goes in a pot, Gimme the bottom line

[kjc0123]

What is the meaning of "goes in a pot", "Gimme the bottom line" in the following sentences?

 

"He left us the house," Ray said.

 
"What happens to it?" 

"We'll sell it if you want. The money goes in a pot with everything else. Fifty percent will go for estate taxes. Probate will take a year." 

"Gimme the bottom line." 

"We'll be lucky to split fifty thousand a year from now." 

[Quizmonster]

A 'pot' in this sense is especially associated with playing card-games for money. Each player puts a certain amount into the middle of the table - perhaps it was an actual pot in the old days - and that money is called the 'pot'. As the game goes on, extra money is added until the game ends and one player takes all the money in the 'pot'. The word is used in other situations, too, such as when a group of friends go out for an evening's drinking. They all hand a given amount to one of the group and he is then responsible for spending the 'pot' as the evening goes on. Thus, no-one else has to worry about paying.

'The bottom line' originally referred to pay-slips...ie the note you get with your pay at the end of the week or whatever. This slip shows how much has been earned, how much was removed for tax, how much was removed for insurance and so on. Right at the end...the bottom line...is the amount of money you will actually receive. We now use it in other situations to mean whatever is the final point.

[Clanad]

While Quizmonter's card game reference is certainly valid. I would also offer that a guest arriving at a friends house in at least, Colonial America, would find a large iron pot on the fire.  It remained there almost constantly with fresh ingredients added from time to time.  Sometimes, the home owner, to demonstrate his "wealth" would add a piece of meat, often fat bacon, to the pot.  On occasion the guest would even bring something to put "in the pot".  Perhaps two other phrases in use today derive from this genisis.. Chewing the fat, to denote the bacon morsel and conversation at that dinner, and pot luck... a phrase describing a meal provided by several donations, usually "carried in" to a friends house.  Just food for thought (sorry)...