Calcutta side pots

A Calcutta side pot is an optional buy-in pool that runs alongside the main entry fee. Anglers who want to participate pay a separate fixed amount to enter the pool, and the pool is paid out based on performance — independently of the main leaderboard prize structure. Calcutta pools are a standard part of competitive fishing events and can significantly increase angler engagement.

What a Calcutta pool covers

Each pool is defined by a single performance criterion that determines who wins:

• Biggest fish by length — the entrant who submits the longest verified catch wins. Useful for catch-and-release events where weight is not measured.
• Biggest fish by weight — the entrant with the heaviest single catch wins.

You can restrict a pool to a specific species or set of species using the optional species filter. Leaving the filter empty means all species logged in the tournament are eligible.

Entry unit: individual or team

For team-format tournaments, you choose whether the Calcutta pool is entered by individual anglers or by teams:

• Individual — each angler pays the buy-in separately and competes on their own best catch. The pool size grows with every individual entry.
• Team— one buy-in per team. The pool is smaller but each team's best catch across all team members counts.

If your tournament does not use teams, all pools automatically use the individual entry unit.

Payout presets

When creating a pool you choose how the collected money is distributed among finishing positions. Three presets are available:

• Winner Take All — 100% goes to 1st place.
• 70 / 30 — 70% to 1st, 30% to 2nd.
• 60 / 25 / 15 — 60% to 1st, 25% to 2nd, 15% to 3rd. This is the default for new pools.

You can also build a custom split by adjusting the percentages or adding additional finishing positions. The form requires that all percentages sum to exactly 100% before saving.

Setting up a pool

Calcutta pools can be created while the tournament is in draft or upcoming status. Once the tournament goes live, existing pools can no longer be edited or deleted.

1. Open the tournament admin page and navigate to the Calcutta tab.
2. Click + Create Side Pot.
3. Give the pool a name (for example, “Biggest Bass Side Pot”), choose the criterion, optionally filter by species, set the entry unit, enter the buy-in amount, and select a payout preset.
4. Click Create Side Pot. The pool appears immediately on the Calcutta tab for both organizers and registered anglers.

Multiple pools per tournament

There is no limit to the number of Calcutta pools per tournament. A common setup is one pool for the biggest bass and a second for the biggest catfish, each with its own buy-in and payout structure. Pools are independent — an angler can enter none, some, or all of them.

How anglers opt in

Registered anglers see each open Calcutta pool on the tournament page. Each pool card shows the buy-in amount, the current number of entries, and the total prize pool accumulated so far. Clicking Enter Poolredirects to a Stripe Checkout session for the buy-in amount. After payment, the angler's entry is confirmed and their name appears in the pool.

Settlement

After the tournament ends and catch verification is complete, you settle each pool manually from the pool detail view:

1. Navigate to the Calcutta tab and click into a pool.
2. Review the live standings, which show each entrant ranked by their best catch for the pool's criterion.
3. When standings are final, click Settle Pool. This locks the pool, calculates each entrant's payout based on the preset percentages, and marks winners as “Owed”.
4. Pay each winner through your preferred method (cash, bank transfer, or Stripe Connect). Once paid, click Mark Paid next to each entrant to record the payout.

Settlement is permanent. Once a pool is settled, its status changes to settled and cannot be reversed from within FishTourney.