Guaranteed prize pools
Promise players a minimum prize pool, and how Poker Hawk tops the pool up when entries fall short.
A guarantee promises players that the prize pool will be at least a set amount. If the room doesn’t collect enough, you make up the difference.
How the top-up works
The prize pool is built from buy-ins, rebuys and add-ons — membership fees, per-entry rake and bounties never go in — and any Rake (% of pot) comes off next. If what’s left is below the guarantee, the prize pool becomes the guaranteed amount and payouts are worked out from it; above it, the pool is simply what you collected. Guarantee 1,000, take 15 buy-ins of 50 and a 10% pot rake: 750 less 75 leaves 675, so the pool is 1,000 and you add 325. More on the house’s cut in Understanding tournament rake.
Set it before you start
- •Desktop: Tournament setup › Financials › Prize Pool Settings — turn on Guaranteed prize pool and enter the amount.
- •Phone: in the setup wizard’s Buy-in & Chips step, under Pricing & payouts, turn on Guaranteed prize pool and fill in Guaranteed minimum.
- •Enter an amount above zero — setup flags a guarantee of 0. Once the tournament is running there’s no way to change it; while it’s only scheduled, Modify In Setup still reaches it.
During the game, desktop’s Money tab shows the top-up as + Guarantee uplift, with the Total Pot (after guarantee), and tells you how much you’re adding. On your phone, the prize pool figures already include it.