What is a Side Pot?

What is a Side Pot?

In No-Limit Texas Hold'em, a side pot is an essential mechanism used to manage betting when one or more players have gone All-In but have less money than the other active players at the table. It ensures that no player can win money they did not contribute to.

1. What is a Side Pot?

A side pot is a secondary pot created to hold the excess bets made after a player (or players) has committed their entire stack (went All-In).

  • The Main Pot: The main pot contains all bets up to the amount contributed by the player with the smallest stack (effective stack) who is still involved in the hand.

  • The Side Pot: The side pot(s) contain all additional bets made by the remaining players after the All-In player's money has been matched. The All-In player is not eligible to win any chips in the side pot.

2. How are Side Pots Created?

Side pots are created when an All-In situation occurs and there are still two or more players with chips remaining who wish to continue betting.

Example:

  1. Player A goes All-In: Player A pushes their entire stack of, for example, 100 Chips into the pot.

  2. Player B and Player C Call/Raise: Player B and Player C both have more than 100 Chips , say 500 Chips each.

  3. Splitting the Chips:

    • The Main Pot is established, containing the 100 Chips contributed by Player A, plus a matched 100 Chips from Player B and 100 Chips from Player C (Total: 300 Chips).

    • The Side Pot is created using any bets above that 100 Chips.

  4. Further Betting: If Player B bets 50 Chips in a subsequent street (Turn or River) and Player C calls the 50 Chips, those 100 Chips go directly into the side pot.

  5. Multiple Side Pots: If Player C then goes All-In for their remaining 400 Chips (a total of 500 Chips) and Player B calls, a second side pot (or Side Pot 2) would be created for the amount Player C contributed beyond Player B's stack if Player B also went All-In for less than C.

    A new side pot is created every time a player goes All-In with less than the remaining active players.

3. How are Side Pots Won?

Side pots are awarded based on the best hand among the players who are eligible to win them.

Eligibility Rules

  • The Main Pot: The Main Pot is contested by all players who contributed to it. This includes all All-In players.

  • Side Pot 1: This pot is contested only by the players who contributed to it. Most importantly, this excludes the player(s) whose All-In triggered the creation of this specific side pot.

  • Tie/Split: If two or more eligible players have the identical winning hand, the pot they are contesting (Main or Side) is split equally among them.

Example: Winning the Pots

Using the example from Section 2 (Player A All-In for 100 Chips, B and C have more):

HandPlayerStackBest 5-Card Hand
1Player A100 ChipsFlush (Nut Flush)
2Player B500 ChipsTwo Pair (Aces and Queens)
3Player C500 ChipsStraight (King High)

  1. Main Pot (300 Chips): Contested by A, B, and C. The best hand overall is Player A's Flush.

    • Winner: Player A wins the Main Pot.

  2. Side Pot (100 Chips, from B and C's further betting): Contested only by B and C (Player A is not eligible). The best hand between B and C is Player C's Straight.

    • Winner: Player C wins the Side Pot.

Conclusion: Player A wins the main pot amount (300 Chips) because they had the best hand among all players for the Main Pot and Player C wins the Side Pot, the best hand among the eligible players (B and C) for the Side Pot.

If you are playing and are ever curious about how a side pot was created and how it was calculated you can always reach out to our support team for more information.

The following details are always incredibly helpful for us in order to locate the hand that you would like us to review quickly:

- Time the hand occurred
- Cards you held
- Cards on the board
- Screenshot of the hand from the table or from the hand replayer

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