Poker Staking Calculator (2026): Markup, Makeup & EV
Selling action or backing a player? Set the markup, the split, and the makeup, then see exactly what each side makes. The variance simulator goes further and shows the full range of outcomes for a package, not just the average.
Sell a slice of your action at a premium for one event.
Selling action with markup
Total cost of entering the tournament.
Share of yourself you are selling, as a percentage.
1.0 = at cost. 1.2 = buyers pay a 20% premium.
Honest long-run ROI for this buy-in level, as a percentage.
Results
How the staking math works
Markup pricing
The cost of a slice is buy-in times the percentage sold times the markup. Fair markup equals one plus the player's ROI.
Makeup accounting
Losses pile up as makeup. A winning period repays that debt first, then splits whatever profit is left.
Monte Carlo
The simulator deals each tournament from a bounded, right-skewed model and tracks makeup on a rolling basis across the package.
How a staking deal really makes or loses money
Most staking arguments are really arguments about one number: the player's true ROI. Get that right and the rest of the deal is arithmetic. Get it wrong and someone is quietly losing money every package.
Markup is just a price for ROI
When you sell action at 1.2 markup you are charging buyers a 20% premium. That premium is fair only if your real edge is 20% ROI. The rule of thumb fair markup equals one plus your ROI is exact in expectation: at that markup the buyer's EV is zero. Anything above it is the player's profit, anything below it is the buyer's profit.
Makeup shifts variance, not expectation
Over a deal that runs until the player is out of makeup, makeup does not change the average split. What it changes is who carries the swings. The player can never go negative in cash, so the backer eats every downswing and only recovers it from later wins. That is why an unproven player with makeup is far riskier for a backer than the headline split suggests.
The backer's real enemy is a deal that ends in makeup
If a staked player quits, gets dropped, or the package simply ends while still buried in makeup, the backer never recovers those losses. The simulator's package ends in makeup number is the one backers should watch hardest, because it is the gap between the theoretical split and what actually happens.
ITM rate is a variance dial
Two players can both run a 30% ROI while having completely different deals. A steady satellite and small-field grinder cashes often, so the swings are small and makeup clears fast. A big-field MTT hunter cashes rarely but for huge multiples, so downswings are brutal and makeup can run deep for a long time. Same average, very different risk.
Be honest about ROI
Almost every losing staking deal traces back to an inflated ROI estimate. Backers should price for the player's results over a large sample, not their best month. Players should sell at a markup they can defend with a graph, not with optimism. The calculator only tells the truth if the ROI you feed it is true.
Poker staking explained: markup, makeup, and a fair deal
Staking is how most serious tournament poker gets funded, and as of 2026 the same handful of mistakes still cost players and backers money every week. This guide walks through markup, makeup, profit splits, and the variance that the headline split always hides, with the exact math the calculator above uses.
What is poker staking?
Staking is an investment in a poker player. A backer puts up the buy-ins, the player plays, and the two share the profit on agreed terms. It lets a player take shots they could not afford alone and lets a backer earn from a player's edge without playing a hand. The two everyday flavours are selling action with markup and a full backing deal with makeup.
Selling action is a one-shot deal for a single event or series: you sell, say, 20% of yourself, the buyers own 20% of whatever you cash, and that is the end of it. A backing deal is ongoing: the backer funds a package of buy-ins, losses carry forward as makeup, and the split only kicks in once the player is back above water.
The deals that go wrong are almost never the ones where the math was hard. They are the ones where the player's ROI was a guess and nobody simulated a bad run. A 30% ROI player can still spend a 100-tournament package stuck in makeup more often than either side expected.
Why the same deal looks different from each side
Player and backer are looking at two different risks. The player's downside is capped at zero, so they care about how often they clear makeup and book a profit. The backer carries all the variance, so they care about how deep the makeup can get and how often it never clears. Here is how that splits out.
Markup sets the price of the edge
For sold action, the buyer's whole return depends on whether your ROI beats the premium. At 1.2 markup the buyer needs you to run a 20% ROI just to break even. Charge more than your edge justifies and you are selling buyers a losing ticket.
Makeup protects the backer, but only if the deal continues
Makeup means a player must win back past losses before splitting again. It protects the backer's expectation, but only while the player keeps playing. End the deal in makeup and that protection evaporates.
Variance decides who is comfortable
A real edge plays out over hundreds of tournaments. Across a single package the player can book a loss-free profit while the backer is still underwater, or both can win big. The split is the long-run average, not the result of any one package.
Trust is priced into every deal
Backers offer better terms to players with a long, honest graph because the ROI input is more reliable. The single most valuable thing a staked player owns is a track record a backer can trust.
The markup math
The cost of a slice of action is simple: buy-in times the percentage sold times the markup. Selling 10% of a $1,000 buy-in at 1.2 markup costs a buyer $1,000 × 0.10 × 1.2 = $120. In return the buyer owns 10% of whatever you cash.
