Let the banker check the cash box against the chips on the table

Ran out of things I could find by auditing the UI, so I went and read what people
who run home games actually complain about. The recurring one isn't a dealing
mistake, it's a banking one: "the last two guys go to cash out at the end of some
all-night game and there isn't enough cash to cover the chips they have."

Every chip on the table is a promise to pay cash for it later. Nothing in here
checked that the promise could be kept, and there's no way to notice by eye —
it's always a rebuy nobody wrote down, or chips taken without paying, and it
stays silent until the box is empty and two people are still holding chips.

The books now add up, or say why not

HoldemState.bankReconciliation compares the cash taken in against every chip that
could be handed back — stacks, chips in front of players, and the pot waiting to
be won. The sidebar shows both numbers and what they mean:

    Balanced — the cash covers every chip on the table.
    $160 more in chips than cash taken. Someone's rebuy probably wasn't
      recorded — the box will be short at cash-out.
    $150 more cash than chips in play. Someone has paid for chips they
      haven't been given.

Money in the middle counts as chips in play, so an open pot isn't reported as a
shortfall — otherwise it would cry wolf during almost every hand.

Players who had bought in were missing from the settle-up

sessionStandings was built from the hand log, so anybody who hadn't yet been in a
recorded hand didn't appear at all. Somebody hands over $200, sits down, folds a
few, and the banker's own record doesn't mention them — then they turn up at
cash-out holding chips the list never accounted for. Anyone with money in the
game is in the list now, whether or not they've played a logged hand.

The settle-up number was already being computed and hidden

cashPosition — chips in front of them less the cash they handed over — was
calculated for every player and written to the CSV, but never shown on screen.
It's the number you read while counting out cash at the end of the night, so it's
a column now.

15 tests (127 total): a buy-in with no hands played still appears and reads as
level rather than a loss, empty chairs stay out, a player who cashed out shows
what they took, both directions of imbalance are caught, an open pot is not a
discrepancy, six played-and-settled hands never knock the books out, a proper
rebuy balances while a chip grab doesn't, and float dust isn't an alarm.

Validated with Playwright through real play — seated, blinds posted, pot open,
hand settled, rebuy — balanced at every step, plus the three seeded verdicts and
a fresh table where the panel stays hidden.

Sources: pokerlistings.com/blog/how-to-run-a-home-poker-game,
chipsoffury.com/learn/how-to-handle-poker-buy-ins-with-friends/

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <[email protected]>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_015bnp7xKUPFFSpwkYNFaPgb

JoshHeaps.Net/Pages/Casino/TexasHoldem.cshtml

@@ -110,10 +110,23 @@
                             <span>In</span>
                             <span>Won</span>
                             <span>Net</span>
+                            <span title="Chips in front of them, less the cash they handed over">Cash out</span>
                         </div>
                         <div id="standingsList"></div>
                     </div>
-                    <p id="standingsEmptyHint" class="fieldHint">Once you resolve a pot, everyone's running total for the night shows up here.</p>
+                    <p id="standingsEmptyHint" class="fieldHint">Everyone who has bought in shows up here, with what they'd be owed if the night ended now.</p>
+
+                    <div id="bankReconcile" class="bankReconcile" hidden>
+                        <div class="bankReconcileRow">
+                            <span>Cash taken</span>
+                            <span id="bankCashIn"></span>
+                        </div>
+                        <div class="bankReconcileRow">
+                            <span>Chips in play</span>
+                            <span id="bankChipsInPlay"></span>
+                        </div>
+                        <p id="bankReconcileVerdict" class="bankReconcileVerdict"></p>
+                    </div>
 
                     <h3 class="panelSubhead">Hands</h3>
                     <div id="handHistoryList"></div>
@@ -225,6 +238,7 @@
         <span class="standingsIn"></span>
         <span class="standingsWon"></span>
         <span class="standingsNet"></span>
+        <span class="standingsCashOut"></span>
     </div>
 </template>
 

