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MAIN POT & SIDE POT

In No-Limit Texas Hold’em, players bet chips during each hand with the goal of winning the pot. When all players have similar chip stacks, only one pot exists. However, when one or more players go all-in with fewer chips than others, the game introduces a main pot and potentially one or more side pots.

This system ensures that all players only win what they are eligible for, based on how much they’ve contributed. Understanding how these pots work is essential for interpreting hand outcomes and chip distributions — especially during multi-way, all-in hands.

What Is the Main Pot?

The Main Pot is the initial pot created in any hand and contains all the chips that players have matched up to the smallest bet or all-in amount.

Key Points:

All active players who have not folded and contributed to this amount are eligible to win the main pot.
If no all-ins occur during the hand, all chips go into a single main pot, and the player with the best hand at showdown wins it.
The size of the main pot is capped by the lowest chip stack when all-in situations arise.

Example Scenario (No All-In):

Player A bets ₱100
Player B calls ₱100
Player C calls ₱100

All players have contributed equally, so there's only one main pot of ₱300. The best hand wins the entire amount.

What Is a Side Pot?

A Side Pot is created when a player goes all-in and cannot match the full bet of other players. The system separates excess bets into a side pot so that only players who contributed to that pot can win it.
This keeps the game fair by ensuring that short-stacked players can’t win more than they risked, and that larger stacks continue to play competitively for additional pots.

Why Side Pots Are Necessary:

Prevents players from winning chips they didn’t match.
Ensures fair play when chip stacks are uneven.
Helps maintain transparent betting during complex all-in scenarios.

Example Scenario: Main Pot and Side Pot Together

Player A goes all-in with ₱500
Player B calls ₱500
Player C raises to ₱1,000
Player B calls an additional ₱500 (total ₱1,000)

Breakdown:

Main Pot (₱1,500): ₱500 each from Players A, B, and C
Side Pot (₱1,000): ₱500 each from Players B and C

Player A can only win the main pot.
Only Players B and C can win the side pot, since Player A did not contribute to it.

How Winnings Are Distributed

Main Pot: Contested by all players who contributed, including all-in players.
Side Pot(s): Contested only by players who contributed chips beyond what the all-in player could match.
If there are multiple all-ins with varying amounts, the system may generate multiple side pots, each resolved in order based on player eligibility.

Uneven Pot Splits:
If the pot cannot be divided evenly, the excess chip(s) will be awarded to the nearest player seated immediately before the dealer button

Example: Three-Way Tie and Uneven Pot Split

In this example, we have a three-way tie between the following positions:

Hijack (HJ) – represented by the color red
Cutoff (CO) – represented by the color yellow
Small Blind (SB) – represented by the color white

All three players have the same hand strength (a straight), so the pot is split evenly among them. However, because the pot total is ₱10, and it cannot be divided equally into three, the system must assign the extra ₱0.01 to one of the players.

By rule, when a pot cannot be split evenly, the excess chip(s) are awarded to the player seated closest to the dealer button in counter-clockwise order.

In this case, the Cutoff (CO) is seated directly before the dealer button, so:

Cutoff (CO) receives ₱3.34
Hijack (HJ) receives ₱3.33
Small Blind (SB) receives ₱3.33

This method ensures fairness in distributing uneven amounts in split pots.

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