Tournament Prize Pools
Yes tournament poker is a lot of fun but there is also the matter of actually winning some cash. The question is: How is the prize pool divided among the top finishers and how do the casinos determine how many places to pay?
The first thing you need to keep in mind when considering payouts for poker tournaments is that the payout structure is heavily top-end weighted. Most of the prize pool will be paid to the first two or three places in most events. Obviously there is some consideration given to the number of entrants and the more players entered, the more places that get paid out.
As a very general rule of thumb most big tournaments pay one table (8, 9 or 10 places) for every 100 players entered. You will often see the structure listed:
0-99 players 9 places paid
100-199 18 places paid etc.
However, in smaller tournaments run every day or every week by the same card room, there is sometimes a more liberal payout structure. Quite obviously you need to know how many places are paying in any tournament you enter.
Here is an example of a common payout structure used in many “tournament” card rooms:
Players 2-7 8-10 11-20 21-30 31-60 61-80 81+
1st place 100% 70% 50% 40% 34% 34% 34%
2nd place 30% 30% 30% 20% 17% 20%
3rd place 20% 20% 16% 13% 12%
4th place 10% 13% 10% 9%
5th place 10% 9% 7%
6th place 7% 7% 6%
7th place 6% 5%
8th place 4% 4%
9th place 3%
-This is Beginner’s Poker Blog Post #89
