Combos
The number of distinct card combinations that make up a hand: 6 for any pocket pair, 4 for a suited hand, 12 for an offsuit hand, 16 for all suited and offsuit versions together.
Frequently asked questions
What are combos in poker?
Individual combinations of two specific cards. There are six ways to be dealt a given pocket pair, four ways to hold a specific suited hand, and twelve ways to hold a specific unsuited one — sixteen in total for any two different ranks.
Why does combinatorics matter?
Because it turns a vague read into a number. If an opponent's range is aces, kings or ace-king, that is not three equal possibilities: twelve combos of aces and kings against sixteen of ace-king, reduced further by any of those cards on the board or in your hand.
How is it used at the table?
To check whether a call is right. Count the value combos and the bluff combos in the opponent's range, compare the ratio to the price you are being offered, and the decision usually answers itself. Blockers are simply combinatorics applied to your own cards.