♠ Poker staking guide
What is markup in poker?
Markup is the premium a poker player charges on a piece of their own action. If a player sells 10% of a $1,000 tournament at 1.1x markup, that 10% costs you $110 instead of $100. The extra $10 is the markup. You still own 10% of whatever the player wins.
The short version
Markup is a price, not a promise. It buys you a share of the result, and nothing else. It is not a fee to a platform, it is not a measure of how good the player is, and it gives you no claim on their flights, hotel or any other expense. A player who is genuinely a favourite in a field can defend a markup. A player who is not is simply selling you the same lottery ticket for more than it costs.
How to read the number
1.00x
No markup
You pay your share of the buy-in and nothing more. Common between friends, and on staking sites where the player just wants to lower their own variance.
1.20x
Twenty percent on top
The most common range in tournament staking. A $1,000 buy-in is sold as if it were $1,200.
1.40x+
A strong claim
The player is asking you to accept that they are far above the field. Worth asking what backs that up.
What the markup costs the backer
There is one piece of arithmetic worth doing before you buy any share. You pay buy-in x markup x your percentage. You get back cashout x your percentage. Set those equal and the percentage cancels out: the event has to return the buy-in multiplied by the markup before you are even.
| Markup | A $1,000 event must return | Return on buy-in needed |
|---|---|---|
| 1.00x | $1,000 | 0% |
| 1.10x | $1,100 | +10% |
| 1.20x | $1,200 | +20% |
| 1.30x | $1,300 | +30% |
| 1.40x | $1,400 | +40% |
| 1.50x | $1,500 | +50% |
Read that last column as a long-run average across many events, never as a target for one tournament. Most tournaments return nothing at all, to the player and to everyone backing them. The table says what the markup costs you, not what any player will do.
The money, in full
What is markup and why do I pay it?
Markup is the price premium the player sets on the offered share. A 1.1× markup means you pay 10% above the raw buy-in share; 1.0× means no premium. It is a price, not a promise: it gives you no ownership of, or right to reimbursement for, the player's travel, accommodation or other personal expenses, and it is not a verified measure of skill or expected return. You can filter the listings for zero-markup offers.
How is my cost calculated?
Cost = (total buy-in × markup) × your percentage. Example: a player sells 10% of a €1,000 buy-in tournament at 1.1× markup. Your cost = €1,000 × 1.1 × 10% = €110.
How are returns calculated?
When the player cashes, you receive: cashout × your percentage. Example: the player cashes €8,000 and you own 10%. The player sends you €800. That's it, the €110 you paid upfront was before the tournament. Your portfolio tracks your overall position (€800 received minus €110 paid = up €690), but the settlement itself is just one number: what you get back.
What if the player doesn't cash at all?
Your return is zero and your net is the negative of your cost. That's the risk of staking. Example: you paid €110 for 10% at 1.1× markup. Player busts. Your net = €0 − €110 = −€110.
How does series pricing work?
In a series, your cost is the sum of each tournament's buy-in, multiplied by the markup and your percentage. Example: 5% of a 3-tournament series (buy-ins €1,000 + €2,000 + €3,000) at 1.1× markup = 5% × 1.1 × €6,000 = €330 total.
Markup is not makeup
What about makeup? Does Pebel use it?
No, and that's deliberate. Makeup is a feature of long-term backing deals, where a backer funds a player across many events and the player carries a running loss forward until future winnings clear it. It's where most staking relationships turn sour: a player buried in makeup they can't climb out of, a backer waiting indefinitely to see profit. Pebel uses the markup model instead. Every listing is a clean, self-contained deal, you buy a percentage of a specific tournament or series, win or lose on that alone, and walk away settled. No running tabs, no debts carried between events, no makeup to argue about. If you want the simplicity of knowing exactly where a deal stands the moment it's over, that's the point.
You can ask for less
Can I ask for a lower markup than the listing shows?
Yes, that is a counter-offer. When you send a request you can attach your own markup, as long as it is lower than the listing's and never below 0.50x. The player sees the request with your markup and either reserves the share at that price or declines it; there is no haggling back and forth on Pebel. A counter-offer applies only to your own share: the listing's markup and every other backer's deal stay exactly as they were. If the player accepts, that markup is locked for your stake and is what the settlement and the receipts use.
Keep reading
Markup is one number in a deal. These two pages cover the rest, from each side of it.