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At the table

When a player goes all-in for less, they can only win as much from each opponent as they put in themselves: that's the main pot. Whatever the others bet beyond that goes into a side pot, which only the players who paid into it can win. Each pot is settled on its own, to the best hand among the players who can win it.

Below there's a worked example, drawn, and a calculator: enter what each player put in, who folded and, if you like, how the hands ranked at showdown. It tells you how many pots there are, who can win each one and what everyone takes, ties and odd chips included.

The calculator The example

Why side pots exist

Nobody can win chips they didn't cover. If Amy only has 100, she can't take Ben's 300: at most, 100 from Ben and 100 from Cal.

  1. Amy moves all-in with her last 100 chips. Ben raises to 300 and Cal calls. There are 700 chips in the middle, but Amy can't play for all 700.

  2. The pot is cut at Amy's height. A hundred from each player makes the main pot, 300, and all three can win it. What Ben and Cal put in above that, 200 each, is the side pot, 400, and only the two of them play for it.

  3. The cards are turned over. Amy has three sevens, Ben a pair of aces and Cal a pair of kings. Amy wins the main pot. She can't win the side pot, so it goes to the better hand between the other two: Ben.

  4. Amy takes 300 and Ben 400. Cal gets nothing.

Amy, Ben and Cal, with what each put in stacked and cut into two pots

  1. Main pot300

    Amy, Ben, and Cal can win it.

    Amy takes it.

  2. Side pot400

    Ben and Cal can win it.

    Ben takes it.

The board

7 K 2 9 A
  • 7 7 Amy · Three sevens Wins the main pot
  • A Q Ben · A pair of aces Wins the side pot
  • K J Cal · A pair of kings Wins nothing

Calculator

Work out your pots

Enter what each player put in over the whole hand, every betting round added up, and who folded. Rank the hands at showdown and it splits every pot.

765 chips in the middle.

What each player put in, cut into pots

  1. Main pot255

    Amy, Cal, and Dana can win it.

    Amy and Cal tie: 125 each, and the odd 5 chip goes to Amy, the closest to the button's left.

  2. Side pot370

    Cal and Dana can win it.

    Cal takes it.

  3. Not a pot140

    Back to Dana: nobody matched that part of the bet.

When the hand is over

What each player takes from the pots or gets back, against what they put in.

Player Put in Takes Net
Amy all-in 75 130 +55
Ben folded 30 0 −30
Cal 260 495 +235
Dana 400 140 −260

How to work out side pots by hand

With the chips in front of you and no calculator: five steps, in this order.

  1. Count what everyone put in

    Over the whole hand, every betting round added up. Count the players who folded too: their chips stay in the middle.

  2. Cut at the smallest all-in

    Take up to that amount from every player, or all they put in if it's less. That's the main pot, and everyone still in the hand can win it.

  3. Repeat with what's left

    The next all-in marks the first side pot, and so on to the top. Each pot can only be won by the players who reached that height and didn't fold.

  4. Return what nobody matched

    If the biggest stack bet more than anyone could call, the extra goes back to their stack. It isn't a pot: nobody played for it.

  5. Pay each pot separately

    Start with the last side pot, the one with the fewest players, and finish with the main pot. Each goes to the best hand among the players who can win it. On a tie it's split evenly, and the odd chip goes to the first of them to the left of the button.

Who wins in poker

Common questions

Who can win the side pot?

Only the players who put chips into it and are still in the hand. The player who was all-in for less can't win it, even with the best hand: their share is the main pot, and the side pot goes to the best hand among the others.

If the all-in player wins, what happens to the rest?

They take the main pot and nothing else. The side pot is decided separately among the players who paid into it, so someone with a worse hand than the all-in player can win it: the all-in player isn't competing for it.

What about the chips of a player who folded?

They stay in the middle, in every pot they reached, but the player who folded can't win any of them. Count them in: leave them out and the main pot comes out smaller than it is.

Who gets the odd chip in a split pot?

The first of the tied players to the left of the button: that's the rule in both the TDA rules and Robert's Rules of Poker. If more than one chip is left over, they go one each in that order, never two to the same player, and each pot is split on its own. Pokeo's table pays the same way.

Can the others keep betting when someone is all-in?

Yes. An all-in doesn't stop anyone else from betting: players with chips keep betting among themselves, and that goes into a side pot. What an all-in for less than a full raise doesn't do is reopen the betting to a player who has already acted: that player can only call or fold.

Do the cards have to be shown in an all-in?

Yes. Once a player is all-in and the betting is over, everyone still in the hand turns their cards face up, even if there are cards still to come. It's a TDA rule, and at home it saves arguing over who had what.

What is a split pot?

A pot shared by two or more players because they have the same hand. It's split evenly. When there are side pots, each one is split separately, so one pot can be a tie while another isn't.

Path 9 · 6 lessons · 45 min

Closing an all-in

In the course

Closing an all-in, in the course

Path 9 of the course is this whole mess, played: six lessons with stacks of different sizes, from the short raise to paying each pot. The fourth, “One pot per layer”, is exactly what this calculator does: skip the all-in player and build the main pot and the side pots. They come in order inside the course, after you've learned which hand wins and how betting works.

  1. What is at stake

    You will know how much two players with different stacks are playing for, and which chips come back when nobody covers them.

    7 min

  2. The short all-in

    You will tell a full raise from a short all-in and know the minimum raise that remains.

    7 min

  3. Raising again

    You will know who can raise again after an all-in and who can only call or fold.

    7 min

  4. One pot per layer

    You will skip whoever is all-in and build the main pot and the side pots.

    8 min

  5. Paying each pot

    You will pay each pot separately, only among those who can win it.

    7 min

  6. A whole all-in

    You will close an all-in with three different stacks, from the short raise to the payout.

    9 min

Start the course from the beginning See all eighteen paths

Keep going

Quick reference Who wins in poker Fifteen tiebreakers settled in two lines: kickers, split pots and suits. For the night Poker blind timer A blind structure that fits your chips, on a big clock for the middle of the table. At home Hosting a poker night What you need, how to deal and the three arguments that always come up.

Before you split a pot, know who wins it

Each pot goes to the best hand among the players who can win it, and knowing which hand is best comes down to reading each card. The course starts there and gets to side pots in path 9, “Closing an all-in”.

First lesson · 6 min The cards Every card has two facts: rank and suit. You'll learn to read both, and which one says which card is worth more. Play now

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