Recommendation for those who know little about side pot

Scenario:

Player 1 goes all in $50
Player 2 calls with $50
Payer 3 sees the $50 and raises player 2 $50
Player 2 calls the raise and this money is put into the side pot
Player 1 has the best hand and wins the pot

Question:

Do player 2 and 3 still compete for the side pot with their hands or since player 1 had the best poker hand does the side pot money just go back to player 2 and 3 evenly.

Answer:

It is a very interesting part of poker rules. The purpose of the side pot is to allow the remaining players in the hand who have money to wager it. This wagering is considered outside of the all-in person's hand. What happens when there is a side pot is that whoever has money invest in that particular pot has a right to win it if their hand is the best. So let's go over some options with the example you gave above.
Player 1 has the best hand - he only gets the main pot since he doesn't have any money in the side pot. Who wins the side pot depends on Player 2 and Player 3 (since it's their money).
Player 2 has the bet hand - he takes everything. Notice he had money in both pots so he was competing in both.
Player 3 has the best hand - same as above, he takes everything.

So the bottom line is that if you have money in a pot you have a chance to win it. If you have three side pots, you could have three different winners. There has to be a winner for each pot, no one gets their money back unless they have the same hand.