JoshHeaps.Net/wwwroot/css/casino/holdem.css

@@ -1467,7 +1467,7 @@ button,
 
 .standingsRow {
     display: grid;
-    grid-template-columns: minmax(0, 1fr) auto auto auto;
+    grid-template-columns: minmax(0, 1fr) auto auto auto auto;
     gap: 0.5rem;
     align-items: baseline;
     padding: 0.3rem 0.1rem;
@@ -1481,6 +1481,48 @@ button,
     min-width: 4.5rem;
 }
 
+/* The settle-up column is the one a banker reads while counting out cash, so it
+   carries the weight the per-hand columns don't. */
+.standingsCashOut {
+    font-weight: 600;
+}
+
+/* ---------- Bank reconciliation ----------
+   Cash taken versus chips on the table. Every chip is a promise to pay cash for it
+   later, and if the chips outrun the box that promise can't be kept — which a dealer
+   otherwise discovers when the last two players cash out and there's nothing left. */
+.bankReconcile {
+    margin-top: 0.6rem;
+    padding: 0.55rem 0.6rem;
+    border: 1px solid #2f2f2f;
+    border-radius: 8px;
+    background: #151515;
+}
+
+.bankReconcileRow {
+    display: flex;
+    justify-content: space-between;
+    gap: 0.75rem;
+    font-size: 0.78rem;
+    color: #b8b8b8;
+    font-variant-numeric: tabular-nums;
+    padding: 0.12rem 0;
+}
+
+.bankReconcileVerdict {
+    margin: 0.4rem 0 0;
+    font-size: 0.74rem;
+    line-height: 1.35;
+}
+
+.bankReconcileVerdict.bankBalanced {
+    color: #7fc99a;
+}
+
+.bankReconcileVerdict.bankOff {
+    color: #f0b46a;
+}
+
 .standingsHeader {
     color: #8a8a8a;
     font-size: 0.7rem;

JoshHeaps.Net/wwwroot/js/casino/holdem/main.js

@@ -318,15 +318,34 @@ document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => {
         Render.renderAll();
     });
 
-    document.getElementById("nextHandBtn").addEventListener("click", () => {
+    document.getElementById("nextHandBtn").addEventListener("click", async () => {
+        // Moving on wipes every seat's contribution, so an unresolved pot is simply
+        // destroyed — measured at a four-handed table, pressing this with $8 in the
+        // middle took the table from 800 chips to 792, and the toast said nothing
+        // about it. Chips only ever leave this tool because a dealer meant them to.
+        const unresolved = HoldemState.unresolvedContributions(state);
+
+        if (unresolved > Betting.EPSILON_CHIPS) {
+            const ok = await Dialog.confirm({
+                title: `Throw away ${Money.format(unresolved)}?`,
+                message: "There's still money in the middle from this hand. Starting the next one takes it off the table without paying anybody — use Resolve Pot if somebody won it.",
+                confirmLabel: "Throw it away",
+                danger: true,
+            });
+            if (!ok) return;
+        }
+
         // startNextHand moves the button on by one; say where it landed so the
         // dealer can confirm the rotation without hunting for the badge.
         const nextDealer = HoldemState.nextSeatIndex(state, state.dealerSeatIndex, 1);
         const where = state.dedicatedDealer
             ? `small blind on seat ${HoldemState.nextSeatIndex(state, nextDealer, 1) + 1}`
             : `button on seat ${nextDealer + 1}`;
+        const discarded = unresolved > Betting.EPSILON_CHIPS
+            ? ` ${Money.format(unresolved)} taken off the table.`
+            : "";
 
-        runUndoable(`Next hand — ${where}. Blinds posted.`, () => {
+        runUndoable(`Next hand — ${where}. Blinds posted.${discarded}`, () => {
             HoldemState.startNextHand(state);
             Betting.beginHand(state);
         });

JoshHeaps.Net/wwwroot/js/casino/holdem/potWizard.js

@@ -272,11 +272,25 @@ const PotWizard = {
         });
         actions.appendChild(applyBtn);
 
