV you have likely heard commentators saying things like “I can see why he called with so many outs” or “He is going to need a miracle to catch that two outer on the river” and wondered what they are talking about. What is an out in poker, and how do you calculate them? Once you figure them out, how do you use the knowledge of the outs to your advantage?

An “out” in a game of poker is an escape, just like it sounds. It is the card you need to come from behind and take the lead in a hand. If you are all in with a King/ Queen hand and your opponent has pocket fives, you need to catch a king or a queen to pull ahead. If no one has folded a king or a queen there are six outs for you (three more Kings and three more Queens).

Say the flop comes Ace, Eight, Ten. Your opponent is still in the lead with a pair, but now you have picked up four more outs, as any of the four Jacks in the deck would give you a straight. Now you have ten outs (the remaining Kings, Queens and Jacks.)

Let’s take a different example. This time you have the pocket pair, Tens, and your opponent has Ace/ King of spades. The flop comes Ace, Duce, Six with two spades, and now your opponent is ahead with a pair of aces. How many outs do you have? If you said two (the two remaining Tens) you are on the right track, but the Ten of Spades is dead to you, as it would make your opponent an even better hand, a flush. You are down to one out.

So how do you use this knowledge of outs in the game? At its most basic, outs give you the odds that you will triumph in a hand. If you are not all in and are being put to a test (to call a significant bet), you need to figure your outs based on what you think your opponent has. If, for example, you are holding Deuce/ Seven and the board is Ace, Seven, Five, you are holding middle pair. If your opponent has an Ace, you only have five outs (the three Deuces to make two pair or the two Sevens to make a set), and if you are being asked to call off all of your chips, you might consider folding.

Figuring outs takes a little practice, but is well worth the effort when it comes naturally and helps you to make the right decision in poker.