01-22-04, LearnTexasHoldem:

Side Pots And Having To Call...

Question:If a players calls the main pot but does not want to play in a side pot, is he still able to play for the main pot or is he eliminated from both pots?

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Example:

Player 1 goes all in for $50.

Player 2 calls for $50.

Player 3 raises $50 making it $100 ($50 main pot & $50 side pot).

Player 4 folds.

Does player 2 have to call the $50 raise to stay in the game or can he pass on the raise and just play for the main pot? Also, would it matter if player 2 called the original $50 raise but then later in the game does not call another raise from player 3?

Answer: No. You don't have a choice. If you still have money in front of you and a person raises, you must play or fold. So in your example above, Player 2 would have to call the $50 raise to keep in the game. If he folds then he just loses his $50 and Player 3 or Player 1 would win it. That's a very important lesson in no limit holdem.

When someone goes all-in in front of you, you can raise a lot of money and only risk as much as the all-in guy bet if no one else calls. To answer the second part of your question, it would matter if Player 2 called the $50 raise because a side pot would be created. But if he folded later in the hand like you mentioned the side pot would go to Player 3 and then for the main pot Player 3 and Player 1 would showdown.

This illustrates why in no limit holdem the size of your chip stack is of such importance. Let's say in the example above you were Player 2 and just called Player 1's all-in. If I have a lot of money and a decent hand, I could go all-in right then as well in back of you for say $400. That would make your calling very hard. So I just snapped your bet off and took you out of the hand and you have $50 of dead money in the pot already.

So the most I can lose from the hand is $50 if you don't call and the most I can win is $100 ($50 from each of you) which is pretty nice if I suspect Player 1 doesn't have a great hand. And even if he does have a good hand, I'm getting 2:1 from the pot with no chance of losing more. Those are pretty nice odds.

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