Is there an easy way to split off the side-pot in poker?

Whenever I deal a poker game, the hardest part is the side-pots. I was wondering if any dealers on here have a "trick" to making them easy to split off?

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I've recently become a poker dealer - for a league that uses dealers at every table. A league is a little easier because there's no real cash involved making mistakes easily forgivable, but harder because the blinds are short so the players expect a fast game.


Cutting side pots is something I tend to struggle with as well, although I generally have an easier time verifying the cut when I'm merely a player. I wish I could help you but it seems like easy math. What makes it difficult is having ten people start to "help" you. Or even just having ten people watch you do this while the tournament clock is ticking.

Slightly more difficult, is remembering who is in each pot when there are multiple side pots. After the pot is cut, I palm the pot, and tap the table in front of this player saying "The main pot is your's if you win". Then palm the main and first side pot and tap the table for the next player, "This pot and the main pot is your's" etc.


One thing that makes cutting the pots tricky is having to make change at the same time. No simple advice there.


One thing I do is if there are multiple all-ins to the point where there is no more action on the coming cards, or multiple all-ins on the river, I'll just leave each stack in front of the player and resolve the hands first. See who has the best hand, take his stack size from each person and drag it into the main pot, finally pushing him the pot. Then do the same for the next best hand. Etc.

Of course, in casino situations, because of the strict rules, you must cut all the side pots first. If it were me, I'd try to get the attention of a floor person to watch and verify, particularly if there are multiple all-ins.

I was in such a hand a few years ago at the Taj Mahal. On the flop, there were 6 all-ins, including my own. I watched the dealer, and I know she made a mistake. However, I knew that the last side pot (the only one I wasn't in) was correct, so I didn't care. I ended up winning the hand so I took all those other pots, which despide being cut wrong, still had the correct total based upon my original stack.

Quote: DJTeddyBear

I've recently become a poker dealer - for a league that uses dealers at every table. A league is a little easier because there's no real cash involved making mistakes easily forgivable, but harder because the blinds are short so the players expect a fast game.


Cutting side pots is something I tend to struggle with as well, although I generally have an easier time verifying the cut when I'm merely a player. I wish I could help you but it seems like easy math. What makes it difficult is having ten people start to "help" you. Or even just having ten people watch you do this while the tournament clock is ticking.

That is exactly it! I have never had a "clock problem" but most people do not understand how much dealing actually taxes the brain. I tell people at the BJ table all the time that at the end of the night I can barely count to 21. But BJ I can handle easily at my level. Poker is harder, and worse at this level because 5 people are trying to "help" and the other 5 need the game explaied to them on every hand.

When the job I have ends I hope to maybe do what you do, deal for some kind of regular basis league or just on my own. But I need to develop my skills more. At the beginner tables nobody notices, at places where people know how to play they do. I can do BJ in my sleep and I had a WV Lottery Official ask where I "really" dealt craps. But poker drives me crazy. I know there have to be shortcuts, but I am self-taught at poker (and Let-it-Die)-unlike BJ and Craps where I was shown the ropes.

When we play home games, I'm usually in charge of handling the side pots. My shortcut is to cut them as the all-in bets are being made.

A shortstack goes all-in, and someone has him covered with the original or new raise? Count the shortstack immediately. That's the amount you pull from the raiser and all subsequent callers. You drop all that into the main pot, and continue to the sidepots, making sure everyone has called the remainder of the raise.

Teddy , one of my best friend's daughter is one hell of a dealer. She learned the old fashioned way. Practice, practice, practice. She would get and family members, teenagers on the block, etc and she would deal for hours and hours at the kitchen table. The way to tell how good a dealer is , all the good ones make it look so damn easy !! When i was in dealer's school, the guy running it would line us up to deal BJ at wedding receptions.


Never seen Paigowdan deal, except in Wiz videos. Bet he is really smooth in live action ??

I like to announce the state of the pots, main and sides, as well as indicating who they are aimed at. Not only does this help me in getting the pot amounts and persons involved correct, but it also lets the players know what's going on. One side pot tends to be fairly easy.

So, when a person goes all in, and the rest of the players call, I'll announce, one all-in for 25, 6 players, that makes 150 in the main. Push that amount into the main pot, then take the remaining chips, the side pot, and place them in a stack somewhat close to, in front of, the remaining player with the fewest number of chips. This is the person most likely to go all-in next, and thus that side pot would be his availability.

Provided that the poker room itself doesn't have a set methodology on how they want you to handle things, the most important is that you develop a consistent style and feel that works for you.

Most of the time it's multiplying the all in raise by the remaining players to ge the side, but what always throws me off is when another all-in is declared with either less than the original bet,or less than the last raise. That's why I think it is best to wait until all the action is in before cutting the sides.