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What are Outs in Texas Hold'em Poker?

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  • Asked ten years ago, such a canonical question only has six upvotes?! BTw, nowdays, we have poker.stackexchange.com
    – Mawg
    Commented Apr 14, 2021 at 8:02

3 Answers 3

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"Outs" are the cards left in the deck that could possibly make you win. Usually these are discussed most when players are all-in and the cards have been revealed.

If the only way you can win is to draw one of the 3 Aces left in the deck, you have 3 Outs.

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    It's important to note that outs can only be guessed - there's always a possibility that the 3 aces left 'in the deck' were burned pre-flop/river/turn or in a dead hand.
    – Jeff
    Commented Feb 22, 2011 at 14:04
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    When figuring 'outs', unless a card was exposed, you always count them as live and in the deck.
    – RobW
    Commented Oct 19, 2011 at 21:04
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    I would like to reiterate that you can never remove outs because they might have been burned, folded, etc. With a freshly shuffled deck, the chance that the first card dealt is the Ace of spades is 1 in 52. If you re-shuffle the deck, remove 26 cards from the deck, and then deal the top card, the chance that it is the Ace of spades is still 1 in 52.
    – Chris Marasti-Georg
    Commented Dec 20, 2011 at 19:24
  • Jeff, regards playing the hand the possibility of the cards being burned is irrelevant. It has no bearing on the strategy.
    – Illotus
    Commented Jan 7, 2012 at 22:55
  • Jeff, Chris, that is one of Donald Rumsfeld's famo(u)s "known unknowns". Since it applies to every player, every hand, every game, its a "universal truth". Generally, we say that there are on the flop 5 cards that we know and and 47 that we do not. On the turn, it's 6 and 46, and on the river it's 7 and 45. Given a burn card before the deal, flop turn & river, those odds vary. Almost imperceptibly, but there is a difference, if you play for long enough (probably against monkeys with typewriters). It is up to each individual to decide -->
    – Mawg
    Commented Apr 14, 2021 at 8:11
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To expand on @lilserf's answer... An out is a mathematical probability that one player has to win the hand depending on the situation, and they are always used, not just mostly in all-in situations.

You have to treat them as probabilities because there is always the chance for runner-runner cards which produce a winning hand. For instance, if you have three to a flush, and making a flush is your only opportunity to win the hand on the flop, you still have outs even though there isn't a single card in the deck that will put you in the lead on the turn.

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Outs

If there are one or more cards still to be dealt and you think your hand is currently inferior to an opponent's hand, the "outs" are cards not yet revealed to you that will improve your hand from a losing to a winning position.

So, for example:

  • You have [Ac] [8d] in the hole.

  • The flop is [7h] [3d] [Ks].

You have an Ace-high. Based on his betting in this hand or earlier in the game, gut instinct, the fact you've seen his cards, whatever, you think your opponent has a pair of Kings. So you think are currently in a losing position.

However, if you hit an Ace on the Turn, you will have a pair of Aces, which beats a pair of Kings. There are four Aces in a deck, you have one of them, so there are three unaccounted for, so you have three outs.

A more complicated example:

  • You have [Ah] [Qh] in the hole.

  • The flop is [5h] [Kh] [Qs].

You have a pair of Queens, and a four-flush in Hearts. You think your opponent has a pair of Kings, so you think are currently in a losing position.

However, there a number of cards that will improve your hand sufficiently to beat a pair of Kings. Specifically:

  • any of the three remaining Aces will give you two pairs, Aces and Queens;
  • either of the two remaining Queens will give you three of a kind, Queens;
  • any of the nine remaining Hearts will give you a Heart flush;

So, you have 3+2+9 = 14 outs. Of course, if any of these happens, your opponent still has at least five outs - the two as yet unseen Kings, which would give him three Kings, and the three cards of the same rank as his second hole card, which would give him two pairs.

The reason this is of interest to you is that it enables you to calculate what chance you have of improving your current hand to a winning hand, which in turn enables you to calculate how much you can bet (as a percentage of the pot) and still have a positive expected value for that bet.

See here for a more comprehensive explanation.

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  • The opponent can improve to three Kings or to two pair, but with three Kings he would still not be beating a flush, and with two pair he would still not be beating three Queens. So his "outs" can't really be counted until the turn. And then, there's the fact that your opponent doesn't always have what you think he has. So really, this is not an exact science.
    – Karl Knechtel
    Commented Jan 17, 2012 at 11:54

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