split the pot

Verb. To divide something among two or more people, usually money, prizes, or goods. It's assumed each person will get an equal cut (50/50). In a lottery, for example, the winnings would have to be divided equally according to the number of winning tickets. But in other scenarios, people might agree to 60/40, 70/30, 80/20, etc. When two or more people are working together - such as in a band (legit), for personal fundraising (legit), on a confidence scam (not legit), robbing a bank (not legit) or other criminal activity (anything not legit) - each person involved expects to get an equal cut of the take (money, profits, drugs, winnings, stolen merchandise, etc). But there's always a chance someone will get greedy and try to take more than his or her fair share or re-negotiate the split once the goods are in his or her hands. So agreeing to "split the pot" can be risky business.