Half a Pot is Better Than None

You probably have heard the expression about half a loaf (of bread) being better than none. Of course, that applies to just about everything in life - including the game of poker. Certainly, we would rather win part of a pot than none at all. Sometimes, circumstances give us an option. How can we make the best of the situation?

Going all in; the side pot: A player sometimes will go all in during the play of a hand. That means he has run out of chips. The hand continues, and all bets beyond that point by the other players go into a side pot. The all-in player competes only for the main pot that had been built to the point when he bet the last of his chips. (He is not allowed to buy more chips in the middle of a hand; only the chips in front of him at the beginning of the hand are in play.) The remaining players continue to bet and the side pot grows accordingly. Sometimes a side pot can be much larger than the main pot.

Taking advantage of the opportunity: There can be very interesting consequences when there is a side pot. In fact, it can provide an alert poker player a great opportunity to make money. Here's a case in point, based on my own recent experience:

While playing in a middle-limit seven-card stud game at Hollywood Park Casino, I was dealt a pair of aces in the hole. Great! I raised the opening bring-in bet in order to reduce the size of the field. This strategy, by the way, is recommended when you start with a high pair, so as to optimize your chances of winning the pot by forcing out marginal hands, small pairs, and drawing hands that could draw out on you. Three opponents called my raise.

I continued to carry the betting as the hand progressed. Then, on fifth street, the player in seat No. 7, to my immediate left, paired her doorcard by catching a 6. She came out betting, and went all in. She was a fairly tight, conservative, generally passive player; rarely was she aggressive. There were no other sixes out, so I figured she had three sixes. Meanwhile, I too had improved my hand, having made a pair of threes on the board to go along with my pocket aces. But one ace and one 3 had fallen along the way, so my chance of filling up was not very attractive. The other two players called her bet as I looked at their boardcards. My guess was that one was drawing to a straight and the other probably had a high pair or perhaps two pair. I had them both beat at that point. I didn't think I had much chance of beating the three sixes of the all-in player to my left, but I had a good chance of beating the other two players. And they had plenty of chips in front of them! So, I raised in order to try to build a side pot, and both players called. Of course, if the all-in player didn't have three sixes, I could win the whole pot. That would be nice, but I wasn't counting on it.

Sixth street didn't seem to help anyone. Both players checked to me, I bet, and both of them called. Now, the side pot was getting bigger.

On the river, I squeezed my holecards in hope of filling up. Alas, no such luck. Again, both players checked to me. They were loose players, but not prone to be deceptive. I took a chance that my aces up was still second best to the all-in player's assumed three sixes, and bet again to build up the side pot. One of the two players called.

The result? Yes, you guessed it: My aces up won the side pot. The all-in player won the main pot with sixes full (she filled up on the river). The side pot was much larger than the main pot, which was good for me. By raising on fifth street and betting thereafter, I had "earned" five big bets - making it a profitable hand for myself.

Lesson learned: When there is a side pot, you may win it with the second-best hand. So, consider how you can maximize the size of a side pot when you believe your hand will beat everyone except the all-in player.

Editor's note: George Epstein is the author of The Greatest Book of Poker For Winners!