Module 1 · Lesson 5 of 39 · Free
Split pots, all-ins and side pots
Go all in for 20 bb against two players with 100 bb each, and the most you can win is 60 bb: your 20 bb and 20 bb from each of them. Whatever they bet after that goes into a side pot that only the two of them can win.
The hand
Before the flop you go all in for your last 20 bb with Q♦ Q♣. The Loose-aggressive player in the small blind and the Calling station in the big blind, with 100 bb each, both call, and the two of them keep betting after the flop.
Predict first
After the flop they put in 40 bb more each, and at the showdown your queens are the best hand. How much do you collect?
- 140 bb: every chip in the middle
- 100 bb: the main pot and half of the side pot
- 60 bb: the main pot
Show the answer
Answer: 60 bb: the main pot
You put in 20 bb, so you can take only 20 bb from each player: 3 × 20 = 60 bb. Their extra 40 bb each, 2 × 40 = 80 bb, is a side pot that goes to the better of their two hands.
Working it out
Stack the chips in layers. Each of you put in 20 bb before the flop: 3 × 20 = 60 bb, the main pot, which all three of you can win. After the flop the other two put in 40 bb more each: 2 × 40 = 80 bb, a side pot that only they can win. At the showdown each pot is settled on its own and goes to the best hand among the players who put chips into all of it. Your queens take the 60 bb main pot, and the better of their two hands takes the 80 bb side pot. Had one of them held the best hand, he would have taken both: 60 + 80 = 140 bb.
Each all-in sets the top of a layer. With two short stacks all in for different amounts there can be two side pots, each shared by the players who put chips all the way up to it. A player can win only the pots he put chips into, and if one player bets more than anyone calls, the part nobody called goes straight back to him. When a pot is split and the chips do not divide evenly, the odd chip goes to the first winner to the left of the button.
Formula
Main pot = the all-in × players who match it, plus chips that folded players left: 20 × 3 = 60 bb. Side pot = the chips above it × players who put them in: 40 × 2 = 80 bb
Check your understanding
Before the flop you go all in for 12 bb, and three players with bigger stacks call, both blinds among them. What is the most you can win, in bb?
Show the answer
Answer: 48 bb
12 bb from each of the three callers and your own 12 bb: 12 × 4 = 48 bb, the main pot.
Player A is all in for 30 bb. Players B and C each put in 90 bb. How big is the side pot, in bb?
Show the answer
Answer: 120 bb
Above A's 30 bb, B and C each put in 90 − 30 = 60 bb more: 60 × 2 = 120 bb. The main pot is 30 × 3 = 90 bb.
A is all in for 10 bb and has the best hand. B and C put in 50 bb each, and B's hand beats C's. Who wins what?
- A wins everything: he has the best hand
- A wins the main pot and B wins the side pot
- B wins everything: his hand beats C's
Show the answer
Answer: A wins the main pot and B wins the side pot
A can win only the main pot, 10 × 3 = 30 bb. The side pot, (50 − 10) × 2 = 80 bb, is played between B and C, and B has the better hand.