Texas Holdem Poker Side Pot Rules

In Texas Holdem, you can win the total pot amount after each hand / round. You do this by having the best hand at showdown or by having all the other players fold to you. Sometimes, two players may have the same hand and will split the pot - so neither gets all the money (chips). In a cash game, you get this straight away and can cash out anytime. When Paying the pots start with the most chips and work in. (Side pot 3,2,1, Main pot) Often the player with most chips wins everything. Main Clue:. Figure pots from what they can win -or- what they are short -or- by matching chip colors. There is no right or wrong way do get to the correct total. In Texas Hold'em, the highest combination of five cards wins the pot. A side pot is separate pot which the dealer creates to allow the betting to continue after a player goes all in. The all in player would only be eligible to win the amount he could cover, which is called the main pot, while the players with chips remaining would be eligible to win both the main pot as well as the side pot. Any further bets are added to this side pot, and not the main pot. Players 5 and 7, who contributed to the side pot, can win the side pot and the main pot, if their hand beats the “all in” player.

• Texas Holdem Poker Side Pot Rules 2019
• Texas Holdem Poker Side Pot Rules For Beginners
• Texas Holdem Poker Side Pot Rules How To Play
• Texas Holdem Poker Side Pot Rules Online

Side Pot - An additional pot which is created when one or more players are all in.
Virtually all casino poker games are table stakes games. This means that only cash or chips which are on the table prior to the start of the hand are in play. Some casinos even have specific rules against cash playing on the table and require a conversion to chips. A table stakes game does not allow for chips to be added to a stack while the hand is in play, and it also does not allow for chips to be removed from play (other than a nominal amount for food and sundries), for the entire session.
Since players are limited to the chips they have in front of them when the hand begins, from time to time a player will run out of chips while the hand is in play. When this happens a player is allowed to go “all-in” by placing his remaining chips into the pot. This means that he will still have a live hand, but will be unable to win any money that he cannot cover, which includes all future betting for the remainder of the hand. If a player cannot cover the full amount of the bet that he is facing, or if there is future betting he cannot cover after he is all in, the dealer must create a side pot. A side pot is separate pot which the dealer creates to allow the betting to continue after a player goes all in. The all in player would only be eligible to win the amount he could cover, which is called the main pot, while the players with chips remaining would be eligible to win both the main pot as well as the side pot. The side pot money is sometimes referred to as “money on the outside.”
If multiple players go all in for different amounts during the same hand, it will be necessary for the dealer to create multiple side pots. When this occurs, the dealer must remember which players are in for which pots. This can get confusing, so to help, the side pots are numbered in the order they were created; first side pot, second side pot, and so on. They are also arranged in that order on the table, so that the first side pot is next to the main pot, and the second side pot is next to the first, extending out toward the end of the table, for as many side pots as is necessary. Just as a side pot is sometimes referred to as “money on the outside,” a second side pot is sometimes referred to as “money on the far outside.”
The accurate construction of side pots requires the dealer to do math in his head and come out with the correct answer for the size of each pot. Dealers are human and are prone to error, and as such, if you have a vested interest in the hand, you should watch them construct the side pots carefully and do the math along with them. Depending upon the caliber of the dealer, side pots may be wrong with varying frequency, but mistakes are made often enough for you to be regularly monitoring their construction. In fact, it is a good idea for you to always verify that the amount of money going into the pot is correct at all times, and that the pot is handled properly by the dealer. Dealer error can be costly, and it is often preventable, if you can catch it before the action is complete. Obviously, these are concerns for players who play in a brick and mortar poker room. If you play on the internet, the sites software handles and distributes the chips automatically, virtually eliminating dealer error.
You may hear a common phrase, “All in always wins.” This is a belief that once a player goes all in, something magical happens, and they now have a much higher probability of winning the main pot. This is pure superstition. While going all in can affect whether or not you win the hand, if you play well, in the long run it will hurt you more than it will help you. Indeed, when you go all-in, you will win some pots that you otherwise would not have been able to call on, had you still had chips. But this is more than offset by the bets and the pots you will lose because you are all in and unable to bet you hand. Another way to look at it is to consider chips a resource which good players use to make money. In order to be successful, you need to have access to sufficient resources. That means never going all-in if you can avoid it, so that you can be eligible for every side pot created.
Usage: Third Side Pot, Scooped The Side, Dollars On The Side, Side Pots
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Texas Holdem Poker Side Pot Rules 2019

