Deal (poker)
In poker, a deal represents the possibility of distributing the prize money of a poker tournament among the remaining players regardless of the later course of the game.
Starting position
The payout structure in poker tournaments is usually set up in such a way that the top places receive significantly higher payouts than the other players who were eliminated in the prize money. This often results in high jumps in prize money with few remaining players. Especially in long tournaments, the rising blinds leave the players with little room for maneuver, which means that they are increasingly dependent on good hands and their own skills are of secondary importance. In order to minimize the luck factor that this creates, most poker tournament organizers (but not those of the World Series of Poker ) allow the remaining prize money to be split up. Often a certain portion of the prize money has to be reserved for the eventual winner so that the tournament does not end immediately. The players are free to split up, but a deal is only concluded if all the remaining players have agreed to it.
Most common options
Equal chop
With equal chop , the remaining prize money is distributed evenly among the remaining players regardless of the chip stacks.
Chip chop
With chip chop , each remaining player receives the prize money that they already have for sure (i.e. the prize money they would receive if they were eliminated now). The remaining prize money is now divided proportionally based on the chip stacks of the players.
ICM chop
The ICM-Chop ( ICM short for Independent Chip Model ) is considered the fairest method. It calculates the probabilities that a given player will finish the tournament first, second, third, etc. Then these probabilities are multiplied by the respective payouts so that you get the expected payout for the player.
example
Suppose there are four players left in the tournament who want to agree on a deal. A total of 1,600 euros are still in the prize pool, which should be divided up completely.
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Equal chop
With equal chop , all players receive the same payout, i.e. 400 euros. Since player 2 is clearly ahead in chips, it would be unfavorable for him to enter into this deal.
| player | Payout (in €) |
|---|---|
| 1 | 400 |
| 2 | 400 |
| 3 | 400 |
| 4th | 400 |
Chip chop
With the chip chop , all players receive their secure payment of 200 euros. Then there is still 800 euros in the prize pool, which will now be distributed proportionally. Player 2 holds 400,000 of the 800,000 chips in the game and therefore receives 50 percent of the 800 euros, i.e. another 400 euros. The other players receive their payout according to this scheme.
| player | Payout (in €) |
|---|---|
| 1 | 350 |
| 2 | 600 |
| 3 | 250 |
| 4th | 400 |
ICM chop
The ICM-Chop is very complicated to calculate even with a small number of players, so that programs are used for the calculation. The following payouts result for the scenario described above:
| player | Payout (in €) |
|---|---|
| 1 | 377.56 |
| 2 | 536.45 |
| 3 | 264.59 |
| 4th | 421.39 |
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Deal or No Deal? Standard Deals explained , pokernews.com dated January 21, 2019, accessed October 4, 2019.
- ↑ ICM at Poker Tournaments - A Declaration for Beginners , pokerolymp.com dated February 9, 2019, accessed October 4, 2019.
- ↑ ICM calculator , pokerworld24.org, accessed on October 4, 2019.