Question of the Day - 06 September 2012

Kill Phil author Blair Rodman responds:

It's very common in bigger buy-in poker tournaments that a particular player has less than 100% of his individual action. Deals can be structured in various ways. Let's break it down:

• Trading Pieces: It's very common among professionals to "trade a piece," say 5% or 10%, with another player. This can be done before the event starts, or at any point during play. Personally, I like doing this because it reduces variance and gives me someone to root for other than myself. I've done it before events, deep in the money, and, one of my favorites, when extremely short-stacked and saving with someone in a similar position in case one of us gets really lucky. There's no ethical issue with saving as long as it doesn't affect the way hands are played.

• Selling Shares: Players may sell a share or shares of themselves in an event or series of events, like the WSOP. Some sell straight up, like 5% of the action for 5% of any profits. Others ask for a mark up, say 5% of the action for 6% of the buy-in.

• Taking Backers: If a player is backed, or staked, in a tournament, it means that he has no personal financial risk. His backer, or backers, assume the risk in exchange for a share of any winnings. There are many different ways backing arrangements can be structured, but the two main things that need to be decided are the split and whether there will be a make up. "Make up" means that the player must cover any previous losses before any winnings are realized and split. Some examples:
  • A player is backed in a single event with no make up. The deal is 25% of any profit to the player, 75% to the backer, which is reasonable.

  • A player is backed in a series of events, like the WSOP. After the last event is over, profits are split 30/70. There is no make up, meaning if the parties choose to do it again for another tournament, they start from scratch.

  • A player is backed on a 45/55 split with a make up. Profits are split at a pre-determined point. It could be whenever the player is in the black, or at the end of a long tournament series such as the WSOP, or whatever else the parties involved negotiate. Let's say the player nets $50,000 at the WSOP. After the final event, the profit is split $22,500 to the player and $27,500 to the backer. Should they do business again in the future, they start from scratch. If the player loses $50,000, the player owes no actual money to the backer, but if he continues to play for that backer, the first $50,000 of profit goes to the backer before anything is split.

  • Backing is a tricky proposition for the backer. Ethically-challenged backed players have been known to do things like dump chips to a confederate, sell 100% of themselves to more than one backer (they need to make sure they don't win!), or simply steal the money. Players "in make up" have walked away from a backer and sought another, even though there was an agreement to prevent this from happening. The bottom line in backing is, only do it with players you know -- and trust.

  Back to Antonio and the Big One for One Drop. The list of amateurs registered for the unprecedented, million-dollar buy-in event had pros salivating for a shot at a bunch of easy money, not to mention the prestige of participating in the event, but few could afford the buy-in on their own. So, the best players offered shares, and there were lots of takers. I would guess that most of the pros had less than 50% of themselves, as well as trading pieces with other players.