Quote Originally Posted by jayjohn24
Is it normal to lower the bet so someone can stay in the game with less than the minimum bet?
You do not lower the bet. It just makes a side pot.

Assume the blinds are 50/100 and he is in the BB with only 75 chips.

UTG limps in, betting 100 chips.
Someone in MP calls for 100 chips.
The SB completes bringing his contribution up to 100 chips.

The BB only has 75. So the main pot becomes 75 from the BB + 75 from UTG + 75 from MP + 75 from SB for 300 chips. Whoever wins the hand, wins this pot.

A side pot is created containing 25 from UTG + 25 from MP + 25 from the SB for 75 chips. Whoever wins the hand between the UTG, MP and SB wins this pot. The short stacked BB cannot win this money.

The important point to note is that, though the BB has only contributed 75 chips, the minimum bet is still 100 chips. In the above example, the UTG could not toss in 75 chips to match the BB's bet (unless UTG also did not have 100 chips). It's still 100 chips to call.