Free · Payouts always sum exactly
It is late, three people are left, and everyone wants to go home. A chop splits the remaining prize money without playing it out. The calculator above does a chip chop with a save: every remaining player is guaranteed an agreed floor first, then what is left is divided in proportion to chip stacks. Payouts come out as whole numbers that always sum to exactly the pool, because a split that is a dollar short is a split somebody will argue about.
Chip-proportional split with a guaranteed floor
Whole-number payouts that sum to the pool exactly
Works for any number of remaining players
Four players remain. Each takes 80 off the top, leaving 280 to split by chips. The chip leader still earns the most, but the short stack is not paid pennies for making it this far.
Seat
1
Chips
9,000
Share of chips
51.4%
Guaranteed
80
Total payout
224
Seat
2
Chips
5,000
Share of chips
28.6%
Guaranteed
80
Total payout
160
Seat
3
Chips
2,500
Share of chips
14.3%
Guaranteed
80
Total payout
120
Seat
4
Chips
1,200
Share of chips
6.9%
Guaranteed
80
Total payout
96
Seat
Total
Chips
17,700
Share of chips
100%
Guaranteed
320
Total payout
600
ICM is more theoretically correct, because chips late in a tournament are not worth their face value in prize money. It is also harder to explain at one in the morning.
What it uses
Chip chop with a save
Chip counts and a floor
ICM
Chip counts and the payout structure
Favours
Chip chop with a save
The chip leader
ICM
The short stacks, relatively
Explainable at the table
Chip chop with a save
Yes
ICM
Rarely
Common at home games
Chip chop with a save
Very
ICM
Uncommon
Needs everyone to agree
Chip chop with a save
Yes
ICM
Yes
Reparto
Cada jugador restante cobra primero la cantidad garantizada; lo que sobra se divide en proporción a las fichas. Los pagos son números enteros y siempre suman exactamente el premio — 600. Un acuerdo necesita que todos los que quedan estén de acuerdo, así que enséñales esta tabla antes de cerrarlo.
Splitting strictly by chips treats a stack as if it were cash, and it is not. A player with one big blind left still has a real chance of laddering up, and paying them a proportional pittance ignores that. This is the argument that ends chop discussions badly, and the fix is simple: guarantee everyone a floor first.
The usual choice is the next payout down — the amount everyone is already guaranteed by making it this far. Give each remaining player that, then split the surplus by chips. It keeps the deal defensible: nobody is asked to give up money they had already locked in, and the chip leader still gets paid for being ahead.
The Independent Chip Model is the more correct answer, because it prices chips against the actual payout structure rather than at face value. It is also opaque to anyone who has not seen it before, and a deal nobody understands is a deal somebody resents afterwards. For a home game, a chip chop with a save gets close enough and everyone can follow the arithmetic.
A chop needs unanimity. One player who wants to keep playing means you keep playing, and that is their right — they may well have the best of it. Show the table the numbers before asking, not after, and make it clear that declining is a normal answer. Pressuring a short stack into a deal is how a regular game loses a regular.
Proportional splits produce fractions and real money does not. This calculator rounds to whole units and hands the remainder to the largest fractional shares, so the payouts always add up to exactly the pool. Rounding by hand tends to leave a unit floating, and that unit is always argued over for longer than it is worth.
If you have a large chip lead and the payout jump above you is significant, most deals are worse for you than playing on — you are being asked to sell an advantage you already earned. The same is true when the remaining players are clearly weaker than you. Declining is not unsporting; a chop is a negotiation, and a negotiation you take because everyone is tired is a negotiation you lose.
Groups that play regularly often chop the money but still play out the last hands for the win, the title, or whatever the standing joke is. It costs nothing, everyone gets to go home with a settled result, and the season leaderboard still has a name on it.
Whatever you agree, write it down before people leave. PokerChip.live records buy-ins and cash-outs as the game runs, so a chop is entered as final stacks and the settlement math still works out who pays whom — the deal becomes a recorded fact rather than four people's recollection of a late-night conversation.
The word chop is used for two unrelated situations and confusing them is expensive. Chopping a prize pool is the deal this calculator does. Chopping the blinds happens in a cash game when everybody folds around to the small and big blind: instead of playing it out heads-up, the two of them agree to take their blinds back and move on to the next hand. It costs nothing, it saves time, and it is the version most people are asking about when they search for what chopping means.
Both blinds have to want it, every time — one player saying no means you play the hand, and that is not rude. The convention is that the small blind offers and the big blind accepts or declines before either looks at their cards, because deciding after you have seen aces is angle-shooting. Cardrooms usually allow it in limit games and forbid it in no-limit; at home, pick one rule on the first night and keep it, because a table where chopping is sometimes allowed is a table with an argument in it.
A chop is neutral for the small blind and slightly bad for anyone who plays well heads-up, because it throws away the one spot at the table where you are guaranteed position, a wide range and a weak opponent. If you are the better player, playing it out is worth money. If the game is friendly and the point is to get more hands in, chopping is fine — just be honest that you are choosing speed over edge.
The Independent Chip Model converts chip stacks into a share of the prize pool by working out how often each player finishes in each paid position. It is more correct than a chip chop because it accounts for the fact that doubling your stack does not double your equity when the payouts are flat at the top. It is also opaque: nobody at a kitchen table can check it, and a deal nobody can check is a deal somebody resents. Use it if your group already knows what it is; otherwise the chip chop with a save above gets close and everyone can follow the arithmetic.
FAQ
01
Agree a guaranteed amount for each remaining player, subtract that from the prize pool, and split what is left in proportion to chip stacks. Every remaining player has to agree before any of it counts.
02
A deal that divides the remaining prize money according to how many chips each player has. On its own it underpays short stacks, which is why most deals add a guaranteed floor first.
03
An amount guaranteed to every remaining player before the rest is split by chips. It is usually set to the next payout down, so nobody gives up money they had already locked in.
04
It is more theoretically correct, since it prices chips against the payout structure rather than at face value. It is also much harder to explain, which is why home games rarely use it.
05
Yes. One player declining ends it and the tournament continues. That is a legitimate choice, especially for a chip leader who is getting the worst of most deals.
06
Yes, and many regular groups do. The money is settled by the deal and the remaining hands decide the title, the trophy, or the leaderboard entry.
07
Round to whole units and give the remainder to the largest fractional shares, so the payouts sum to exactly the pool. This calculator does that automatically rather than leaving a stray unit for the table to argue over.
08
In a cash game, when everyone folds to the blinds, the small and big blind can agree to take their blinds back instead of playing the hand heads-up. It is not the same as chopping a prize pool.
09
Most cardrooms allow it in limit games and forbid it in no-limit. At a home game, decide on the first night and keep the rule the same all season.
010
Three things: splitting a prize pool by agreement, chopping the blinds when everyone folds to them, and a split pot where two players make the same hand and share it. Context tells you which.
011
A deal that divides the prize pool by each player's tournament equity rather than by chip count. It is more accurate than a chip chop and much harder to explain at one in the morning.
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