Should Final Table Deals Be Allowed on Major Poker Tour Events

A recent airing on British TV of the EPT Barcelona 2013 final table, won by @Tom Middleton, rekindled an old debate on UK poker forums - “Deal Or No Deal” at final tables. The televised negotiations in Barcelona are among the most controversial and widely discussed instances of chopping.

At the point when 4 players were left with a prize pool of about Euro 2.5 million, the game was interrupted for lengthy four-handed negotiations facilitated by EPT officials who interpreted for the players. When it seemed that a deal was about to be concluded, the rallies of the players (including their backers - @Toby Lewis in the case of Tom Middleton) intervened against the terms. Play resumed without a deal until the final heads-up between Tom Middleton and @Kimmo Matias Kurko when an agreement was reached.

Here is Tom’s own account of the deal between the two:

I got heads-up with Kurko and there was a €440,000 difference between finishing runner-up and champion. We were effectively playing a €220k sit-and-go, which is insane! So we made a bit of a deal here, but we were still playing a €100k sit-and-go! The most important and biggest pay jump is in the top two spots so we were still both pretty serious. We both respected each other’s game, and knew that we were the one to avoid at the table. I was confident, but heads-up anything can happen. You have to be confident in yourself – who else will think you can win if you don’t believe in yourself?

Is ‘pretty serious’ serious enough for spectators and ordinary players whom the industry hopes to attract to poker?.. While a similar mechanism - and controversy - exists in chess, (with draw rules), just Imagine a World Cup qualification football match, for example, getting interrupted 15 minutes before the end so the captains and the team sponsors can negotiate a mutually beneficial outcome of the game. By analogy with the four-handed negotiations at EPT Barcelona, they might even invite the captains of the other teams in the same qualifying group as stakeholders and participants in the bartering, while FIFA officials serve as interpreters and audiences around the world are watching it all live. Right, unimaginable. In front of the cameras at least.

This might be a good time for chopping?.. (Sochi 2014 speed skating crash)

It runs against the very essence and values of sports, of fairplay and honest competition. And since poker industry investors and executives, operators and pro players are all arguing in favor of poker as a SKILL, rather than CHANCE game, isn’t it absurd to allow this practice to undermine the integrity and popular appeal of the game. Most observers and ordinary poker players believe it should be condemned as an under-the-table procedure and banned as an official mechanism of prize-pool distribution.

On the other hand, as stressed even by pros with a firm no-chop policy, such as @Jason Somerville, chopping can be an appealing option for amateurs. “An amateur could be looking at $10,000 for a fourth-place finish but could end up with $50,000 in a chop. That's big.” In fact, to many mid-stakes professional players it's all about the money. When poker is your livelihood you may be quite happy with chopping as insurance and a sound business practice?.. 

Further reading - two excellent articles by Lee Davy on CalvinAyre.com:

EXAMINING DEAL MAKING IN POKER: DEAL OR NO DEAL?

JUST SAY NO TO FINAL TABLE DEAL MAKING