Hold 'em no limit side bet question

[callon]

3 players left. Player A has the shortest stack at $50 and goes all in. Players B and C both call the bet. The next card is dealt and player B puts down a $75 side bet. Now... does player C have to call the side bet to stay in the game or is it optional?

This came up in my game tonight, though not for that much money :p, and I misunderstood the rules apparently. At least that's what the group decided. I thought that as player C I only had to call player A's bet since he was all in. The side bet the next round was optional. The group decided that meeting the side bet was required for me to stay in. Unfortunately they didn't let me know until all the cards were out and the hand was decided. I thought I'd won and then they said no, you folded because you didn't meet the side bet. Umm... would be nice if I KNEW that i'd folded... I laid my cards out and announced what I thought was the winning hand.

Here's my problem with it. Player A is all in so does not have to meet the side bet. He gets to play out the hand with a chance to win $50 of MY money from the pot, even if I have to fold because of the side bet from player B. Meanwhile to stay in I have to put $125 in the pot. I realize player A can only win $50 of it, but that's not the point. The point is staying in the hand or not. So this gives the short stack player A an unfair advantage over me.

Sorry to be longwinded, but did the group make the right call here? Because frankly, right or not, I think the rule sucked. Once someone is all in, there should be no way to force me to fold with side bets.

[ORGrinder]

my understanding of things is that YES you have to call to stay in. just because one person is all in, on their short stack, doesn't mean the game ends... thus, the side pots. i THINK your friends were right, although it kinda blows they didn't say anything to you.

[K-rug]

1) Does player C have to call the side bet to stay in the game or is it optional.
--Yes. The only action options at this point are to Call, Fold, Raise since Player B Bet. If you Call you are obviously in. If you Fold, well, you fold your cards and they are dead. Period. If you raise, then the player B has to call your raise. Either way you would be in. You are essentially going head to head with player B at this point. Player A is just along for a $50 ride.

2)We play that you must verbally declare your action. If you Called and didn't push any chips in to the pot, the group should have said "WTF?!" and questioned you. Then explained the rules to you. You can also call time and ask for a clarification. We also have a no harm no foul gentlemenly unofficial rule. So if you Called and thought what you posted was right, you could have retracted your bet and folded after we explained the situation to you. But you wouldn't be able to get away with it twice.

[jwrussell]

Yeah, you most definately have to call that bet to stay in. That's where some strategy comes in. If you have the best hand you want to get more money from that other player. If you are not sure, you want to get them out of the pot if possible so you are only up against the all in player.

The only thing I would say is you have a right to be pissed if no one clarified that you hadn't folded. They should have asked why you weren't mucking your cards or something. You should not have still had cards in front of you if you weren't in the pot.

[Dave B]

"If you are not sure, you want to get them out of the pot if possible so you are only up against the all in player. "

I respectfully disagree. If this is a tourney I would not bet someone out of a pot against an all in player. Each player that gets kicked out is more important that a few more chips. Unless you have a great hand, let them draw out too. Get the all in player out of the game. If you hand is marginal, there is a decent chance that the all in player has you beat. So if you bet someone out of the pot you have risked chips without gaining anything.