-        const closeBtn = document.createElement("button");
-        closeBtn.className = "holdemBtn holdemBtnGhost";
-        closeBtn.textContent = "Close";
-        closeBtn.addEventListener("click", () => this.close());
-        actions.appendChild(closeBtn);
+        // This button cancels — it does not pay anybody. Under a heading reading
+        // "Final Payouts" with an amount beside a name, "Close" reads like dismissing
+        // something already done, and a dealer who taps it walks away believing the
+        // pot has been pushed. It hasn't: the chips are still in the middle and the
+        // hand isn't logged. So it says what it does.
+        const cancelBtn = document.createElement("button");
+        cancelBtn.className = "holdemBtn holdemBtnGhost";
+        cancelBtn.textContent = "Cancel — don't pay yet";
+        cancelBtn.addEventListener("click", () => this.close());
+        actions.appendChild(cancelBtn);
+
+        if (this.totals.size > 0) {
+            const note = document.createElement("p");
+            note.className = "fieldHint potWizardPendingNote";
+            note.textContent = "Nothing has been paid out yet. Start Next Hand pushes the pot and logs the hand.";
+            wrap.appendChild(actions);
+            wrap.appendChild(note);
+            return wrap;
+        }
 
         wrap.appendChild(actions);
         return wrap;

JoshHeaps.Net/wwwroot/js/casino/holdem/render.js

@@ -701,8 +701,46 @@ const Render = {
             netEl.classList.toggle("netUp", row.net > 0);
             netEl.classList.toggle("netDown", row.net < 0);
 
+            // What they'd actually be handed if the night ended now: chips in front of
+            // them less the cash they gave the banker. This was computed and written to
+            // the CSV all along, but never shown to the person doing the paying out.
+            const cashEl = node.querySelector(".standingsCashOut");
+            cashEl.textContent = Money.formatSigned(row.cashPosition);
+            cashEl.classList.toggle("netUp", row.cashPosition > 0);
+            cashEl.classList.toggle("netDown", row.cashPosition < 0);
+
             list.appendChild(node);
         });
+
+        this.renderBankReconciliation();
+    },
+
+    // Does the cash box cover the chips on the table? Nothing asked this before, and
+    // it's the question that decides whether the last two players can be paid.
+    renderBankReconciliation() {
+        const host = document.getElementById("bankReconcile");
+        if (!host) return;
+
+        const bank = HoldemState.bankReconciliation(this.state);
+        // Nothing to reconcile before anybody has handed over money or taken a chip.
+        host.hidden = bank.cashIn === 0 && bank.chipsInPlay === 0;
+        if (host.hidden) return;
+
+        document.getElementById("bankCashIn").textContent = Money.format(bank.cashIn);
+        document.getElementById("bankChipsInPlay").textContent = Money.format(bank.chipsInPlay);
+
+        const verdict = document.getElementById("bankReconcileVerdict");
+        if (bank.balanced) {
+            verdict.textContent = "Balanced — the cash covers every chip on the table.";
+        } else if (bank.difference > 0) {
+            verdict.textContent =
+                `${Money.format(bank.difference)} more in chips than cash taken. Someone's rebuy probably wasn't recorded — the box will be short at cash-out.`;
+        } else {
+            verdict.textContent =
+                `${Money.format(Math.abs(bank.difference))} more cash than chips in play. Someone has paid for chips they haven't been given.`;
+        }
+        verdict.classList.toggle("bankBalanced", bank.balanced);
+        verdict.classList.toggle("bankOff", !bank.balanced);
     },
 
     // ---- Hand counter + history ----

JoshHeaps.Net/wwwroot/js/casino/holdem/state.js

@@ -167,6 +167,38 @@ const HoldemState = {
         return !player.inHand;
     },
 