In our lesson on the three main betting variations of poker, we used an example where a player in a no-limit game could bet far more than anyone else at the table, provided the player had such an amount. Poker is always played at table stakes, and this means you can only wager the amount of money you have in front of you when the hand begins. It is quite common for a player to run out of money during a hand. If you have more money than another player, it doesn’t mean you can bet them out of the pot because they can’t afford to call your bet. Otherwise the poker player with the most money would always win if he bet all his chips, and it wouldn’t be a very enjoyable game.

All-in Bets

When a player puts all his chips into the pot he is said to be “all-in”. The important thing to know is that a player can never be bet out of a pot because he always has the option to call for all of his chips. For example, a player with $50 goes all-in, and everyone folds apart from a player who only has $30 left:

Figure 1

This player cannot match the $50 bet, but he can also go all-in for his last $30. When nobody else is involved, the first player would get back the unmatched $20 bet (i.e. his bet is $30 rather than $50). This is shown in figure 2, below:

Figure 2

In this example the shorter-stack wins the pot, but the surplus $20 is returned to player 5.

The whole point of this is that players can take back any extra money when another player is all-in for less, when nobody else has called. The same applies to an extreme no limit example, where a player might bet $10,000 in a $1/$2 game. Here’s an example where it’s folded around to the big blind, who has $10 remaining in his stack.

Figure 3

He has $12 in total and clearly can’t match the $10,000 – but he can go all-in. If he does then the player with $10,000, would take back $9,988. No more betting would take place, as there isn’t anything left to wager. After the flop, turn and river, the player with the best hand would win the $25 pot ($12 from each plus the small blinds $1).

Side Pots

It can be a little more complicated when there’s more than two players involved in a hand. This is when a side pot is created for the other players, and any further bets cannot be won by the all-in player. The all-in player is eligible for the main pot only.

Take a look at figure 4, below, which shows three players remaining in a hand. Two players have $50 each, and another has just $10 remaining. In this example the pot already contains $40 from the previous betting rounds. Player 5 makes a bet of $20:

Figure 4

Player 6 only has $10 but he can call for his last $10 (and would therefore be “all in”) or fold. If player 6 decides to go all-in for his last $10, then the last active player (player 7), who has $50, can call, but must call for $20, which is the original bet, or he can raise. If he calls then a side pot is created, as is shown in figure 5:

Figure 5

Texas Holdem Poker Side Pot Rules For Beginners

The main pot now contains $70, which is made up of the existing $40 in the pot, plus $10 x 3. Player 6 is “all in” and can only win this main pot. A side pot containing the extra $20 is created, and can only be won by the players who contributed to this side pot (players 5 and 7). The next card will be dealt and further betting will take place. Any further bets are added to this side pot, and not the main pot. Players 5 and 7, who contributed to the side pot, can win the side pot and the main pot, if their hand beats the “all in” player. If player 6 has the winning hand after the final betting round, then he will win the $70 pot, but the side pot will be won by either player 5 or player 7.

Conclusion

Texas Holdem Poker Side Pot Rules How To Play

There has been quite a bit of information in this lesson, which to the uninitiated could be confusing. As soon as you start playing poker you’ll quickly become familiar with these betting basics because they occur very frequently. Sometimes there can be lots of different side pots during a hand involving lots of different players – whether it’s limit, pot limit, or no limit poker. This is because not everyone has the same amount of chips – and players who have fewer chips than an opponent cannot win more from a player than they contributed themselves. The important thing to remember is that a player can never be bet out of hand because he doesn’t have enough to call.

By Tim Ryerson

Tim is from London, England and has been playing poker since the late 1990’s. He is the ‘Editor-in-Chief’ at Pokerology.com and is responsible for all the content on the website.

Texas Holdem Poker Side Pot Rules Online