tools
Deal calculator.
Somebody has just said the word chop, the clock is running and everyone is doing sums in their head. Put in the remaining prizes and the stacks and this page shows you what the three usual methods pay each player, and exactly who gains from which one.
the calculator
common spots
stacks, in chips
prizes still to be won
Only the money that is still in play. Prizes already paid out to players who have busted do not belong here. Nothing is converted: use whatever currency the tournament pays in.
| Player | Chips | ICM | Chip chop | Save the min | ICM against chip chop |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
who is arguing for what
Three players and a pool of 1,000 are already in the fields. Press the button and the gap between the columns tells you, before anyone has said a number out loud, which method each player at that table is about to propose.
the three methods
A deal is a negotiation, not a sum.
This page gives you three reference points and no verdict. What you actually agree to may sit outside all three, and that is fine as long as everyone signs. What is not fine is agreeing to a number nobody has checked, which is how a short stack ends up handing over a buy in without noticing.
ICM is the usual reference. It values each stack by working out how often it finishes in each paid place and multiplying by the prize for that place. If you want the reasoning in full, along with what one chip is actually worth, the ICM calculator sets out the model step by step. It assumes everyone plays equally well and ignores position and the blind level, so a short stack about to be eaten by the antes prices the same as a comfortable one.
A chip chop divides the money strictly by chips. It is simple enough to do at the table and it favours the leader, because a big stack does not convert every chip into prize money. In the example below that difference is 129.98 on a pool of 1,000.00, taken from the two shorter stacks.
Save the min hands everybody the smallest prize still on the table first and divides only what is left by chips. Because less money passes through the chip split, the answer usually lands between the other two, which is why it is the compromise tables reach for. If the number of paid places is smaller than the number of players still in, there is nothing to guarantee and this column is simply the chip chop.
Two things live outside the arithmetic. Skill is one: if you are clearly the best player left, every method underpays you, and no model can price that. Structure is the other. A deal made at 12 big blinds each is a very different thing from a deal made at 40, because at 12 the tournament is nearly a lottery. That is worth checking against how much room the shortest stack actually has left before anyone signs, and against where the blinds go next.
The reason people sign at all is rarely that they think they are getting the better of it. It is that a final table is the highest variance half hour in the game, and a deal converts most of that into a known number. That is a legitimate thing to want. Just be clear that it is what you are buying, and that the price of it is the difference between the column you signed and the ICM column next to it.
three players left, 1,000.00 on the table
| Stack | Chip share | ICM | Chip chop | Save the min |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5,200 | 52.0% | 390.02 | 520.00 | 408.00 |
| 3,100 | 31.0% | 332.93 | 310.00 | 324.00 |
| 1,700 | 17.0% | 277.05 | 170.00 | 268.00 |
Every column adds up to 1,000.00, so nothing appears and nothing goes missing; the only question is where the money sits. The leader wants the chip chop column, the short stack wants the ICM column, and save the min is the one that gets agreed to. Look at what happens to the two shorter stacks. A chip chop separates them by 140.00 on a difference of 1,400 chips. ICM separates them by only 55.88, because both are already in the money and both still have to get past the leader.
next
The number only makes sense if you trust the model behind it.
Two of these three columns are a single division. The ICM column is not, and it is the one the table will argue about. Fifteen minutes with the model, and you will be able to say why the leader is worth less than his chips rather than just pointing at a screen.
deal questions
How do you split a poker tournament fairly?
There is no single fair answer, which is why this page gives you three. ICM values each stack by the chance it has of reaching each paid place, a chip chop divides the money in proportion to chips, and save the min guarantees everyone the lowest remaining prize before dividing the rest by chips. All three add up to the same total. Which one you argue for usually depends on the size of your stack.
What is an ICM deal?
A split where each player takes the prize money their stack is worth under the Independent Chip Model. It is the most common reference point in tournament poker because it accounts for the fact that first prize is a ceiling: chips above what the leader needs to win are worth less than the chips a short stack holds. It is the fairest of the three in a mathematical sense, and short stacks like it for exactly that reason.
What is a chip chop?
The prize money divided strictly in proportion to chips. It is easy to work out at the table and it favours the big stack, because in reality that stack does not convert every chip into money. In the example on this page the leader is worth 129.98 more under a chip chop than under ICM, and that difference comes out of the two shorter stacks.
What does save the min mean?
Everyone first takes the smallest prize still on the table, so nobody walks away with less than they had already locked up. The money left after that is divided by chips. Because less money goes through the chip split, the result usually lands between a chip chop and ICM, which makes it the compromise a table often settles on.
Should the chip leader accept an ICM deal?
Often not, on the numbers alone. ICM prices the leader below his chip share, so a leader who is confident and playing well is giving up value by signing. What the model cannot price is skill, the blind level, or how much you would rather have money now than a variance-heavy hour. Those belong in the negotiation, not in the arithmetic.
Do the numbers on this page count as an agreement?
No. This is a calculator, not a contract. A deal only exists when everyone at the table agrees to it, and in a live cardroom the floor usually has to approve it and often holds back a sum for the eventual winner. Take the numbers as the starting point of the conversation.
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