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Split Pot - A pot that is split by two or more players.

1. Dec 11, 2018 Split pot variants routinely award two pots each hand. Read this article about how poker can be a win-win with split pots. A good example of this is the poker variant Omaha Hi-Lo Split which awards one half of the pot to the best high hand, and one half of the pot to the best low hand. See the glossary entry under low hand to learn how low hand.
2. May 26, 2015 OK, here is advice from someone who has been dealing for a living for more than a decade. Many dealers will wait to make the side pots right until after the hand is over.

This is a discussion on This = split pot? Within the online poker forums, in the General Poker section; All the cards were hearts, ace high. Doesn't that mean its a split pot? That would give.

Sometimes, at the conclusion of the hand, more than one player is entitled to a part of the pot. A split pot is a pot that is split among 2 or more players. Depending upon the game that you are playing, this can be a relatively rare occurrence, or a commonplace event.
In a hi/lo game, like Omaha Eight or Better (O8), by rule half of the pot is awarded to the high hand and half of the pot is awarded to the low hand, so long as a player makes a qualifying low hand. This makes split pots a very common occurrence in hi/lo games. Split pots occur so frequently in these games that they are often referred to as “split pot games.”
In these games, splitting the pot has strategic implications. Players may play for the high side of the pot, the low side, or both. Here, it is best to have a multiway action hand which has the potential to win both sides of the pot. This is why players tend to focus on hands which contain A-2, along with a valuable combination of high cards. The most powerful hand before the flop in O8 is A-A-2-3, double suited. Hands with high only values or low oriented hands can also be valuable, depending upon the flop.
It is important to realize that it is much easier to make a low hand in these games than it is to make a high hand. In fact, lows occur with such frequency in O8, that it is relatively common for more than one player to make a nut low during the same hand. When this happens, multiple players must split the low side of the pot evenly. If there are one high hand and two low hands, the high hand will receive 50% of the pot, and the two low hands will each receive 25%. For the holders of the low hands, this is called “getting quartered.” If there are only three of you in the pot in this situation (one high and two lows), the low will be putting in 33% of the money, but you will only be receiving back 25% of the money at the conclusion of the hand. As you can see, it is easy to lose money getting quartered with the nut low. You will need substantial action from the rest of the field, if you are to make any profit at all on a hand which you are getting quartered on. Many newbies do not understand the math on this and insist upon raising and reraising anytime that they make the nut low. This is a bad idea and it will annoy the experienced players at the table to no end. To be effective, you must learn not to overvalue the low. Since the low must qualify in order to be eligible for any part of the pot, and the risk of getting quartered is substantial, it is often better to make the high hand than the low. Sometimes three or more people will all make the same low on a hand, but a split pot on the high side occurs with much less frequency. When a multi-way low split occurs, it can result in each low hand getting a sixth, or less, or the pot. This is why the very best hands have good potential to win both sides of the pot.
Split pots occur more infrequently in high only games like Texas Hold’em. In these games, the low is worthless and is not entitled to any of the pot. In order for a split pot to occur in a Hold’em game, two or more players must make identical high hands. Players may make identical hands using two, one, or none of their hole cards. If no hole cards are played, players will be playing the board, and all active players will be entitled to an equal share of the pot. More frequently, players will split a pot because they complete their hand with the same single hole card. This happens most often when a single card is needed to complete a straight, or when the board is such that only a one card kicker plays. It is not possible for a chop on the high side to occur when the winning player completes a flush using either one or two hole cards. Players will also split the pot anytime there are two or more winning hands with exactly the same two playing hole cards.
Usage: Stud Split, Splitting the Pot
Previous Poker Term: Small Blind

Poker Split Pot All In Order

Next Poker Term: Spread Limit

In our lesson on the three main betting variations of poker, we used an example where a player in a no-limit game could bet far more than anyone else at the table, provided the player had such an amount. Poker is always played at table stakes, and this means you can only wager the amount of money you have in front of you when the hand begins. It is quite common for a player to run out of money during a hand. If you have more money than another player, it doesn’t mean you can bet them out of the pot because they can’t afford to call your bet. Otherwise the poker player with the most money would always win if he bet all his chips, and it wouldn’t be a very enjoyable game.

Side Pots Poker

All-in Bets

When a player puts all his chips into the pot he is said to be “all-in”. The important thing to know is that a player can never be bet out of a pot because he always has the option to call for all of his chips. For example, a player with $50 goes all-in, and everyone folds apart from a player who only has $30 left:

Figure 1

This player cannot match the $50 bet, but he can also go all-in for his last $30. When nobody else is involved, the first player would get back the unmatched $20 bet (i.e. his bet is $30 rather than $50). This is shown in figure 2, below:

Figure 2

In this example the shorter-stack wins the pot, but the surplus $20 is returned to player 5.

The whole point of this is that players can take back any extra money when another player is all-in for less, when nobody else has called. The same applies to an extreme no limit example, where a player might bet $10,000 in a $1/$2 game. Here’s an example where it’s folded around to the big blind, who has $10 remaining in his stack.

Figure 3

He has $12 in total and clearly can’t match the $10,000 – but he can go all-in. If he does then the player with $10,000, would take back $9,988. No more betting would take place, as there isn’t anything left to wager. After the flop, turn and river, the player with the best hand would win the $25 pot ($12 from each plus the small blinds $1).

Side Pots

It can be a little more complicated when there’s more than two players involved in a hand. This is when a side pot is created for the other players, and any further bets cannot be won by the all-in player. The all-in player is eligible for the main pot only.

Take a look at figure 4, below, which shows three players remaining in a hand. Two players have $50 each, and another has just $10 remaining. In this example the pot already contains $40 from the previous betting rounds. Player 5 makes a bet of $20:

Poker Split Pot Rules

Figure 4

Player 6 only has $10 but he can call for his last $10 (and would therefore be “all in”) or fold. If player 6 decides to go all-in for his last $10, then the last active player (player 7), who has $50, can call, but must call for $20, which is the original bet, or he can raise. If he calls then a side pot is created, as is shown in figure 5:

Figure 5

The main pot now contains $70, which is made up of the existing $40 in the pot, plus $10 x 3. Player 6 is “all in” and can only win this main pot. A side pot containing the extra $20 is created, and can only be won by the players who contributed to this side pot (players 5 and 7). The next card will be dealt and further betting will take place. Any further bets are added to this side pot, and not the main pot. Players 5 and 7, who contributed to the side pot, can win the side pot and the main pot, if their hand beats the “all in” player. If player 6 has the winning hand after the final betting round, then he will win the $70 pot, but the side pot will be won by either player 5 or player 7.

Poker Split Pot

Conclusion

There has been quite a bit of information in this lesson, which to the uninitiated could be confusing. As soon as you start playing poker you’ll quickly become familiar with these betting basics because they occur very frequently. Sometimes there can be lots of different side pots during a hand involving lots of different players – whether it’s limit, pot limit, or no limit poker. This is because not everyone has the same amount of chips – and players who have fewer chips than an opponent cannot win more from a player than they contributed themselves. The important thing to remember is that a player can never be bet out of hand because he doesn’t have enough to call.

Poker Split Pot Rules

By Tim Ryerson

Tim is from London, England and has been playing poker since the late 1990’s. He is the ‘Editor-in-Chief’ at Pokerology.com and is responsible for all the content on the website.