How to settle a home poker cash game

Work out what each player won or lost, check the chips against the money in, and pay the fewest transfers. A worked example with six players.

Settling a cash game takes three steps: work out each player’s net, check that the nets add up to zero, then turn the nets into as few payments as possible.

1. Work out each player’s net

A player’s net is the value of the chips they finish with, minus everything they bought in for. Rebuys count: if you bought in three times at $20, you put in $60. A positive net means you are owed money, a negative net means you owe it.

2. Check the nets add up to zero

Every dollar won came from someone else’s stack, so all the nets together must come to exactly zero. In other words, the chips counted at the end must equal the chips sold at the start. If they do not, someone miscounted or a stack is missing, and no list of payments can be right until that is sorted out.

3. Turn nets into the fewest payments

You do not need everyone to pay everyone. Pair the biggest debtor with the biggest creditor, settle as much as one of them can, and repeat. This never takes more payments than the number of players minus one.

A worked example

Doing it in KevesPoker

KevesPoker follows exactly this order. The admin logs buy-ins during the game, the chip count is compared with the money in, and the game cannot settle until the difference is zero. It then lists who pays whom. No money moves through the app: players pay each other, and each payment is marked paid and then confirmed received.