Chopping !!

Deal making is an important skill in poker tournaments. The reason for this is the prize structure of modern day tournaments. The prize pool ends up being extremely favorable to the winner, as well as the top three players in the tournament. The winner and second place often get up to sixty percent of the entire prize pool. First gets double second place, and often 4 times what the third place finisher receives. Because of this, at the late stages of a tournament deal making is be a very important skill.Many players don’t see the advantage to deal making. They figure, “Well, why should I give up a chance at first place money?” The reason is, you play poker to win money. You must accept that you will rarely final table tournaments, and win them even less. When you get to the final table you need to maximize your profit, and deal making can do that.One factor to take into account is if there are any player points involved. For example, Poker Stars has a weekly and yearly Tournament Leader Board. Players at Poker Stars are often very interested in winning a week of the entire year. You can use this to your advantage in deal making. For example:You have a short stack, and players are trying to arrange a deal. You can barter with the player points. Explain that the top players are going to get the player points, so you want more money.Also, always try to arrange a deal right before you are in the blinds. The opposite is also true. If another player proposes a deal just before his big blind, point out that he’s about to invest a ton of chips into the pot, so he should get less money.Usually, deals are created just by divvying up the prize pool by chip percentages. If you are a large stack, you should agree to this method. If you are a short stack, you should reject it. The reason being, if you only have 10% of the chips, and your opponents have 40% and 50%, you are going to get a very small portion of the prize pool. But, in all reality, you have a much better chance of coming in second or first place then your small share of the prize pool would reflect.The best deal making strategy you can use is to “play hard to get.” When deals are being proposed, make sure that it is known that you don’t really want to make a deal. If you show that you are unsure about the deal, players will offer you more money to persuade you to accept it.Deal making is especially important in one table sit and go satellites. Many players often just play these to make the final three players then chop the pot up.Deal making is an important skill in poker, and crucial to your final table strategy. By using the tips above you’ll be able to extract more money when you make the final table, and be able to negotiate excellent deals.