Side Pot
Sometimes you run out of money. It happens in a tournament to everyone but the eventual winner. Suppose someone bets 25,000 and you only have 6,000 left. You are not out of the hand. In old movies, if you couldn’t cover the bet you lost the hand, that is not the case in modern poker. If you cannot cover the full bet, you may call the portion of the pot that you do have in your stack. For example:
You have 700 in chips left and the player in front of you bets 1,200; you like your hand so you bet you remaining 700. If only you and the original bettor are in the pot, then he takes back with 500 overbet and the two of you contend for the pot.
But what if two other players are also playing and they both wish to call. Well, they must call the 1,200 bet not just your 700 all-in short call. Since three players have bet the full 1,200 then each of them has wagered 500 on top of your 700 and a side pot will be created with those three 500 bets. If there are betting rounds remaining those three players will be betting into the side pot. The main pot will get not larger than the bets that called your 700.
Once the hand is over, the procedure is that only the players who are fully invested in the side pot will show their hands first and the winner will collect the side pot first. Then you will show your hand and if you win you collect the main pot.
With multiple players and varying stacks, there may be more than one side pot in a single hand. Each side pot is decided among the players fully invested in that pot.
-This is Beginner’s Poker Blog Post #120
