What is a side pot?
A second pot created when one player is all in for less than the others want to bet. The all-in player can only win the amount everybody matched; the rest keeps betting into a separate pot that only they are eligible for.
The main pot is capped at the all-in player's contribution multiplied by the number of players who called it. Everything above that goes into the side pot, and the all-in player cannot win a chip of it no matter what they show.
With two players all in for different amounts you get two side pots, and this is where home games start producing numbers nobody can verify. The order matters: the smallest all-in caps the main pot, the next one caps the first side pot.
Side pots are the single strongest argument for not keeping score on paper. The arithmetic is not hard, but it has to be exactly right while five people are talking, and it is checked by nobody.
The full answer
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