Outs

What Is an Out?

An out is any card left in the deck that completes your draw or improves your hand to a likely winner. Counting outs is the first step in calculating your pot odds and determining whether to continue in a hand. Before you can assess whether a call is profitable, you need to know how many cards help you.

The concept is intuitive. If you hold four hearts after the flop and need one more for a flush, there are 9 remaining hearts in the deck. Those 9 hearts are your outs. The more outs you have, the better your chances of improving, and the more liberally you can call or raise.

Accurate out counting also requires honest assessment. Not every card that completes your draw necessarily wins you the hand. If you are drawing to a flush but the board pairs, someone might hold a full house. These considerations lead to the concept of “clean outs” versus “dirty outs” and “discounted outs,” refinements that separate beginners from experienced players.

How It Works

Counting Outs:

After the flop, there are 47 unseen cards (52 minus your 2 hole cards and 3 board cards). After the turn, there are 46 unseen cards. Your outs are the subset of those cards that make your hand a likely winner.

Common Draw Scenarios:

| Draw | Outs | Example |

|—|—|—|

| Flush draw | 9 | You hold two hearts, two on board |

| Open-ended straight draw (OESD) | 8 | You hold 7-8 on a 5-6-K board |

| Gutshot straight draw | 4 | You hold 7-8 on a 5-9-K board (need a 6) |

| Two overcards | 6 | You hold A-K on a 7-8-2 board |

| Flush draw + gutshot | 12 | Combination draw |

| Flush draw + OESD | 15 | Monster draw |

| Set to full house/quads | 7 | You hold a set on a two-tone board |

| One pair to two pair/trips | 5 | You hold top pair, need to improve |

| Two pair to full house | 4 | You hold two pair on a dangerous board |

The Rule of 2 and 4:

This shortcut converts outs to approximate percentage equity.

After the flop (two cards to come): Multiply outs by 4.

After the turn (one card to come): Multiply outs by 2.

Examples:

• 9 outs on the flop: 9 x 4 = 36% (exact: 35%)
• 9 outs on the turn: 9 x 2 = 18% (exact: 19.6%)
• 15 outs on the flop: 15 x 4 = 60% (exact: 54.1%)

For draws with more than 8 outs, the Rule of 4 slightly overestimates. You can subtract 1% for every out above 8 for more accuracy. So 15 outs: 15 x 4 – 7 = 53%, closer to the exact 54.1%.

Discounting Outs:

Not all outs are created equal. Sometimes a card that completes your draw also completes a better hand for your opponent.

Example: You hold 8s 9s on a board of 7s Ts Ad. You have an open-ended straight draw with 8 outs. However, two of those outs (6s and Js) would also put a third spade on the board, potentially giving someone a flush. You might discount those 2 outs by half, counting them as 1 out instead of 2, giving you 7 effective outs.

Example

You are playing $1/$2 and hold Qh Jh. The flop comes Th 4h 9c. You have a flush draw (9 outs) and an open-ended straight draw needing a K or 8 (6 additional outs since Kh and 8h are already counted in the flush draw).

Total outs: 15. Using the Rule of 4: 15 x 4 = 60% equity to hit by the river.

The pot is $25 and your opponent bets $15. Your pot odds require: $15 / ($25 + $15 + $15) = 27.3%. With 60% equity, this is a massive call. You could even consider raising as a semi-bluff given your enormous equity advantage. See our poker odds calculator to verify draws like this.

Now discount: if your opponent could hold a higher flush draw (Ah Xh), subtract 2-3 outs. At 12 outs, you still have 12 x 4 = 48%, more than enough.

Common Mistakes

• Counting outs that do not actually win the hand, such as drawing to a non-nut flush when the nut flush draw is likely out there
• Forgetting that the same card can count for multiple draws and double-counting outs already included
• Using the Rule of 4 when facing a bet where you will only see one more card (should use Rule of 2 unless you are guaranteed to see both turn and river)
• Not discounting outs against opponents who likely hold hands that reduce your clean outs

Related Terms

• Pot Odds — after counting outs, compare your equity to the pot price
• Implied Odds — when your outs are not quite enough for pot odds but you expect future payoff
• Equity — your percentage chance of winning, directly derived from your outs
• Expected Value — the ultimate framework outs feed into

FAQ

What is the difference between outs and equity?

Outs are the number of cards that improve your hand. Equity is the percentage chance those cards will appear, translated into a probability. Outs is the raw count; equity is the probability derived from that count. Nine outs on the turn translates to approximately 19.6% equity.

Should I always count outs the same way in multi-way pots?

In multi-way pots, discount your outs more aggressively. With multiple opponents, the chance that one of them holds a hand that blocks or beats your draw increases. A flush draw against one opponent might be 9 clean outs, but against three opponents, some of those flush outs may already be in their hands, and your completed flush might lose to a higher flush.

How many outs do I need to call profitably?

It depends on the bet size you are facing. Against a half-pot bet, you need about 25% equity (roughly 6 outs on the turn). Against a full-pot bet, you need about 33% equity (roughly 8 outs on the turn). Use our poker odds calculator to practice these calculations quickly.