+    // What starting the next hand would take off the table for good: exactly the
+    // fields startNextHand clears.
+    //
+    // Deliberately not totalPot(). The table-wide base pot is a standing ante — a
+    // stand-in for "everyone puts the same in every hand", used by a dealer who
+    // isn't tracking stacks — so it re-applies to the next hand rather than being
+    // lost with this one. Counting it would mean warning about money that isn't
+    // going anywhere, on every single hand, for exactly the dealers who chose the
+    // simplest way to run the table.
+    unresolvedContributions(state) {
+        const total = state.seats.reduce((sum, player) => {
+            const override = player.amountOverride;
+            let banked = 0;
+
+            if (override !== null && override !== undefined && String(override).trim() !== "") {
+                const parsed = Number(override);
+                if (!Number.isNaN(parsed)) banked = Math.max(0, parsed);
+            }
+
+            if (banked === 0) {
+                banked = (state.chipLegend || []).reduce((chips, chip) => {
+                    const count = Number(player.chipCounts[chip.id]) || 0;
+                    return chips + count * Number(chip.value || 0);
+                }, 0);
+            }
+
+            return sum + banked + Math.max(0, Number(player.committed) || 0);
+        }, 0);
+
+        return Money.round(total);
+    },
+
     totalPot(state) {
         return state.seats.reduce(
             (sum, p) => sum + this.computeContribution(p, state.chipLegend, state.basePotAmount),
@@ -352,6 +384,23 @@ const HoldemState = {
         // all, so they're read off the seat rather than summed — a rebuy isn't a hand.
         const seatById = new Map(state.seats.map(p => [p.id, p]));
 
+        // Anyone who has money in the game belongs in the settle-up, whether or not
+        // they've been in a logged hand yet. Building the list from the hand log alone
+        // left a player who bought in and then sat through a few hands folding —
+        // or who just sat down — missing entirely, so the banker's own record didn't
+        // mention the cash they'd taken. They turn up at cash-out holding chips the
+        // list never accounted for.
+        state.seats.forEach((player, index) => {
+            if (totals.has(player.id)) return;
+            const hasMoneyInPlay =
+                (Number(player.buyIns) || 0) > 0 ||
+                (Number(player.stack) || 0) > 0 ||
+                (Number(player.amountOverride) || 0) > 0 ||
+                (Number(player.committed) || 0) > 0;
+            if (!hasMoneyInPlay) return;
+            totals.set(player.id, { id: player.id, name: this.displayName(player, index), in: 0, won: 0 });
+        });
+
         return Array.from(totals.values())
             .map(t => {
                 const seat = seatById.get(t.id);
@@ -376,6 +425,37 @@ const HoldemState = {
             })
             .sort((a, b) => b.net - a.net);
     },
+
+    // The one check a banker actually needs, and the one nothing here did.
+    //
+    // Every chip on the table is a promise to pay cash for it later. If the chips in
+    // play add up to more than the cash that came in, that promise can't be kept —
+    // and the way you find out is the last two players cashing out and the box being
+    // empty. It's always someone taking chips without paying, a rebuy that never got
+    // recorded, or a miscount, and it's silent until it's too late to work out which.
+    //
+    // Chips in play counts everything a player could hand back: what's in front of
+    // them and what's in the middle waiting to be won.
+    bankReconciliation(state) {
+        const cashIn = state.seats.reduce((sum, p) => sum + Math.max(0, Number(p.buyIns) || 0), 0);
+        const chipsInPlay = state.seats.reduce(
+            (sum, p) =>
+                sum +
+                Math.max(0, Number(p.stack) || 0) +
+                Math.max(0, Number(p.committed) || 0) +
+                Math.max(0, Number(p.amountOverride) || 0),
+            0
+        );
+
+        const difference = Money.round(chipsInPlay - cashIn);
+        return {
+            cashIn: Money.round(cashIn),
+            chipsInPlay: Money.round(chipsInPlay),
+            difference,
+            // Half a cent of float dust isn't a discrepancy worth alarming anyone over.
+            balanced: Math.abs(difference) <= Money.EPSILON,
+        };
+    },
 };
 
