How the payouts are worked out
For one to three paid places the calculator uses the splits most tournament payout guides agree on: winner-takes-all, 65/35 for two places and 50/30/20 for three. Beyond that each place gets a steadily smaller share, with first place always getting the most and no place paying more than the one above it.
Nobody wants to hand out $43.17, so every place from second down is rounded to a clean step - $50 on a big pool, down to $10, $5 or $1 on a small one - and first place takes whatever is left. The payouts always add up to exactly the prize pool.
How many places should you pay?
With "Suggest for me" on, a game of up to four players is winner-takes-all, five to seven pay two, and a full table of eight to twelve pays three. Bigger fields pay roughly the top 15%, which is where most home games and small tournaments land. Paying more places keeps more people interested to the end; paying fewer makes the top prizes bigger.
Planning the rest of the night? The blind structure generator builds a schedule and tells you how long it will take, and the home tournament guide walks through the whole evening.