Common payout structures
These are widely used home-game conventions, not official rules. Any split works if everyone agrees to it before play starts.
| Players | Places paid | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 to 4 | 1 | 100% | |||
| 5 to 7 | 2 | 65% | 35% | ||
| 8 to 10 | 3 | 50% | 30% | 20% | |
| 11 to 20 | 4 | 40% | 30% | 20% | 10% |
Worked example: 9 players, 20 each
The prize pool is 9 × 20 = 180. With a 50/30/20 split:
- 1st place: 50% of 180 = 90
- 2nd place: 30% of 180 = 54
- 3rd place: 20% of 180 = 36
Round to amounts that are easy to pay. A popular home tweak is to give the bubble (the first player out of the money) their buy-in back from first place's share.
Re-buys and add-ons
If re-buys are allowed, every re-buy goes into the prize pool, so recalculate the payouts once the re-buy period closes. Tell players when re-buys end (often at the end of the first hour or the third blind level). In EasyPoker, turn on buy-ins when you create the table and the host can see every buy-in in the table's history.
Chopping at the final table
When a few players are left, they may agree to stop and split the remaining money (a "chop"). Three common ways:
- Even chop: split what is left equally. Fair only when stacks are close.
- Chip chop: every remaining player is guaranteed the last unpaid prize, and the rest of the money is split in proportion to chip stacks.
- ICM chop: the Independent Chip Model estimates each stack's chance of finishing in each place. It is the fairest for uneven stacks but needs a calculator.
Chip chop example: three players remain and 180 is left to pay, with prizes of 90, 54 and 36. Everyone is guaranteed 36 (third place), which uses 108. The other 72 is split by chips: stacks of 5,000, 3,000 and 1,000 (9,000 total) get 72 × 5/9 = 40, 72 × 3/9 = 24 and 72 × 1/9 = 8. Final: 76, 60 and 44.
Keep it friendly
- Write the payout split in the invite or the group chat.
- Collect buy-ins before the first hand.
- Record final positions as players bust out.
EasyPoker only tracks chips and never handles money; settle real stakes between yourselves, as allowed where you live.