 if (typeof module !== "undefined" && module.exports) {

tests/holdem/bankAudit.test.js

@@ -0,0 +1,169 @@
+// The banker's job, which is a different job from the dealer's: every chip on the
+// table is a promise to pay cash for it later, and somebody has to be able to check
+// that the promise can be kept before the last two players try to cash out.
+const { test, describe } = require("node:test");
+const assert = require("node:assert/strict");
+const { Betting, HoldemState, Money, makeTable } = require("./load");
+
+const seat = (state, index, name, cash, chips) => {
+    const p = state.seats[index];
+    p.name = name; p.inHand = true; p.buyIns = cash; p.stack = chips;
+    return p;
+};
+
+describe("everyone with money in the game is accounted for", () => {
+    test("a player who has bought in but played no logged hand still appears", () => {
+        const state = makeTable({ seatCount: 6, seated: [0, 1, 2], stack: 0 });
+        seat(state, 0, "Ann", 100, 100);
+        seat(state, 1, "Ben", 100, 100);
+        seat(state, 2, "Cal", 200, 200); // just sat down
+
+        state.seats[0].amountOverride = 10;
+        state.seats[1].amountOverride = 10;
+        HoldemState.recordHand(state, [{ id: state.seats[0].id, label: "Ann", amount: 20 }]);
+        state.seats[0].amountOverride = null;
+        state.seats[1].amountOverride = null;
+
+        const names = HoldemState.sessionStandings(state).map(r => r.name);
+        assert.ok(names.includes("Cal"), `Cal handed over $200 and is missing: ${names.join(", ")}`);
+    });
+
+    test("their row reads as no hands played, not as a loss", () => {
+        const state = makeTable({ seatCount: 4, seated: [0, 1], stack: 0 });
+        seat(state, 0, "Ann", 100, 100);
+        seat(state, 1, "Ben", 200, 200);
+
+        const cal = HoldemState.sessionStandings(state).find(r => r.name === "Ben");
+        assert.equal(cal.in, 0);
+        assert.equal(cal.won, 0);
+        assert.equal(cal.net, 0);
+        assert.equal(cal.boughtIn, 200);
+        assert.equal(cal.cashPosition, 0, "level: they've bought chips and still hold them");
+    });
+
+    test("an empty chair is not dragged into the settle-up", () => {
+        const state = makeTable({ seatCount: 9, seated: [0], stack: 0 });
+        seat(state, 0, "Ann", 100, 100);
+        const rows = HoldemState.sessionStandings(state);
+        assert.equal(rows.length, 1);
+    });
+
+    test("somebody who has cashed out completely still shows what they took", () => {
+        const state = makeTable({ seatCount: 4, seated: [0, 1], stack: 0 });
+        seat(state, 0, "Ann", 100, 0);   // handed every chip back
+        seat(state, 1, "Ben", 100, 200);
+        const ann = HoldemState.sessionStandings(state).find(r => r.name === "Ann");
+        assert.equal(ann.cashPosition, -100, "down the whole buy-in");
+    });
+});
+
+describe("does the cash box cover the chips on the table", () => {
+    test("a straight game balances", () => {
+        const state = makeTable({ seatCount: 4, seated: [0, 1, 2], stack: 0 });
+        seat(state, 0, "Ann", 100, 60);
+        seat(state, 1, "Ben", 100, 140);
+        seat(state, 2, "Cal", 100, 100);
+
+        const bank = HoldemState.bankReconciliation(state);
+        assert.equal(bank.cashIn, 300);
+        assert.equal(bank.chipsInPlay, 300);
+        assert.equal(bank.difference, 0);
+        assert.equal(bank.balanced, true);
+    });
+
+    test("chips outrunning the cash box is caught before cash-out", () => {
+        // The 2am failure: the last players out can't be paid.
+        const state = makeTable({ seatCount: 4, seated: [0, 1, 2], stack: 0 });
+        seat(state, 0, "Ann", 100, 100);
+        seat(state, 1, "Ben", 100, 100);
+        seat(state, 2, "Cal", 100, 260); // took chips for a rebuy nobody wrote down
+
+        const bank = HoldemState.bankReconciliation(state);
