Counting Outs

Counting Outs

An out is any unseen card that will improve your hand to (likely) the best hand. Counting outs is the foundation of all poker math -- once you know your outs, you can calculate your probability of winning and decide whether a bet is worth calling.

Why Outs Matter

Most of the time in poker, you won't flop a made hand. You'll have a draw -- a hand that needs one more card to become strong. The question is always: how likely am I to hit? Counting outs gives you the answer.

Common Draw Types

Here are the draws you'll encounter most often, along with their exact out counts:

Flush Draw -- 9 Outs

You have four cards of the same suit and need a fifth. There are 13 cards of each suit in the deck. Subtract the 4 you can see, and you have 9 outs.

This is the most common strong draw in Hold'em.

Open-Ended Straight Draw (OESD) -- 8 Outs

You have four consecutive cards and can complete the straight on either end. For example, you hold 8-7 and the board shows 6-5. Either a 9 (four cards) or a 4 (four cards) completes your straight. That's 8 outs.

Gutshot Straight Draw -- 4 Outs

You need one specific rank to fill a gap in the middle of your straight. For example, you hold J-9 and the board shows 8-6. You need exactly a 7 -- and there are four of them. That's 4 outs.

Gutshots are much weaker than open-ended draws because you have half as many outs.

Overcards -- 3 or 6 Outs

You hold cards higher than anything on the board, and pairing one of them would give you top pair. Each overcard has 3 remaining cards in the deck.

• One overcard (e.g., you hold A-6 on a J-8-4 board): 3 outs (the three remaining Aces)
• Two overcards (e.g., you hold A-K on a 9-7-3 board): 6 outs (three Aces + three Kings)

Worked Example

You hold K-heart 9-heart. The flop comes Q-heart 7-heart 3-club.

What do you have? Four hearts (K-heart, 9-heart, Q-heart, 7-heart). You need one more heart for a flush.

How many hearts are left? There are 13 hearts total in the deck. You can see 4 of them (two in your hand, two on the board). So 13 - 4 = 9 outs.

Those 9 outs are: A-heart, J-heart, T-heart, 8-heart, 6-heart, 5-heart, 4-heart, 3-heart, 2-heart. Any one of these on the turn or river gives you a flush.

How to Count Outs

1. Identify your draw -- What are you hoping to make? A flush? A straight? Top pair?
2. Count the remaining cards that complete your draw. Remember there are 4 of each rank and 13 of each suit.
3. Watch for overlaps -- When you have multiple draws (like a flush draw AND a straight draw), some cards complete both. Don't double-count! For example, if you have a flush draw and a straight draw, the card that completes your straight in your flush suit is already counted as a flush out.

The combo draws drill in this level will give you plenty of practice handling overlaps.

Quick Reference

Up Next

The two drills in this level will build your counting speed. First you'll practice single draws, then you'll tackle combo draws where multiple draws overlap. Counting outs should become second nature -- let's build that reflex!