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Poker Staking

Act of putting money on the table in the name of a player. By agreeing to share in the winnings (cash game or tournament prize) with the individual placing the wager. The backer is the person who contributes the money, whereas the backed poker player is known as the horse.

What Is Staking In Poker?

An individual can receive money to play games of their choosing or those recommended by the supporter, as long as they are willing to put in the effort. Putting money into a business that you feel will pay off is a lot like what angel investors do. The investment, on the other hand, is in a poker player rather than a firm.

A handshake agreement was all that was required in the early days of staking deals. In this arrangement, one person handed another X dollars in exchange for Y percent of their prize money. Professional poker players or businesspeople may have been involved in the financing of a budding star.

It's a lot more advanced now. There are still trust-based deals in the marketplace. However, online poker players will often sign contracts that lay out the terms of the deal. Staking taxes and markups are included in the scope of the study. Everything is set in stone ahead of time. This is because stakes and backers usually don’t know each other.

With specialized staking websites, anyone can provide a helping hand to anyone else in need. As a result of this, it became much easier to raise money for poker. Because of this, contracts have become commonplace. A backer's involvement with their horse's (horses = the people being staked) activity at the felt is another reason why.

Why Get Involved In Staking And Why Stake Somebody? 

Why would you want to be staked or begin staking poker players in tournaments and cash games? Because poker is such a volatile game, the answer is variance. No matter how good you are, you will occasionally go on a losing streak.

Online and live poker staking help: 

Reduce Volatility 

Even during a downturn, backers/players are still making money.

At higher levels and in larger competitions, players can take their chances.

While winning at $100 no-limit but unwilling to risk your entire poker bankroll at $200 no-limit, consider yourself a successful player at $100 NL. Players competing in $100,000 buy-in tournaments typically have financial support or have sold a portion of their action.

Backers Only Back Winners

To make money without really participating in the game, the backer's investment must be worth the risk. Finding someone to stake usually necessitates quite a bit of investigation. Including a player's stats, ROI, community views, and hand analysis. If a player wants to be staked, they must be strong in all areas. In the same way, backers need to put their money where their mouth is.

As a supporter, it's a terrific method to make money, and for players, it lowers the variance and risk. However, the two must work together.

How Does A Poker Staking Agreement Work?

What actions should you take to clinch a transaction, and how will that deal be structured?

Finding a backer/staker is the first step. This can be done on dedicated staking sites, real money poker sites such as GGPoker, forums, social media, or through friends.

Step 2: Demonstrate that you are deserving of your position. Any staking platform or individual interested in poker will want to see how skilled you are. This entails presenting your findings and potentially going through some hands with a supporter to showcase your reasoning process.

Step 3: Agree on the parameters of the transaction. Each transaction will be unique. Profits will be distributed 50/50 as a general rule. The backer, on the other hand, may view you as a greater risk and demand a larger cut of the earnings. In addition, the following terms will be included:

The staked amount.

What is the expected duration of the agreement?

What games should you play?

It's all on the line.

The weekly total of hands/games/hours.

XX hours of coaching and the sharing of hand histories are among the other criteria.

Step 4: Get your money and send it. The supporter deposits monies to the player account to play online or live games once the deal is finalized.

Playing and tracking are the fifth and final steps. Contracts can be nullified and financial fines can be incurred if you play outside of designated games. Outside of the contract, there may be opportunities to play, but this must be agreed upon with the backer. Finally, the player must keep track of his or her progress and report it to the supporter.

Poker Staking Agreement Example: 

Depending on the sort of game, the backer and horse (player) will agree on a split percentage. The backer's risk is limited if the arrangement is for low-stakes online cash games. High-roller poker tournaments, on the other hand, pose an enormous danger to the participant. As a result, the percentage of backers will rise in direct proportion to the amount of risk and uncertainty involved.

A normal online MTT with a $10 to $100 buy-in is considered a low to medium risk. The backer agrees to put up $2,000 and is content with a 50/50 split, less the initial investment of $2,000. (known as stake back.) Prize money received by either player or backer is split 50/50. The backer, on the other hand, wants their stake back because they took the risk. In some cases, the stake must be paid in advance.

Here are the different scenarios:

To pay off the debt, the $1,000 the player has won must be returned to the backer, meaning there is no profit for the backer.

They win $1,500, send the supporter $1,000 plus 50% of $500 ($1,250 total), and keep the remaining $250 for themselves as a reward.

If the player loses, they have to start over. In other words, they must first pay back the money they borrowed.

In some poker staking arrangements, the player is not required to immediately pay back the stake. The issue at hand is an unassumable floating debt. However, the player's winnings will be distributed following the conditions of the agreement. Only after the contract or within a deadline determined by the backer is the stake repaid. The backer always receives their capital back, and any profit is divided based on an agreed percentage.

What is “The Makeup”?

Poker-staking makeup is a form of debt because the player owes the backer money for losing it. The debt will vanish if you never play poker again. Alternatively, you might pay the money yourself and re-negotiate. Many musicians continue to perform to repay a financial patron.

How Makeup Works 

As an illustration, suppose a player wagers $1,000 and loses it all, resulting in $1,000 in losses. The following is one possible outcome:

You now owe a total of $2,000 to your backer.

To make up for the $500 he lost, Player X gives the supporter a check for $1,500.

Player X wins another $500 and keeps his $1,000 to play with the next day.

They've sent the $500 to the backer and are now completely bare-faced without any makeup.

They have $1,000 remaining and a fresh start.

As a player, you can begin earning money as soon as you remove your makeup. We don't recommend accepting any other offers while you're still wearing makeup because doing so is considered unprofessional and could damage your reputation.

What Is Markup In Poker Staking?

