How is the pot split in this texas holdem hand?

Question

Player 1 has pair of jacks and goes all in...$2000. player 2 has pair of kings and goes all in...$500. player 3 has pair of queens and goes all in...$2000. So what does each player win?

Answer 1

You imply that none of the players improve on the board, so we'll work with that assumption, and I will also assume that no additional money from other players is in the pot.

Player 1 has J♠J♣ and $2000

Player 2 has K♠K♣ and $500

Player 3 has Q♠Q♣ and $2000

Everyone goes all-in before the flop. Because player 2 has less than the other players, a main pot will be formed that has $500 from each player. So, this main pot will contain $1500. This is the only portion of the pot that player 2 is eligible to win, because he can win no more than he risks from each of the other players.

A side pot is then created between players 1 and 3. $500 has already been removed from each to satisfy the main pot, so there's a side pot which contains $1500 from each player here, so $3000 total.

To summarize here:

• The main pot contains $1500. All players can win this.
• The side pot contains $3000. Players 1 and 3 can win this.

At the end of the hand, the two players involved in the side pot reveal their hands. Queens beat jacks, so player 3 wins the side pot and player 1 is eliminated from further consideration. Then the main pot is decided between the remaining two players. The kings beat the queens, so player 2 wins the main pot.

Net result:

• Player 1 loses his $2000.
• Player 2 wins a pot of $1500 for a net gain of $1000.
• Player 3 wins a pot of $3000 for a net gain of $1000.

Answer 2

Player 1 bid 2000 + player 2 bid 500 All in + player 3 bid 2000

Total pot is of 4500.

Player 2 is winner but as his bid is lowest he can only get the amount he bid from each player so 500 he covers which he bid 500 from player1 and 500 from player3 so he is getting 1500 player 1 loss all he bid but player 3 wins the remaining amount which is 3000.