03-31-06, LearnTexasHoldem:

Does Betting Order Affect Side Pots?

Question: Hi,

I have a question about pay out in this situation.

We have four players left in a no limit tournament. All with different amount of chips of course.

(I am going to cut the explanation short because I am only interested in how the pay out should be.)

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The four players have called the blinds and have seen the flop. After the flop the first player to act has $19 and he checks. The second player has $61 and goes all in. The third player has $98 and also calls the all in. The forth player has $74 and matches the $61 all in and goes all in himself for $74. Now the first player calls the all in for $19 and the third player calls the forth players all in. After the turn and the river the first player wins the hand with a straight and the forth player takes the side pot with a pair of aces.

My question is, does the first player win $19? Cause that is what he called the all in with or does he win $19 from each player totaling $76. Now I know if he was the first to go all in and all players called, he would have won the $76 but since he called everyone else's all in I thought he should only get the $19.

What is the correct pay out?

Answer:

Betting order doesn't affect side pots. So if the player with $19 went all-in preflop, called after, or bet, he would still get treated the same way. He would win $19 multiplied by everyone who called that amount or more (plus the blinds from each player too, assuming that wasn't included in the 19 already).

Remember what side pots and all-ins are intended to do: A side pot and an all-in are mechanisms that make sure a player can still play with any amount of chips he has left, and get rewarded fairly in the event that he wins. In some poker movies they have guys playing and since the opponent doesn't have enough money to call with, he can't play. That's not how it works. An all-in allows me to play with only 1 chip even. It just means that if I win, I can't win more than a chip from you. So the rule for the all-in is that if I win, like with the $19 above, I win that much from every other player who called. That's fair right? I shouldn't be able to win more than $19, otherwise I could play at a $1000/2000 game with $100 a pot going all-in. It wouldn't be fair either if I wagered $100 and went all-in and won and some guy only gave me back $50 when he called the full amount.

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