Message Board : Who owns the pot?

Way to break my brain.

Regardless of what the books say regarding how money you put into the pot is no longer yours, I believe the money in the pot does belong to the respective players until the hand concludes. In a way, the pot is just the money being held in escrow by the casino until it can be released.

Now if someone were to steal money out of the pot in mid-hand and vanish, I should think it would be up to the casino to make the pot right. The rake you're paying is, in part, to ensure a fair game, and I should think paying that premium entitles you to some protection from the people collecting the rake.

This feels right to me, but it could be completely wrong.

but if he hasnt been decided yet and some catastrophe was to happen like the dealer passed out on 4th street and none was available then i guess the pot would be chopped to all players involved?…but a fire…o well thats different…well as the saying goes…”if theres a fire you run run run”…if your on fire ..you roll roll roll !