“How do side pots work in poker?” is a question you may often hear, especially from players still new to online poker tournaments and cash games.
Luckily, the concept is a fairly straightforward one. Read on to learn about the most common instances involving such pots, the various side pot poker rules, and how to approach the math in these scenarios.
Table Stakes
Before getting into the details, a little context is required. A rule in poker called “table stakes” dictates that you can only bet what you have in front of you. Without this rule, wealthier players could simply open their wallets to produce more cash whenever they felt good about their hands.
While confidence in poker can be a good thing, without limitations, it would lead to ludicrous situations like car keys being thrown into the pot. As such, this rule exists to keep things under control.
However, if you aren’t allowed to purchase more chips mid-hand, what are you supposed to do when you don’t have enough to keep going? Well, that’s easy. Create an extra pot for the players with more chips to continue playing.
What Is a Poker Side Pot?
Imagine you’re the short stack in a tournament, and you’ve just pushed all in. The next player to act shoves over the top of you. If everyone folds, there’s no problem. The excess chips would be returned to that player, and the hand would play out as normal. But what happens if someone else calls both of these all in bets?
Example
Take a look at these hypothetical chip counts:
- You: 1,000 chips.
- Dave: 2,000 chips.
- Jane: 5,000 chips.
You’ve bet all in for 1,000 chips. Dave had a good hand and wanted to bet for value, so he has since made it 2,000 to go. Jane called, and everyone else folded around to you. You can’t call the additional 1,000 as you’re all in, so it’s necessary to create a second pot.
The main pot will contain your 1,000 plus the two calls, for a total of 3,000. It will also contain any blinds and antes. But the two other players are also competing for an additional pot containing Dave’s 1,000 raise. Jane has called, so there are a further 2,000 chips up for grabs for those two players.
This last portion is known as a side pot. You are only eligible to win the contents of the main pot, but the bigger stacks are also in contention for the extra pot.
At showdown, the player with the best overall hand takes down the main pot. Whoever has the best hand from those involved in the additional pot will win its contents.
Calculations
The player with the smallest stack is always going to determine the size of the main pot. Here’s another example to help you understand. Imagine a four-handed no-limit hold’em game with blinds of $1/$2 and no antes. The chip stacks look like this:
- Button: $40.
- Small Blind: $35.
- Big Blind: $50.
- Under the Gun: $8.
Action starts with the player under the gun, who shoves all in with $8. The button calls, and the small blind gets out of the way. After thinking, the big blind makes it $20 to go. Since the player under the gun is already all in, they can’t do anything more. The button makes the call.
The main pot is determined by the $8 stack belonging to the player under the gun. It must contain their $8, plus the $8 of the other two callers and any antes or blinds. Therefore, the main pot totals $25. That’s $8 from under the gun, $8 from the button, $1 from the small blind, and $8 from the big blind.
Anything over the value of $8 goes into a new pot to be contested between the button and the big blind. So that contains $12 from both players, making it $24.
The two remaining players now have $20 and $30 in front of them, respectively. They can keep betting into the secondary pot if they wish, trying to gain more chips from each other.
Full Bet and Half Bet Rules
In a regular situation, there are rules determining the size of a minimum bet. For instance, a bet must be at least equal to the big blind. A raise must be at least the size of the previous raise.
But what if a player goes all in, and the raise isn’t valid? There are two possible rules that might be in play, and it’s important that you understand which is being used.
- Full Bet: This states that the raise is not “real” unless it equals or exceeds the minimum amount. In this case, it doesn’t reopen the betting.
- Half Bet: If this rule is in use, it will count as a “real” raise if the raise amount is equal to or above half of the legal amount.
Rule Examples
Imagine a player bets $20, and another shoves all in for $30. A raise of $10 is not technically valid, but it’s allowed since they’re pushing all in. A third player calls for $30, and action folds back to the original bettor. They want to raise.
If the full bet rule is in play, they are not allowed to raise, and may only call the additional $10. Since the all-in raise didn’t meet the legal minimum, it doesn’t reopen the betting. The original bettor cannot raise again.
However, if the half-bet rule is in play, the $10 raise is precisely half the legal raise amount of $20. As such, this constitutes a “real” raise under this rule. The third player only called this raise, so the first player is allowed to raise again.
Sorting the Chips
According to the standard poker rules, side pot management is handled by the dealer. Players shouldn’t touch the chips in any of the pots when playing in a live environment. And, of course, it’s really easy if you’re playing online poker, as the computer handles everything for you.
However, if you’re playing a home game, it can get messy if you’re not used to working out additional pots. Designating the player who’s most experienced or the best at math to handle pot calculations is probably a good idea. Until you’re more confident, that is. Practice makes perfect.
Enjoy a Bit on the Side With Borgata Online
If trying to work out the different pots still confuses you, don’t worry. When you register to play at Borgata Online, the state-of-the-art software handles all of the math for you.
You can play real money cash games and tournaments or try your luck in freeroll events. These are a great way to practice without risk until you gain more confidence managing pots.