How do you calculate payouts for a poker tournament?

A payout structure is simply the list of percentages that says how the prize pool is divided. Work it out in three decisions: how big the pool is, how many places get paid, and how steeply the money is weighted toward first.

Step 1: Total the prize pool

Every dollar collected goes back out in a home game, so the pool is players × buy-in, plus every rebuy and add-on at face value.

Example: 10 players × $20, plus 4 rebuys at $20 = $280.

A host who keeps a slice is taking rake, which changes the legal character of the game in many places. Keep the pool whole and charge for the pizza separately.

Step 2: Decide how many places pay

The usual guideline is to pay roughly the top 15–20% of the field:

Paying more places than that makes every prize feel like a refund, which is the most common mistake in home tournaments. Paying fewer makes a long night feel pointless for everyone but one person.

Step 3: Pick how steep the curve is

For three paid places, the classic home-game split is 50/30/20. Casino and tour structures are usually a little more top-heavy, nearer 55/28/18 — that is the "standard" curve the free tournament payout calculator on this site produces. A flatter 48/30/22 softens the gap between first and third, which suits a regular league where the same people play every month.

On a $280 pool, 50/30/20 pays $140 / $84 / $56.

Step 4: Check the last paid place beats the buy-in

If third place wins less than they paid to enter, the structure is broken — either pay fewer places or flatten the curve. This is the single most useful sanity check, and the one hosts skip.

Step 5: Announce it before the first buy-in

Agree the structure and share it before anyone pays in. Changing the split after registration, or at the final table when the chip leader starts negotiating, is the most reliable way to end a friendship over $40.

Where PartyPot fits

The app tracks each player's total investment as buy-ins, rebuys and add-ons land, so the pool is always current and nobody has to remember who rebought. When the tournament ends, Smart Settlement turns the final positions into the fewest possible payments — a 10-player game usually collapses from dozens of possible transfers to three or four. It is a bookkeeping tool, not a gambling platform: no money is wagered or held.

Bubble protection

Some hosts refund the buy-in to the player who finishes one place outside the money. It is a kind gesture that costs the prize pool real money, so decide it up front and take it off the top before applying the percentages.