If the flop comes J T 2, our equity will change dramatically as we no longer have the hand that is most likely to win the pot. This equity will not stay the same throughout the hand, because as more cards are dealt the strength and potential of each hand will change, and thus each player’s equity will change with it. Therefore our current pot equity is 65% of $30, or put more simply, $19.5. If we run these hands through an odds calculator it tells us that we have a 65% chance of winning the hand, assuming that all the cards are dealt out and neither player folds. Say for example we hold A K preflop and we know for a fact that our opponent holds J T, and there is $30 in the pot. So if there is 60% chance that you are going to win, you have 60% equity in the hand. Your equity is basically the amount of the pot that 'belongs' to you based on the odds you have to win at a particular point in the hand. Pot equity (or just 'Poker equity') is a mathematical application to poker that helps to explain why you should bet or check in certain situations.

Equity percentages in this article have been calculated using the handy (and free) PokerStove.

Calculating pot odds texas holdem