You may have heard the terms main pot and side pot—especially during hands where players go “all-in.” These can initially seem confusing, but once you understand how they work, they make perfect sense. This guide will walk you through what these pots are, how they’re created, and why not every player is involved in every pot.
What Is the Main Pot?
The main pot is the central pot that contains all the chips bet by players during a hand, up to the point when someone goes all-in (i.e., they bet all the chips they have left).
Example:
Imagine three players are in a hand:
Player A goes all-in with $50
Player B has $100 and calls the $50
Player C has $200 and raises to $100
At this point:
Player A can only match $50, because that’s all they have.
Player B can match the full $100.
Player C has also put in $100.
The Main Pot:
The main pot is built so that everyone can match equally. That’s $50 from each player, so the main pot is $150.
What Is a Side Pot?
A side pot is created when one or more players continue betting after another player is already all-in. Since the all-in player can’t match those extra bets, they are not eligible to win the side pot—only the main pot.
Continuing the Example:
Player A is all-in and cannot bet more.
Players B and C continue betting.
If Player C raised to $100 and Player B calls, that extra $50 from each (on top of the $50 in the main pot) creates a side pot of $100. This pot is only between Players B and C.
Why aren't all players involved in Side Pots?
Because a player who is all-in cannot match further bets, they’re not eligible to win anything beyond what they’ve contributed. This is a fairness rule that protects players from being forced out of a hand just because they have fewer chips.
In other words:
A player can only win the amount they were able to match.
They are still eligible to win the main pot.
They are not eligible to win any side pots they didn’t contribute to.
How Are Pots Awarded?
Once all betting is done and players reveal their cards (the showdown), the dealer awards pots in order:
The main pot goes to the best hand among all remaining players.
Each side pot is awarded to the best hand among players eligible for that pot.
So it's possible for:
One player to win all the pots.
Or for different players to win different pots.