What Is Staking in Poker? Backers, Stakes and How Backing Works

Staking in poker, also called backing, is when one person or company pays for a player’s games in exchange for a share of the profits. The person putting up the money is the backer (or staker). The player is the backee, often called a “horse”. If the player wins, the profit is split. If the player loses, the backer usually takes the loss, or it carries forward as makeup.

Staking is everywhere in tournament poker. Many of the players you see at high-stakes final tables are playing with at least some of someone else’s money. This guide explains how it works, the different kinds of deals, and why both players and backers do it.

Key terms

• Stake: the money a player receives to play. If someone pays your buy-in, you have a stake.
• Backer / staker: the person or company providing the money.
• Backee / horse: the player being staked.
• Action: a share of a player’s results. “Selling 50% of my action” means selling half of any winnings.
• Makeup: losses that must be won back before profit is split. See what is makeup in poker staking?
• Markup: a premium charged when selling action in a single tournament, such as 1.2 markup.
• Stable: a backer who stakes many players at once, usually with coaching. See what is a poker stable?

The two main kinds of staking

1. Selling action (short-term, partial staking)

A player sells pieces of one tournament or a small package of tournaments. Example: Jon wants to play a $1,000 live tournament but only wants to risk $500 of his own money. He sells 50% of his action to a friend for $500. If Jon wins $10,000, his friend receives $5,000.

Short-term deals like this are usually purely financial: no coaching, no makeup, and the deal ends when the tournament or package ends. Players often sell action on forums, in Discord groups or to friends, and strong players can charge markup.

2. Long-term backing (full staking)

A backer pays 100% of a player’s buy-ins for an agreed period or number of games, often 12 months or more in tournaments. Because the backer takes all the risk, these deals almost always include makeup, and profit is split at an agreed percentage once the player is ahead.

Professional stables like Pocarr work this way, and add coaching, study tools and a manager to help the player improve and move up.

How a 50/50 + makeup deal works

The most common long-term deal in MTTs is 50/50 with makeup: the backer pays for everything, losses carry forward as makeup, and once makeup is cleared, profit is split equally.

Example: Mark is given a $3,000 bankroll to play online tournaments.

1. He loses $1,500. The backer sends a $1,500 reload to bring him back to $3,000. Makeup: $1,500.
2. He loses another $1,000. Another $1,000 reload. Makeup: $2,500.
3. He has a big win, and his balance grows to $10,000.

The split works like this:

• $10,000 − $3,000 starting bankroll − $2,500 makeup = $4,500 profit
• Mark keeps $2,250 (50%).
• The backer receives $2,250 + $2,500 makeup = $4,750.

Mark still has his $3,000 to keep playing with, and both sides are up exactly $2,250. That’s the goal of a 50/50 deal: whatever happens in between, profit ends up shared equally.

For the full detail on splits, chops, rakeback, pre-chops and buy-outs, read poker staking deals explained.

Other deal types

• No-makeup deals. The backer takes a much bigger share of profit, for example 85–90%, but losses don’t carry forward. Less common for long-term MTT staking.
• Partial long-term deals. The player covers part of their own buy-ins and takes a larger share of profit.
• Coaching for profit. A coach trains a player in exchange for a percentage of their future winnings, sometimes combined with staking.

Why players get staked

• Bankroll. Tournaments have huge swings. Staking lets you play the right games without risking your own savings.
• Moving up. A backer can fund higher stakes as you prove yourself, faster than you could build a bankroll alone.
• Coaching and community. Good stables include coaching, study tools and a team to learn with.
• Peace of mind. Your own money can stay in savings or investments while the backer takes the poker variance.

Why backers stake

A backer is investing in a player’s edge. Over a big enough sample, a winning player’s profit, shared with the backer, makes staking worthwhile. Good backers reduce their risk by choosing players carefully, staking them over large samples and helping them improve. Read more in is poker staking profitable?

Staking at Pocarr

Pocarr is an MTT stable backing 250+ players around the world. We fund your tournaments, coach you, and move you up as you improve. See how it works, learn how stables decide who to stake, or apply now.

New to the jargon? Our poker staking glossary explains makeup, pre-chops, ABI, ROI and the other terms in plain English.