I run a weekly game at a lodge, and we had a very heated argument over a hand.
We were playing Omaha, High spade in the hole gets 1/2 the pot. One player was all in, and then 2 other players went all in on the side pot. in the side pot one player had winning hand but no spades, and the other had a 10 of spades. in the mane pot the high spade was the king.
The hole table, except myself (I folded early in on that hand) and the player with the 10, said the 10 doesn't count for splitting the side pot. I don't understand there logic. I'd think the same rules of the hand would apply to the side pot, and the King in the mane pot wouldn't have anything to do with the side pot. I really enjoy the split pot hands, they bring in a lot of action and would hate to have to eliminate from our game.
What are your thoughts on this hand? Am I wrong ? And is there any kind of live poker hotline I could call to settle things like this when they come up?

Of course the Ts gets half the side-pot.

If you play with idiots expect idiocy.

The rules support your interpretation. The side pot is decided only among those that have put money into that particular side pot. If there were multiple side pots, it's possible that they also would have been split.

A player who is all-in for the main pot only, may only win chips from the main pot.

From a Home Poker perspective:
Don't even bother with the main-pot-all-in hand at first. First determine the side pot winner(s) and award that pot.
THEN, you can determine the main pot winner(s).

I'm hoping this post will help the other players realize that they were wrong. Hopefully that will happen.And I'll do this. I'll ad a rule that that you can't turn over your cards in a side pot your not in, till we get to your pot. Thank you for the response, this will simplify everything.

The high spade in the hole is an interesting twist I've never thought of before. I bet you see a lot of interesting betting patterns and action due to that. Also that's great advice on how to split pots with multiple all ins and side pot with splits possible. I'll keep that in mind for the future.

I hope so too. We have a player pool with mostly experienced players, and some are faster at others at determining side pot amounts and awarding pots at showdown. To make it cleaner and cleared for those that aren't as fast and confident, it's easiest to make 3+player side pots right. For a HU side pot, make the main pot right and it's OK for the HU players to wait to count down in NL. For our usual limit game, we make all the pots right.

I'm in favor of a suggestion that only the players with money in the sidepot being awarded turn over their hands. Some players are used to having to turn over hands when all-in, due to being tourney players or that being customary at their game, and wouldn't want to get distracted over an argument over that.

I hope it helps.



We have one player at our dealers choice game that likes to call high/low suit for half the pot. It's a limit game, and generally pretty clear when someone has a nutted suit card. It's a nice bonus to know you are freerolling the players for 1/2 the pot, not in danger of getting quartered. There is some skill in maximizing the profit. We have plenty of chasers for a medium size bet, but only one or two competing for high at a max bet.

We do play another split pot game where a particular card (it varies on the middle card to suit/rank) takes half the pot. That works about the same, with the bets kicking in after the reveal.

Thanks. In home games, I find it important to make people feel comfortable that things are done fairly. I think we've all been new at some point, and wondered if we got shorted on a quickly settled main/side pot situation.

I noticed that playing Omaha in a split pot game like hi/lo it seems that the high hand doesn't generally need to be as strong to win as it does with regular PLO. The PLO games are mostly nut peddling in the few games I've played in.

Not to derail too long... but any split pot game should be about making hands that scoop. Some strong high draws in PLO aren't worth playing for 1/2 a pot in PLO8, therefore hands that might have stuck around and hit in PLO are rightfully gone in PLO8.

/strat

Of course the side pot is split. It's a split pot game. The player all in is eligible to win only the main pot. For the side pot, the player with the T of spades has the highest spade. The side pot exists as if the main pot player's hand doesn't exist. K of spades isn't the high spade for the side pot as well because that player can't win the side pot.

For the purposes of dealing with the side pot, the all-in hand essentially doesn't exist. The T is the high spade for half the side pot, but it gets no piece of the main pot if the all-in player has a higher spade. Easy peasy.