+        assert.equal(bank.cashIn, 300);
+        assert.equal(bank.chipsInPlay, 460);
+        assert.equal(bank.difference, 160);
+        assert.equal(bank.balanced, false);
+    });
+
+    test("cash taken for chips never handed over is caught too", () => {
+        const state = makeTable({ seatCount: 4, seated: [0, 1], stack: 0 });
+        seat(state, 0, "Ann", 200, 100); // paid 200, only got 100 in chips
+        seat(state, 1, "Ben", 100, 100);
+
+        const bank = HoldemState.bankReconciliation(state);
+        assert.equal(bank.difference, -100);
+        assert.equal(bank.balanced, false);
+    });
+
+    test("chips in the middle still count as chips in play", () => {
+        // Money in the pot is somebody's; it just hasn't been won yet. Leaving it out
+        // would report a shortfall every time a hand was open — which is nearly always.
+        const state = makeTable({ seatCount: 4, seated: [0, 1, 2], dealerSeatIndex: 0 });
+        state.seats.forEach(p => { if (p.inHand) p.buyIns = 100; });
+
+        const before = HoldemState.bankReconciliation(state);
+        assert.equal(before.balanced, true);
+
+        Betting.beginHand(state);              // blinds go in
+        Betting.raiseTo(state, 0, 25);         // and a raise
+        Betting.sweepToHandTotals(state);      // banked into the pot
+
+        const during = HoldemState.bankReconciliation(state);
+        assert.equal(during.balanced, true, "an open pot is not a discrepancy");
+        assert.equal(during.chipsInPlay, before.chipsInPlay);
+    });
+
+    test("a whole session of play never knocks the books out", () => {
+        const state = makeTable({ seatCount: 6, seated: [0, 1, 2, 3], dealerSeatIndex: 0 });
+        state.seats.forEach(p => { if (p.inHand) p.buyIns = 100; });
+
+        for (let hand = 0; hand < 6; hand++) {
+            Betting.beginHand(state);
+            Betting.liveSeats(state).forEach(s => {
+                if (Betting.toCall(state, s.player) > 0) Betting.call(state, s.index);
+            });
+            Betting.sweepToHandTotals(state);
+
+            const pot = HoldemState.totalPot(state);
+            const winner = Betting.liveSeats(state)[0];
+            const payouts = [{ id: winner.player.id, label: "w", amount: pot }];
+            HoldemState.recordHand(state, payouts);
+            Betting.creditWinnings(state, payouts);
+            HoldemState.startNextHand(state);
+
+            assert.equal(HoldemState.bankReconciliation(state).balanced, true, `books off after hand ${hand + 1}`);
+        }
+    });
+
+    test("a rebuy keeps the books straight, a chip grab doesn't", () => {
+        const state = makeTable({ seatCount: 4, seated: [0, 1], stack: 0 });
+        seat(state, 0, "Ann", 100, 100);
+        seat(state, 1, "Ben", 100, 100);
+
+        // A proper rebuy: cash to the banker, chips to the player.
+        state.seats[0].buyIns += 100;
+        state.seats[0].stack += 100;
+        assert.equal(HoldemState.bankReconciliation(state).balanced, true);
+
+        // Chips taken without paying.
+        state.seats[1].stack += 50;
+        const bank = HoldemState.bankReconciliation(state);
+        assert.equal(bank.balanced, false);
+        assert.equal(bank.difference, 50);
+    });
+
+    test("nothing to reconcile before anybody has bought in", () => {
+        const state = makeTable({ seatCount: 6, seated: [], stack: 0 });
+        const bank = HoldemState.bankReconciliation(state);
+        assert.equal(bank.cashIn, 0);
+        assert.equal(bank.chipsInPlay, 0);
+        assert.equal(bank.balanced, true);
+    });
+
+    test("float dust is not a discrepancy", () => {
+        const state = makeTable({ seatCount: 4, seated: [0, 1], stack: 0 });
+        seat(state, 0, "Ann", 0.1 + 0.2, 0.3);
+        seat(state, 1, "Ben", 10, 10);
+        assert.equal(HoldemState.bankReconciliation(state).balanced, true);
+    });
+});

