Use this prize pool split calculator to divide money between first, second, third place and beyond. It supports home poker tournaments, fantasy leagues and other competitions, with fixed 50/30/20 and 70/30 splits, equal payouts, illustrative payout curves and custom percentages.
Already know the fund? Use the simple calculator below. For rebuys, add-ons or a guaranteed event, open the poker tournament payout calculator to build the pool and calculate paid places from a percentage of the field.
How to use the prize pool split calculator
Enter a known prize pool or use players multiplied by their prize contribution. Choose a payout model and the number of paid places, then calculate. Fixed presets set the number of places automatically. You can copy the result or download a CSV.
Split your prize pool
Enter a known pool or calculate it from entry contributions. Choose fixed percentages or a payout model.
| Place | Share | Payout |
|---|---|---|
| Total | 100.00% |
Amounts use 2 decimal places. These are configurable payout models; follow your event’s published rules.
Poker tournament payout calculator with rebuys and a guarantee
This expanded calculator includes initial entries, re-entry or rebuy purchases, add-ons and a guaranteed prize pool. It also lets you choose a fixed number of paid places or a percentage of the field.
Open the poker tournament calculator
Build a tournament payout table
Calculate player contributions, any guarantee overlay, and the number of paid places.
| Place | Share | Payout |
|---|---|---|
| Total | 100.00% |
Amounts use 2 decimal places. These are configurable payout models; follow your event’s published rules.
What went wrong?
How the Payout Structures Work
Fixed presets and curve models are different ways to distribute the same fund:
- 50 / 30 / 20: exactly those target percentages across three paid places.
- 70 / 30: a fixed two-place split.
- Balanced curve (1.4): a decreasing payout ladder; each share changes when you change the number of paid places.
- Top-heavy curve (2.2): a steeper ladder that assigns a larger proportion to higher finishers.
- Gentle curve (0.7): smaller differences between places than Balanced or Top-heavy. It is not an equal split.
- Equal split: the same target share for every paid place, with at most a one-cent difference from rounding.
- Winner takes all: one paid place receives the whole fund.
- Custom percentages: your agreed schedule, listed from first to last place.
The curves are illustrative mathematical models, not official tournament schedules. They do not enforce a minimum cash equal to the buy-in or round prizes to banknote amounts. Review the whole ladder against your event rules.
Example: Home Poker Night
Ten players each contribute $50 to a home poker tournament, creating a $500 prize pool. You decide to pay the top three. The fixed 50/30/20 preset pays $250, $150 and $100. Compare that with the curve models:
| Structure | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50 / 30 / 20 preset | $250.00 | $150.00 | $100.00 |
| Balanced curve (1.4) | $280.64 | $159.08 | $60.28 |
| Top-heavy curve (2.2) | $333.55 | $136.70 | $29.75 |
| Gentle curve (0.7) | $225.60 | $169.85 | $104.55 |
| Equal split | $166.67 | $166.67 | $166.66 |
Balanced does not mean 50/30/20. Select the named preset when those are the percentages you agreed to pay. Select a curve when you want its rank-weight model to determine the shares.
Prize money percentages for three, four or five places
Custom percentages must be positive, run from highest to lowest, and total exactly 100%. Enter one value per paid place, separated by commas. These examples all distribute a $1,000 fund:
| Paid places | Percentages | Payouts, first to last |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | 50, 30, 20 | $500 / $300 / $200 |
| 4 | 40, 30, 20, 10 | $400 / $300 / $200 / $100 |
| 5 | 35, 25, 20, 12, 8 | $350 / $250 / $200 / $120 / $80 |
These are examples, not required payout rules. Percentages may have up to two decimal places. For equal thirds, use Equal split: 33.33, 33.33, 33.33 totals only 99.99% and is rejected as a custom list.
Poker prize pools: entry contributions, rebuys, add-ons and GTD
The expanded calculator builds the pool from the money contributed to prizes:
Contributions = (unique players × initial contribution) + (extra purchases × extra contribution) + (add-on purchases × add-on contribution)
Enter each person once under Unique players. A re-entry or rebuy is an extra purchase. The tool uses one common contribution for initial entries, one for extra purchases and one for add-ons. All amounts exclude fees and rake.
A guarantee sets a floor on the final fund:
Final prize pool = max(contributions, guarantee)
Overlay = max(0, guarantee − contributions)
The guarantee is not added on top of the entries. If contributions exceed it, the final fund equals contributions and overlay is zero. This assumes the stated guarantee applies to the distributable prize fund.
Compare 10%, 15% and 20% paid fields
In percentage mode, the number of paid places is ceiling(field basis × percentage ÷ 100). For example, 15% of 101 unique players gives 16 places.
The default basis is Unique players. Select Initial entries + extra purchases only if the event’s rules count those purchases when determining paid places. Add-ons increase the money but never the paid-field count in this tool.
| Paid percentage | 100 unique players | 120 initial + extra purchases |
|---|---|---|
| 10% | 10 places | 12 places |
| 15% | 15 places | 18 places |
| 20% | 20 places | 24 places |
The calculator caps paid places at the number of unique players and explains when that cap is applied. It supports up to 1,000 paid places. The percentage is an event rule to choose or follow; there is no universal requirement to pay 10%, 15% or 20%.
Example: a $15,000 guaranteed poker tournament
Suppose 100 players contribute $100 each. Another 20 re-entry or rebuy purchases contribute $100 each, and 10 add-ons contribute $50 each. Player contributions total $10,000 + $2,000 + $500 = $12,500. With a $15,000 guarantee, the overlay is $2,500.
