Untangle a multi-way all-in — enter each player's chips and get the main pot, every side pot, and who can win each. No account needed.
A player can only win the chips they matched. When someone is all-in for less than the others, everyone's bets are capped at their stack to build the main pot — the one they can win — and the extra chips from the deeper stacks form a side pot only those players contest. Each new short all-in adds another layer. This tool peels the bets apart for you, so you always know who's playing for what.
When stacks go in for different amounts, the pot splits into layers. Get the layers right and every player is paid exactly what they're owed.
A player can only win the chips they actually put in play. When someone shoves for less than everyone else, their all-in caps how much they can win from each opponent — that capped amount is the main pot. The extra chips the bigger stacks keep betting go into a side pot that the short stack has no claim to. Get this wrong at a home game and you pay out the wrong person.
Every time a player is all-in for a different amount, the pot splits into another layer. Three all-ins for three different sizes means a main pot and two side pots, each with its own list of who can win it. The deepest stacks are eligible for everything; the shortest, only the main pot. This calculator peels those layers apart automatically so you can pay each pot to the right winner.
Enter the players and chips, read the main and side pots.
Add every player in the hand and how many chips they have committed to the pot — their all-in amount or total bet.
The tool builds the main pot and any side pots, showing the size of each and exactly which players are eligible to win it.
Award each pot to the best eligible hand among its contestants — the short stack can only take pots they're listed in.
Three players get it all in for different amounts: A has 20, B has 60, C has 100. Build the pots from the shortest stack up. Everyone can match A's 20, so the main pot is 20 × 3 = 60 — A, B and C all play for it, and it's the only pot A can win. Above that, B and C both have chips left; each covers another 40, so the side pot is 40 × 2 = 80, contested by B and C alone. That leaves the top layer: C put in 40 more than anyone could call. Nobody matched it, so it's an uncalled bet and it comes straight back to C — it never becomes a pot at all. Final tally: main 60 (A, B, C), side 80 (B, C), and 40 returned to C.
Verdict — main pot 60 (A, B, C), side pot 80 (B, C), and 40 returned to C uncalled; A can win the main pot onlyFix A player wins only chips they contributed to. The short stack's chips are all in the main pot, so a side pot built from bigger stacks is off-limits to them.
Fix When the deepest stack bets more than anyone can match, that excess is uncalled — hand it back before showdown instead of folding it into a pot.
Fix Every contribution to the main pot caps at the smallest all-in. Skip the cap and you overstate the main pot and shortchange the side pots.
Fix Each layer has its own contestant list. Track which players put chips into which layer, or you'll award a pot to someone who never played for it.
Three all-in spots. Work out the pots, then check your answer.
A short stack is all-in for less than the others. Can they win the side pot?
A player wins only pots they contributed to. The short stack's chips are entirely in the main pot, so a side pot built from chips they never matched is off-limits — no matter how strong their hand.
Three players are all-in for 20, 60 and 100. What can the 20-chip stack win at most?
The 20 caps their reach: main pot = 20 × 3 = 60, and that's all they're eligible for. The side pot (80) and the returned top layer are built from chips they never matched.
The deepest stack bets more chips than anyone else can match. What happens to the excess?
Chips no opponent can cover are an uncalled bet. They go straight back to the player who bet them — they never form a pot, because a pot needs at least two contributors.
You scored 0 / 3. The more you drill this, the faster the maths becomes instinct.
A side pot is a separate pot created when one player is all-in for less than the others. The all-in player can only win the main pot; the remaining players keep betting into a side pot that only they are eligible to win.
Cap every player's contribution at the smallest all-in to form the main pot. The chips above that cap from the deeper stacks form the next pot, capped at the next all-in, and so on. Each distinct all-in amount adds one more pot layer.
No. A player is only eligible for pots they contributed to. Because the short stack's chips are all in the main pot, they can win that one only — never a side pot built from chips they never matched.
They simply share the same pot layers — no extra side pot is created between them. A new side pot only appears when a player is all-in for a different amount than the others.
Each pot is awarded independently to the best hand among the players eligible for it. It's common for one player to win the side pot while a short-stacked player takes the main pot with a different holding.