The Ts was a new player to our game, and I fear we might of lost him.He said he was never coming back. He plays more aggressively then the guys are used to, which was nice. Was a real game changer for some, started to bring them up to the next level. Really brought new life into the game. At the end of the night he was annoyingly intoxicated, but that's fine by me. I mean that's why I come out, to drink and have a good time. And it happens to the best of us, you get **** faced.


We were having a real fun night before this came up, then our game ended 45 minutes early. We're playing for very low stakes. we do a $25 buy in, .25 cent anti, NL, dealers choice, with no wild cards. The BIG winner for the night makes around $50 profit. Most of the time it's me, and I bring $30 worth of food every week, buy a round, and spring for the fancy plastic cards. I never make a dime in profit after everything's all done and said. I'm in it for a night out, to get drunk and play cards with the boys. It breaks my heart to have someone feel they were cheated.

In the end we did the right thing and split the side pot, but no one left the game on a happy note. I want people to have a good time and be able to get drunk, knowing they can let their guard down, and not have to worry about being cheated.

This game can't afford to lose players, I'd like to see it grow to 2 tables. Bring some new life to the Lodge, Which is a great organization the profits go to help orphans.

This story is testament to the importance of having firm, clearly stated rules for all the games you play (and house rules for stuff that's not specific to a particular game).

When disputes arise after a pot has developed, it means that someone risked money with a misunderstanding of the rules, which is never good. Someone is usually going to feel burned, whatever the outcome.

You may want to attempt a bit of damage control with the new guy.

BigBlue nailed it with his post. First deal with the side pot, 10 plays of course hands down. I assume you play this hand a lot, wondering why this wasn't straighten out

Is this a Moose Lodge by chance?

possibly






Haven't placed the order yet, But differently gonna have these Ts made.

I know Tommy the Moose when I see him so I'll take that as a yes. Great organization, but FYI the kids aren't orphans...

Some of them are.


Mooseheart is a residential childcare facility, located on a 1,000-acre campus 38 miles west of Chicago. The Child City is a home for children and teens in need, from infancy through high school.

Dedicated in July 1913 by the Moose fraternal organization, Mooseheart cares for youth whose families are unable, for a wide variety of reasons, to care for them. home-like environment and the best possible training and education.

Some have lost one or both parents; others are living in environments that are simply not conducive to healthy growth and development. Whatever the reason, the men and women of the Moose, through unparalleled generosity and volunteerism, furnish the resources necessary to care for children in need. The Moose fraternity provides children with a wholesome home-like environment and the best possible training and education.

In the past they were all orphans, then the campus switched to having children stay on campus with their mothers. Since then there has been another shift. Honestly less than 1% of them are true orphans. Most of the time (99.9%) the parents are in prison or just want a better life for their kid. The orphan thing is leftover from years past and is common misconception about the children (which they hate btw). All of them have a guardians who retain custody and a lot of them go home often. The kids come from backgrounds that most couldn't even dream up which is why they end up at the campus. 100% better place for them than at their current homes.

Regarding the player you might never get him back, but it wouldn't hurt to offer to make good on the hand and give him half the value of the pot or something equivalent (beer, food, etc) so he feels a little better about the situation and might give the game another try. My guess, as you indicated, is he is probably gone for good. From now one make the rules clear and have a rulebook in place to handle disputes prior to them occurring. Robert's rules are the best ones out there IMO for home games. I hope that you are able to learn from this and keep growing your game. It can be tough going, but I sincerely wish you succees. Also, welcome to the HP forum.

It's all a learning process for me, I've never ran a weekly game like this till a few weeks ago. This was my 7th week, I think. Years ago I used to run holdem tournaments at a bar I worked at, that was a lot simpler.

I just looked at Robert's rules, and WOW, this is exactly what I need. Might have to tweak one or 2 to suit our all ready established rules. But I'm gonna print that out, and use it. Thank you very much.

Every one on this forum has been very helpful, and informative, I really appreciate it. No one even ragged me about all my spelling mistakes, on my 5am post game drunken post. You guys are awesome.