The buyer's expected return is buy-in times one plus your ROI times the share sold. With a 20% ROI that is $1,000 × 1.20 × 0.10 = $120, exactly the cost, so the buyer's EV is zero. That is what fair markup means: at 1 + ROI the premium and the edge cancel out.
Above fair markup, the extra is profit the player banks risk-free the moment the action is sold. Below it, the buyer is getting a positive-EV ticket. The calculator shows both the fair markup for your ROI and the ROI a buyer would need to justify whatever markup you set.
How to use the staking calculator
The tool is free, with no sign-up and no limits, just like every other calculator on toolsgambling.com. Follow these steps for whichever side of the deal you are on.
- 01
Pick the deal type
Use markup to price sold action, backing to model a profit-split deal with makeup, or the variance simulator to stress-test a package.
- 02
Enter an honest ROI
Every output hinges on the ROI. Use a number backed by a real sample, not a hot streak. If you are unsure, run the simulator with a lower ROI too.
- 03
Set the markup or split
For sold action, set the percentage and markup. For a backing deal, set the player's share and the current makeup.
- 04
Read both sides
Check the backer's cost, EV, and ROI alongside what the player banks or carries forward as makeup.
- 05
Simulate the variance
Run thousands of packages to see how often each side actually profits and how often the package ends still in makeup.
Worked examples
Three deals that show how the numbers move.
Selling 10% at 1.2 with a 20% ROI
A buyer pays $120 for 10% of a $1,000 tournament. Because the markup equals one plus the ROI, the buyer's EV is exactly zero. This is the textbook fair deal: the player raises cash and offloads variance, the buyer breaks even in expectation and is paying purely for a share of the action.
A 50/50 backing deal that hits makeup
A backer funds a 100-tournament package at $100 each. The player runs a real 30% ROI, so the expected package profit is $3,000 split $1,500 each. But enter $2,000 of starting makeup and the simulator shows how often the player never clears it inside the package, leaving the backer short of that tidy $1,500.
Same ROI, very different variance
Take two 30% ROI players, one cashing 25% of the time and one cashing 10%. Their averages match, but the low-ITM hunter spends far more packages stuck in makeup and posts a much wider profit range. Run both in the simulator to see why backers pay attention to a player's game, not just their ROI.
Common staking mistakes
These are the leaks that quietly bleed both players and backers.
Inflating ROI
The single biggest error. A markup or split priced off an optimistic ROI loses money for whoever is on the wrong side of it, every single package.
Ignoring makeup risk
Backers see a 50/50 split and assume they keep half the profit. They forget how often a package ends in makeup, which is a direct cost they never recover.
Pricing markup off one good run
A great month is not an ROI. Markup should reflect a large, honest sample, otherwise you are selling buyers a ticket your real edge cannot back up.
Forgetting the buyer's breakeven
Every markup implies an ROI the buyer needs just to break even. Sell above that without an edge to match and you will run out of buyers fast.
Treating the split as a guarantee
The split is a long-run average over hundreds of tournaments. A single package can land anywhere in a wide range, which is exactly what the simulator is for.
No written terms
Markup, split, makeup carryover, and what happens if the deal ends should all be agreed in writing before a single buy-in is funded.
Poker staking glossary
The core terms you will meet in any backing or action deal.
Staking terms
- An arrangement where a backer funds a player's buy-ins in exchange for a share of the profit.
- A premium on the price of action. 1.2 markup means buyers pay $1.20 for every $1 of buy-in they back.
- Accumulated losses a staked player must win back before profit splitting resumes. A soft debt repaid only out of winnings.
- A share of a player's results in an event. Selling action means selling a percentage of yourself.
- How net profit is divided once makeup is cleared, such as 50/50 or 70/30 in the player's favour.
- The investor who funds the buy-ins and carries the variance in exchange for a share of the profit.
- Return on investment: average profit per buy-in, as a percentage. The number every staking price depends on.
- A defined set of tournaments a staking deal covers, after which the books are settled.
Staking
Markup
Makeup
Action
Profit split
Backer
ROI
Package
Quick reminder
Every figure in a staking deal traces back to the player's true ROI. Price an honest ROI and the deal is fair to both sides.
More free poker tools on toolsgambling.com
Staking math works best next to the rest of your bankroll and tournament tools.
Play and invest responsibly
Staking spreads risk, but poker still carries variance and real money is on the line for both sides. Only stake or back with money you can afford to lose, agree terms in writing, and if the game stops being fun, take a break. For free, confidential help visit BeGambleAware.org.
Evgeniy Volkov
Fullstack developer with a background in mathematics. I build the calculators and game-style tools on ToolsGambling with Pixi.js and modern web tech, and every result uses transparent probability formulas you can verify yourself.
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