Side pots/main pots

I am very new to poker...just beginning my 8th week...so far I've been learning so much and I have several questions. Can anyone explain about main pots/ side pots to me? It's totally illogical to me that one hand is better than another at some times, but when a side pot is involved, things are totally different! It seems that the side pot is a second place 'win'! Also when does the side pot come into play? And why are there mostly just main pots? Any assistance would be very appreciated! Thanks.

That is then when some1 is shortstacked and two normal stacks... ( need to bet 3+ players to be main/side pots) if shortstack goes allin and two other "normalstack" will call shortstacks allin, then it will be main pot, but after that call normalstacks will get some other chips that they will share without shortstack, on board these chips is called "side pot". Dunno i hope this helped , btw go check some online poker videos and you will be understand it more faster... like about sunday million on pokerstars.tv there is much online poker videos.

This is an example:

Player A has 100 chips and goes all in preflop with 77.

Player B has 200 chips and calls with AK.

Player C has 200 chips as well, makes the call, and has QQ.

There is 300 chips in the main pot that all three players can win. The flop is 7 A 2. Player B moves all in for his remaining 100 and Player C calls, so there is a sidepot of 200 since only those two players have chips to call with. Say a J and 8 fall on the turn and river. Player A would win the main pot of 300 with his set of 7's, while Player B wins the 200 chip sidepot with a pair of Aces, since only B and C are eligible for the sidepot. So even though player A has the best hand, he can only win the chips he had for his all in and not the other two players. Hope that helps.

Thanks so much for your help...that helps alot! I will try to pay more attention now that I know what to look for! It just seemed so confusing before. Again, thanks so much!

Anytime, and good luck at the tables!

Keep on playing and you will learn it....
The explanations before should help you!

A useful trick to remember is that they're awarded in the reverse order to what they were created in.

For the sake of the argument let's say these four players all get all in preflop:

A - 1500 chips, holds 7s8s
B - 2300 chips, holds AhKd
C - 2000 chips, holds 9s9h
D - 5100 chips, holds AsQc

The main pot has 6000 in it. A, B, C and D are all eligible to win it.

The first side pot has 1500 in it. Only B, C and D are eligible to win that one.

The second side pot has 600 in it. Only B and D can win that one, and B gets back the 2800 that nobody else in the pot can match.

The board comes 2s Qs Td 5s 3c. You then award the pots in reverse order, so you start with the second side pot.

Player D has a pair of queens, which beats B's ace-high. D takes the second side pot with 600 in it, and B is eliminated (assuming it's a tournament).

Next is the first side pot. D's pair of queens beats C's pair of nines, so he takes the 1500 pot as well and C is eliminated.

Last is the main pot, which all players were eligible for. A's flush beats D's pair of queens, as well as everyone else's now irrelevant hands, so he takes the 6000 in the main pot and continues playing.

Note that this hand could have gotten all kinds of messy if the main pot had have been awarded first. Award the pots in reverse order (from the one with the least players eligible for it to the one with the most) and it should always make sense.

Simplified;

The main pot is 'capped' matching the first all in's money. Any leftover money starts a side pot, and if someone goes all in there, it is capped and a 3rd pot is created, at a 10 seat table 9 different pots are possible (gawd forbid!)

A player can only win the pots he is entitled to.