A side game is a small extra bet or rule layered on top of your normal poker. It doesn't change how a hand is played. It changes what's at stake when certain things happen: a bad hand wins, a player folds too much, a big hand shows up.
Done well, they keep a quiet game lively. Done badly, they cause more arguments than the poker does. This is a short tour of the ones that come up most, and how to keep the money straight.
The four worth knowing
The 7-2 game. Win a pot holding seven-deuce offsuit and every other player pays you a set amount. It rewards a bit of nerve and makes the worst starting hand worth playing once in a while.
The nit game. Everyone starts with a button. You get rid of yours by winning a pot, and whoever is still holding one at the end pays the rest of the table. It pushes tight players to get involved.
Bomb pots. Everyone antes, skips the preflop betting, and plays straight from the flop. Good for livening up a slow table.
A high hand bonus. A small pot of money goes to the best hand shown in a set window, usually an hour.
Rules that apply to all of them
Whichever you run, settle these before the first hand:
- How much. Keep it small relative to the main game. A side game that costs more than the poker stops being fun.
- Whether it's optional. The cleanest approach is that everyone is in, or everyone has opted in. Nobody should find out mid-hand that they owe something.
- When it ends. A time limit or a hand count, not "whenever".
- What happens in edge cases. Split pots, a player leaving early, a tie.
Then write it down. A side game with rules that live in someone's head is a source of arguments.
Keeping the money straight
Side game money is easy to lose track of, because it moves in small amounts and often on the spot. The most reliable approach is to fold it into the same record as your buy-ins:
- Money a player paid on a side game goes in their buy-in column.
- Money a player received goes in their cash-out column.
Take a 7-2 win for 10 per player at a six-player table. The winner's cash-out goes up by 50, and each of the other five players' buy-ins go up by 10. Money paid equals money received, so the table still balances to zero and you settle everything once at the end.
You can do exactly this with the free settlement calculator, and how to settle up after a home poker game covers the method.
A note on rules
Gambling rules differ a lot by place, and side games and jackpots can be treated differently from a friendly cash game. This isn't legal advice. If you run anything with a collected jackpot or a regular rake, check what applies where you live.