Choose 10% of Unique players and Balanced curve (1.4). The poker tournament payout calculator produces this illustrative ten-place ladder:
| Place | Payout |
|---|---|
| 1 | $3,207.19 |
| 2 | $2,767.35 |
| 3 | $2,346.66 |
| 4 | $1,946.54 |
| 5 | $1,568.69 |
| 6 | $1,215.30 |
| 7 | $889.22 |
| 8 | $594.42 |
| 9 | $336.95 |
| 10 | $127.68 |
| Total | $15,000.00 |
This is not a WSOP, WPT or casino payout schedule. If the event specifies a minimum cash or a fixed ladder, follow that schedule instead of assuming that a curve reproduces it.
When to Use Each Structure
Home poker games: fixed two- or three-place splits are easy to announce and check. Curves give more flexibility when paying more positions; compare both the winner’s prize and the smallest cash.
Fantasy leagues and office pools: use teams as players. For 12 teams contributing $50 each, the fund is $600. A 50/30/20 split pays $300, $180 and $120. Enter the final fund directly if contributions differ or you have added sponsorship money.
Events with rebuys or a guarantee: use the expanded poker calculator to keep contributions, overlay and paid places visible. For mixed prices or deductions that do not fit the fields, calculate the final fund separately and use the direct-fund mode.
How payout curves and cent rounding work
For fixed percentages, the unrounded prize is pool × percentage ÷ 100. For a curve with n paid places, the weight for position i is (n − i + 1)^e. Each target share is its weight divided by the sum of weights. The exponent is 1.4, 2.2 or 0.7; rank weights are stored to six decimal places.
The prize pool split calculator keeps money in whole cents. It rounds weighted payouts down, then assigns leftover cents to the largest fractional remainders. Equal remainders favour the earlier finishing position. Payouts therefore add to exactly the fund, without subtracting an arbitrary rounding correction from first place.
Displayed shares use the final cash payouts and are rounded to two decimals, so their displayed sum may differ slightly from 100%. A structure that would pay a selected place less than one cent after allocation is rejected. USD, EUR and GBP only change the currency label; no exchange conversion is performed.
Tips for Organizing Fair Payouts
- Announce the payout rules, paid-field basis and treatment of extra purchases before play.
- Include only prize money: for a $50 + $5 entry with a $5 fee, enter 50.
- Review every paid place, especially the minimum cash, before sharing the table.
- Use Copy table or Download CSV to keep the agreed schedule. Inputs and results are not automatically transferred between the two calculators.
- Check eligibility yourself in direct-fund mode: that mode has no participant count against which to check paid places.
For a separate estimate of a player’s tournament bankroll, see the MTT bankroll calculator. For a deal based on remaining chip stacks, see the tournament deal calculator. You can also browse the poker tools and lottery and prize-pool tools.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
How do I split prize money between first, second and third place?
Choose the 50 / 30 / 20 preset for a fixed three-place split, or enter another agreed schedule under Custom percentages. A $500 pool with the 50 / 30 / 20 preset pays $250, $150 and $100. For four or five prizes, change to Custom and enter one percentage per paid place.
Can I use this as a poker tournament payout calculator?
Yes. Use the simple prize pool split calculator for a known fund or a home game with equal entry contributions. Open the poker tournament calculator for re-entry or rebuy purchases, add-ons, a guarantee, and paid places based on a percentage of the field.
What percentage of players should be paid in a tournament?
Use the percentage stated in your event rules. The poker calculator lets you compare 10%, 15%, 20% or another value and rounds the result up to a whole place. There is no universal percentage that these illustrative models impose on every event.
Do re-entries, rebuys and add-ons increase the paid field?
Extra purchases add money when their prize contribution is greater than zero. They affect the number of paid places only when Initial entries + extra purchases is selected as the field basis. Unique players is the default. Add-ons never increase the paid-field count in this tool.
How does the guaranteed prize pool affect payouts?
The final pool is the greater of player contributions and the guaranteed prize amount. If contributions are $12,500 and the guarantee is $15,000, payouts are based on $15,000 and the overlay is $2,500. The guarantee is not added on top of contributions.
How does rounding work?
Each weighted payout is rounded down to cents. Leftover cents go to the largest fractional remainders; equal remainders favour the earlier finishing position. The cash payouts total exactly the prize pool. Displayed percentage shares are rounded separately and may not sum to exactly 100%.
Can I use this for fantasy sports leagues?
Yes. Treat teams as players and enter the amount from each entry that goes to prizes. For example, 12 teams contributing $50 create a $600 fund; a 50 / 30 / 20 split pays $300, $180 and $120. Enter the final fund directly if contributions differ.
Should I include the house rake in the prize pool?
Enter only the money available for prizes. For an entry of $50 + $5 where $5 is a fee, enter a prize contribution of $50. Exclude fees from rebuys and add-ons too. If deductions or purchase prices do not fit the available fields, enter the final fund directly.
Is the balanced payout curve the same as 50 / 30 / 20?
No. Balanced uses rank weights raised to the power 1.4; its shares change with the number of paid places. With three paid places and a $500 fund it pays $280.64, $159.08 and $60.28. The named 50 / 30 / 20 preset uses fixed percentages instead.
Is this a split-pot or ICM deal calculator?
No. It distributes tournament or competition prizes by finishing position. It does not split a single poker hand’s main and side pots, calculate an ICM deal from chip stacks, or allocate individual bounty prizes. Use a tool designed for those separate tasks.
Are these official WSOP or WPT payout structures?
No. The curves and presets are configurable examples. Follow the published payout schedule for a named event. Custom percentages can represent a schedule when all values are positive, have at most two decimal places, total exactly 100%, and do not increase toward lower finishing positions.