♣ Side pots: how they work when someone is all-in short

Live tournament, preflop. Three players push everything in: A with 100 chips, B with 300 and C with 500. The dealer gathers the chips, builds two stacks and sets an amount aside in front of C. The cards turn over and A has the best hand. The dealer pushes A a single stack, the smaller one. A looks at the chips still sitting in the middle and asks out loud why winning the hand paid less than what is on the felt.

Winning the hand is not winning the whole pot

An all-in player can win from each opponent only as much as that player put in. A put in 100, so A can win at most 100 from each opponent. Whatever B and C put in above that level is played for in a separate pot, and A has no seat in that fight. The dealer is not taking anything from A. Those chips were never A's.

How the pots are built, step by step

Take the numbers from that hand, with no blinds counted so the arithmetic stays clean.

• Start with the shortest stack. A has 100. All three players cover it, so the main pot is 100 x 3 = 300. A, B and C compete for it.
• Subtract that level from the others. B has 200 more and C has 400 more. The next shortest stack is B, and only C covers B's extra 200, so the side pot is (300 - 100) x 2 = 400. Only B and C compete for it.
• Look at what is left. C has 200 that nobody covers. With no opponent to match them there is no pot, and the 200 go back to C.
• Check the total. 300 + 400 + 200 = 900, the same as 100 + 300 + 500.

The rule in one line: start from the shortest stack, multiply by the number of players who cover it, and repeat with the next one. Each player competes only for the pots he or she contributed to.

Who gets what

First case: A has the best hand and B beats C. A collects the 300 main pot, B collects the 400 side pot and C recovers the 200. A won the hand and takes 300 out of 900, which is what 100 chips can earn against two opponents who covered them.

Second case: C has the best hand. C wins the main pot and the side pot, 300 + 400, and also recovers the 200. That is all 900 chips on the table. A and B leave with nothing.

On the order of payment: the dealer awards the side pot first and the main pot second. If you see the dealer start with the stack for B and C, that is correct procedure.

What to do at the table

If you cannot follow the count, ask the dealer to explain how the stacks were built. It is a reasonable question, and it is easier to ask before the cards are turned over than after you see what you were paid. It also helps to work it out in advance: with the shortest stack in view, you already know how much you can win from each opponent if your hand is the best.

One detail confuses many players: the refund to C looks like a prize, but those 200 chips were never contested because nobody matched them. They go back to their owner no matter who wins.

Why it changes between cash and tournament

In a cash game, a short stack can put more chips on the table before the next hand, within the rules of the room. The side pot is then a matter of arithmetic for that one hand. In a tournament you cannot add chips to cover anyone: the chips you have are the chips there are, and the gap between stacks decides who continues and who goes home.

There is also an effect on finishing places. In the second example, with C winning everything, A and B are eliminated in the same hand. They are ranked by the stack each had at the start of that hand: B, who had 300, finishes in a higher place than A, who had 100. If the tournament pays by place, that rule has a direct effect on the prize.

A tactical note on bluffing

Picture a different hand: A is all-in short on the flop while B and C, with big stacks, keep betting. Those additional bets go only into the side pot. If C bets hard and B folds, the bluff worked against B, but only for the side pot, which C takes. The main pot stays open between A and C until showdown. A cannot be bluffed out with a bet, because A has no decision left to make.