When you mark up your poker bets, you're making a profit. Suppose you're selling tickets to a $1,000 poker tournament. A 10% investment would cost $100 if sold at face value (10% of $1,000 = $100). Despite this, you are a powerful player with a positive return on investment (ROI). To put it another way: You believe that you're a better bet than the ordinary gambler.

Then you can charge a markup for it. You decide to charge a 10% markup instead of selling at face value. As a result, the cost of investing has increased from $100 to $110. When staking in poker, you can use the following formula to figure this out:

Ten percent stake multiplied by a 10% markup equals $10 extra to the cost of investing $1,000

(1,000 X 0.10 X 0.10 = 10)

Most participants base their markup on their return on investment (ROI) and expected value (EV). A player's EV is 10 percent higher than the field, for example, if they have a 10 percent ROI over 5,000 tournaments (i.e., they've made 10 percent more money than they invested). To justify a 10% markup, they are permitted to do so. Of course, not everyone will agree with you. There are a few exceptions, but this is generally how markup in poker works and what players strive for.

Extended Staking Agreements Over some time

Many cash game and MTT poker staking agreements are one-time affairs. Someone wants to participate in a specific tournament, someone else offers to fund their registration cost and it’s game on. Yet sometimes, there are long-term deals:

Package Deals

A major poker tournament like the World Series of Poker is a good time to get together with friends and family (WSOP). There will always be those that seek financial support for a specific amount of money or several events, regardless of how good their poker tournament strategy is. All of the provisions about the makeup and repayment of the share are applicable.

Monthly/Annual Deals

Backers agree to pay for XX number of games/hours/week for a specified period. Six months to a year or more is possible here.

Selling Pieces

People that don’t want to enter into formal long-term deals can still get financial help by selling pieces of their action. It is possible to sell a piece for a single event or a series of related events. For the online WSOP, you might play 20 MTTs on GGPoker.

You'll spend $3,500 on this project, and you'd like to minimize your risk exposure. To put it another way, you put in 40% of your own money ($1,400) to sell 60% of your action ($2,100 total) in 10 equal portions. It costs $210 for each individual to buy a share of you, and they'll get 10% of anything you win.


Cash Game Staking 

Yes, you're trying to raise your stakes or mitigate your risk of playing in higher-stakes games. Staking in cash games, on the other hand, rarely involves 50/50 bets.

If you've been successful at $5/$10 and wish to try your luck at $10/$20, a backer will divide the money with you 50/50. Playing for double the stakes but forfeiting half of your earnings is a bad deal. In theory, you'll only earn the same amount of money regardless of how many times you play. In addition, the games that cost $1/$2 are likely to be more difficult. As a result, taking a 50/50 bargain against superior players isn't worth it.

A 25/75 split to your advantage is better than selling percentages. So that you may decide how much risk you take and how much gain you can expect. Selling 30 percent of your activity and keeping 70 percent of the winnings is an option.

Tournament Staking

Poker tournament staking is popular because of the wide range of outcomes. Cash games have a smaller range of variance than multi-table tournaments (MTTs). It matters how many people are in the running. To beat 1,000 players is difficult, especially when the blinds keep rising and there are terrible beats. Of course, if you're willing to assume a higher degree of risk, you'll reap the benefits in the form of greater money.

Entering a $100 online event can net you a whopping $250,000 in prize money. The return on your investment is enormous. There is, however, a catch: You may need as many as 200 MTTs before you get there.

It's a risk vs. reward situation for the backer. How good and consistent is the player? Is it possible for a player to consistently win more than they lose? For a tournament player, it could take months to recoup their losses and turn a profit. Backers accept this because they believe in the long-term potential of the players they're betting on and the possibility that they, too, may hit the big time.

  • Staking Sites

  • GGPoker

  • YouStake

  • Chippewa

  • PokerStars

  • Forums & Socials

In recent years, staking poker players has become a lucrative business. A new breed of staking poker sites has sprung up as a result of investors and professional players seeing a need. Many deals are available, as well as official contracts.

Poker staking stables can be built up using these websites and apps. In numbers, this gives them more clout. Because of this, the more players they back, the better their chances of profiting. A business partnership can be a win-win situation for everyone concerned. Some of the greatest poker staking websites include:

GGPoker Has Integrated Staking

One of GGPoker's most innovative features is the ability to purchase and sell action directly from the client. It's possible to invest in players of all levels rather than only watching from the sidelines. You can also charge what you think is a fair fee for your work.

How To Stake A Player On GGPoker - Buy A Piece

Pay the entry money to participate in an event you like in the tournament lobby.

There is an option to buy and sell shares while registering on the "staking" page of the lobby.

Specifying the amount (percentage) you wish to sell as well as the price is necessary if you're selling.

Any amount of markup, or none at all, is entirely up to you.

Players that make it to Day 2 can be purchased; the price will be determined by the player's stack.

Once you've made a purchase or a sale, you've sealed the deal. Only if the player cancels or the event is canceled will a refund be issued.

FAQ: Poker Staking

1. What Is Poker Staking?

This is when someone lends money to someone else in exchange for a percentage of their profits.

2. Is Staking in Poker Legal?

Yes. Agreements between two or more willing persons are frequently backed by legally enforceable contracts.

3. What Are Poker Stables, And How Do They Work?

Stables are huge groups of backed players in poker. These players may be backed by a single individual or a group of individuals.

4. Can You Make Money As A Staking Poker Player?

Money can be made, but it is not easy. You must accept that there will be significant downturns. You must also know how to select the best players.

5. What Happens If You Get Staked In Poker?

Building a winning record and joining a staking website are the greatest ways to get backing in poker. It's also a good idea to keep your splits and markup expectations realistic.