LAS VEGAS–It all started with a joke from senior floorman Jimmy Sommerfield. But now BJ Nemeth is doing the math and realizing that indeed, a chop might be sensible. He writes on PokerNews:
With 72 Players Left, a Chop Would Be Worth 9th-Place Money
With 72 players left, there is still $37,866,039 left in the prizepool. If everyone agreed to chop the rest of the money, each player would receive $525,917.
By comparison, ninth place is worth $525,934 — just $17 more. The numbers just get more compelling.
And …
An 81-Player Chop?
When there were 81 players left, Assistant Tournament Director Jimmy Sommerfeld announced that they had reached another level in the prizepool, and everyone was guaranteed at least $106,382 — finally breaking the six-figure barrier.
When everyone finished cheering the news, Sommerfeld added, \”Unless you\’d like to chop it 81 ways.\”
Well, we\’ve run the numbers here at PokerNews, and with $38,823,477 left in the prizepool, an 81-player chop would give everyone $479,302.19. Almost half a million dollars each for 81 people.
Before you laugh off this idea, keep in mind that 72 of these players will make less than that. To earn more, they\’ll need to reach the final table.
If it were me, I\’d seriously consider it.
Click here to see the actual payouts for yourself.
I for one, am not a fan of chopping, even though sometimes it makes mathematical sense — as BJ points out that it clearly currently does. I just want to play it out authentically — and see other people do the same. What I definitely don\’t mind is redistributing the wealth. So perhaps a better alternative would be to leave $5 million for the winner, $3 million for 2nd, $2 million for 3rd, and $1 million for 4th-9th.
I\’m no BJ when it comes to math, but allow me to eyeball it. With 65 players left in the field, there will be roughly $36 million left in the prize pool. So let\’s subtract the $16 million for the final table as I have proposed above. That leaves us with $20 million … meaning 10th-65th place would each get about $365,000. Still a good deal … albeit one that continues to get better as more people go down.