TOP 5 Most Unusual Deals in Poker Tournaments

No two deals are the same

Poker tournaments are characterized by a high level of variance, so it should be no surprise that many MTTs, whether online or in land-based casinos, allow deals in the final stages.

A deal (or chop) is an agreement between tournament participants to divide the remaining prize pool instead of continuing to compete for it. The division is usually made based on the chip count or ICM.

However, the poker world has witnessed deals born from players' creativity.

Split into 29

Players typically make deals when the tournament reaches the final table, the prizes are highest, and the competition is most challenging.

In October 2023, the 29 players who made the money decided to split the prize pool at the Eighty Grand Invitational tournament.

This unexpected move can be explained by the specifics of this tournament. It was a freeroll for casino players who generated certain rake. In fact, the participants were playing for rakeback and decided to guarantee themselves a small but secure payout without involving poker's variance.

As a result of the deal, the two chip leaders received $3,691 each, and the remaining 27 players $2,241 each.

The largest deal in a regular buy-in tournament was between the TOP 15. There were two such instances:

1. In June 2024, at the $600 Ladies Event at the Wynn Casino in Las Vegas.
2. In March 2025, at the $300 St. Augustine Championship in Florida.

An extra $50,000 for the short stack

In the summer of 2023, four deep-stack players were at the final table of the $5,300 Seminole Hard Rock

Poker Open. The players made the following agreement:

The table shows that the chip leader negotiated $23,000 more than the ICM. However, Shannon Shorr, the table's short stack, got a larger bonus of $50,000 compared to the value of his stock.

Kitty Kuo and Omer Rothman agreed to split $71,234 in "ICM dollars" to guarantee a larger prize than the third-place finisher would have received under the original structure.

The deal was a win-win for everyone involved. The difference between fourth place and the deal was a lot of money for Rothman and Kuo, who didn't want to risk it in a complex game given Shorr's experience.

Creative Deal

One of the most interesting deals, in which players ignored previous rules, occurred in the $109 888Poker Opening Event Mystery Bounty tournament.

The heads-up players, with nearly identical stacks, decided to split the first- and second-place prizes, increasing the winner's payout from $8,766 to $10,060 and reducing the second-place payout from $6,406 to $4,566. They then decided to play the HU with the new prizes.

Although it may have seemed like a missclick, the poker room's management confirmed that both players agreed to compete for a larger prize.

Fold in 2nd Place

Sometimes, the joy of poker success can overwhelm players, who abandon logic and think only of cashing out.

An "I surrender" deal in the heads-up match of the $400 Potomac Winter Poker Open 2023 tournament is a curious example. It was described by tournament winner Jaboc Mitich:

"As soon as the third player was eliminated, my opponent looked at my chips and said, 'I'll take second.'" I asked him what was happening, and he told me I had too many chips and he didn't stand a chance."

Mitich's opponent, William Pinkerton, had a stack six times smaller, just 10BB. But if the opponents had made a real deal, Pinkerton would have received $1,245 more. The player may have opted for this outing due to the excitement of reaching a heads-up match for the first time and achieving a five-figure payout. Curiously, this player has not cashed in any tournament since.

When deals are prohibited but necessary

Deals between players are prohibited in some major series tournaments (WSOP, WPT). However, sometimes, the desire to win a tournament or guarantee a higher payout based on the ICM compels players to break the rules.

On February 12, 2016, Canadian Mike Leah won the WPT Fallsview Poker Classic Main Event in his home country. The play of Mike's heads-up opponent, Ryan Yu, raised suspicions. After an unplanned break, the American folded and was left with a microstack when the most logical thing to do was to call.

Mike Leah later confirmed on Facebook that he had reached an unofficial agreement with Ryan. Under the agreement, the two players would split the prize money based on the ICM, and Ryan would surrender the title to him.

According to Leah, the initiative came from Ryan. Interestingly, Mike earned his three best tournament payouts from second-place finishes.

The WPT Fallsview Poker Classic organizers decided not to void the tournament results or issue any warnings to players for breaking the rules.

Got a question?

Let's chat:

Got a question? Let's chat:

Anton

online

Head of Support

Live chat

emailtelegramwhatsappskype