tests/holdem/potSafety.test.js

@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+// Chips only ever leave this tool because a dealer meant them to. Starting the next
+// hand clears every seat's contribution, so an unresolved pot is simply destroyed —
+// the UI now asks first, and the number it quotes has to be exactly what goes.
+const { test, describe } = require("node:test");
+const assert = require("node:assert/strict");
+const { Betting, HoldemState, Money, makeTable, chipsOnTable } = require("./load");
+
+// The same measure the confirmation uses.
+const unresolvedPot = state => HoldemState.unresolvedContributions(state);
+
+describe("what starting the next hand destroys", () => {
+    test("the quoted amount is exactly what leaves the table", () => {
+        const state = makeTable({ seatCount: 6, seated: [0, 1, 2, 3], dealerSeatIndex: 0 });
+        Betting.beginHand(state);
+        Betting.call(state, 3); Betting.call(state, 0); Betting.call(state, 1); Betting.check(state, 2);
+        Betting.sweepToHandTotals(state);
+
+        const before = chipsOnTable(state);
+        const quoted = unresolvedPot(state);
+        assert.ok(quoted > 0, "there is a pot to warn about");
+
+        HoldemState.startNextHand(state);
+
+        assert.equal(
+            Money.toCents(chipsOnTable(state)),
+            Money.toCents(before - quoted),
+            "the dealer must be told the real number, not an approximation"
+        );
+    });
+
+    test("chips still in front of players on the current street are counted too", () => {
+        const state = makeTable({ seatCount: 4, seated: [0, 1, 2], dealerSeatIndex: 0 });
+        Betting.beginHand(state);          // blinds are `committed`, not yet banked
+        Betting.raiseTo(state, 0, 25);     // and so is a raise mid-street
+
+        const before = chipsOnTable(state);
+        const quoted = unresolvedPot(state);
+        HoldemState.startNextHand(state);
+
+        assert.equal(Money.toCents(chipsOnTable(state)), Money.toCents(before - quoted));
+        assert.ok(quoted >= 25, `a live raise has to be included; quoted ${quoted}`);
+    });
+
+    test("a hand that was paid out properly leaves nothing to warn about", () => {
+        const state = makeTable({ seatCount: 4, seated: [0, 1, 2], dealerSeatIndex: 0 });
+        Betting.beginHand(state);
+        Betting.call(state, 0); Betting.call(state, 1); Betting.check(state, 2);
+        Betting.sweepToHandTotals(state);
+
+        const pot = HoldemState.totalPot(state);
+        const payouts = [{ id: state.seats[0].id, label: "Ann", amount: pot }];
+        HoldemState.recordHand(state, payouts);
+        Betting.creditWinnings(state, payouts);
+        HoldemState.startNextHand(state);
+
+        assert.equal(unresolvedPot(state), 0, "nothing left over after a settled hand");
+    });
+
+    test("settling then dealing on conserves every chip", () => {
+        const state = makeTable({ seatCount: 6, seated: [0, 1, 2, 3], dealerSeatIndex: 0 });
+        const start = chipsOnTable(state);
+
+        for (let hand = 0; hand < 5; hand++) {
+            Betting.beginHand(state);
+            const live = Betting.liveSeats(state);
+            live.forEach(s => { if (Betting.toCall(state, s.player) > 0) Betting.call(state, s.index); });
+            Betting.sweepToHandTotals(state);
+
+            const pot = HoldemState.totalPot(state);
+            const winner = Betting.liveSeats(state)[0];
+            const payouts = [{ id: winner.player.id, label: "w", amount: pot }];
+            HoldemState.recordHand(state, payouts);
+            Betting.creditWinnings(state, payouts);
+            HoldemState.startNextHand(state);
+
+            assert.equal(chipsOnTable(state), start, `chips drifted on hand ${hand + 1}`);
+        }
+    });
+
+    test("an empty table has no phantom pot to warn about", () => {
+        const state = makeTable({ seatCount: 6, seated: [] });
+        assert.equal(unresolvedPot(state), 0);
+    });
+
+    test("a standing ante is never warned about, because it isn't lost", () => {
+        // The table default is a stand-in for "everyone puts the same in every hand",
+        // used by a dealer not tracking stacks at all. It re-applies to the next hand
+        // rather than going anywhere, so counting it would nag this dealer before
+        // every single hand — which is why the warning measures the fields
+        // startNextHand actually clears rather than the pot badge.
+        const state = makeTable({ seatCount: 9, seated: [0, 1] });
+        state.basePotAmount = 25;
+        state.seats.forEach(p => { p.amountOverride = null; });
+
+        // The base pot carries into the next hand, so nothing is being thrown away
+        // and the dealer must not be asked to confirm anything.
+        assert.equal(HoldemState.totalPot(state), 50, "the badge still shows a pot");
+        assert.equal(unresolvedPot(state), 0, "but none of it is at risk, so no warning");
+
+        HoldemState.startNextHand(state);
+        assert.equal(HoldemState.totalPot(state), 50, "the standing ante applies to the new hand too");
+    });
+});