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Dealmaking in tournament poker

Dealmaking in tournament poker

Let’s make a deal

By Johnny Kampis

A little known fact among people who don’t follow poker zealously is that dealmaking is very common in tournaments.

Considering how high the blinds and bets are at the end of tournaments relative to the size of each player’s chip stack, variance is very high. A player often is just as likely to finish eighth as he is to finish first in many situations. Therefore, it makes sense for players to agree to split up the prize pool to lock in a higher amount of money for themselves.

Here’s an example. Let’s say that there’s still $ 20,000 left in the prize pool -- $ 10,000 for first, $ 5,000 for second, $ 3,000 for third and $ 2,000 for fourth – with four players remaining. If the chip stacks are relatively equal for each player, a deal is likely in this spot. Each player would take $ 5,000 – locking in second place money – and the tournament would end unless there was an additional prize involved, such as a trophy or seat into another event, in which case they would still play for the prize.

In bigger tournaments, deals like this often take place, but the tournaments are played out for the television cameras and the gold bracelets.  Players who are reported to have won $ 1 million may have won significantly less if a deal took place.

If you are playing at the final table of a local poker tournament at a casino, you will often be forced to consider the possibility of a deal because at least one player usually brings up the idea. Here are some points to consider before agreeing to such an arrangement:

No place is guaranteed. In other words, never give the biggest stack first place money or the lowest stack the smallest prize. Recently, I knocked out a player in fourth place at a daily tournament at the Horseshoe in Tunica, Miss., and had about 75 percent of the chips in play. One of the other two players suggested they split second place money and give me the first place prize of $ 4,200. The other player said yes and, of course, I quickly agreed to the deal. I was far from guaranteed of finishing first so the other two players should have asked me to give up some of the first place money, at least $ 500, and split that along with second place money. This was a very bad deal for them.

Prize distributions by chip count are good for high stacks and bad for low stacks. The relative worth of each chip at the end game of a tournament is higher as your stack shrinks. Only a few chips will keep you alive, while having a huge stack doesn’t protect you much more than having a slightly smaller stack. Therefore, it’s to your advantage to take a deal if you have lots of chips if the deal is by chip count because you are getting more value for your chips than they are truly worth. The opposite is true if you are a short stack. Don’t take the deal.

Don’t be bullied. There is often a lot of peer pressure among players to get each to agree to a deal. Don’t let them force your hand if you think the deal isn’t fair. Play it out if you don’t like the deal.

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