The All-In Rules Made Easy
Back in the Wild West it might have been possible to bet so much that the opponent couldn't call you even if he wanted to. He simply didn't have funds enough to match your bet. Today, this is not possible, as you might know.
In today's poker you can always call an opponent's bet, even if you don't have the full amount. You simply call with what money you have left at the table. You're all-in.
How to share the pot when a player is all-in
When you're all-in and win the pot, you can only win an amount corresponding to the money you put into the pot. This is a harder to explain than to understand. Maybe an example works best:
All-in example: There's $20 in the pot and you have only $10 left in front of you. One player bets his last $20, another player calls the $20, and you call all-in, putting in your last $10.
The pot is now $70 and there'll be no more betting, since only one remaining player has any chips left.
Let's say that you show down the best hand, how much do you win? No, $70 is NOT the correct answer. Since you could only match $10 of the opponents' last bet, this is what you can win - from each of them.
Fact is, you win $50: The $20 that were in the pot before plus $10 from each of the bets that the other players put in the pot, and then of course the $10 you yourself put in.
The $20 that remain in the pot are won by the opponent who has the best hand - when your hand is ignored.
When several players are all-in
The same rule applies when several players with different stacks move all-in. Each player can win no more from each of the other players than he or she put into the pot, or less if the opponent had a shorter stack to begin with.
In practice these things can be very much entangled, and to your home games you should always invite a really good math wiz.
Comments on this Article
Paul (Dec 18, 2008)
If 2 players are left in the hand
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