How the fewest payments are found
Each player’s result is their cash-out minus everything they put in. Winners are owed money, losers owe it, and in a game where every chip is accounted for the results add up to zero.
The calculator then looks for the smallest number of payments that brings every balance to zero. It tries settling small groups of players among themselves first, because any group whose results cancel out can settle without involving anyone else. That is the same search the Tally Poker app runs when a host closes a game, and it gives the same answer on every phone.
For a normal table the search is exact. A very large table can take too long to search completely; then the calculator falls back to pairing the biggest debts with the biggest credits, and labels the result as simplified rather than fewest.
When the count doesn’t match
Chips go missing, someone pockets a stack by mistake, a rebuy never gets written down. When the cash-outs don’t add up to the buy-ins, payments can’t balance, so the calculator asks what to do with the difference:
- Split among everyone. Each player’s result moves by an equal share; when it doesn’t divide evenly, the leftover cents go to the players at the top of the list.
- Assign to one player. Usually the host, who held the bank.
- Leave unallocated. The results stay as counted and no payments are suggested until you decide.
Before you choose, it’s worth a recount. Our guide to chip counts that don’t match covers the usual causes.
A worked example
| Player | Buy-ins | Cash-out | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alex | $100.00 | $155.00 | +$55.00 |
| Maya | $140.00 | $95.00 | −$45.00 |
| Dev | $100.00 | $5.00 | −$95.00 |
| Jonah | $60.00 | $145.00 | +$85.00 |
| Priya | $100.00 | $130.00 | +$30.00 |
| Sam | $80.00 | $50.00 | −$30.00 |
| Total | $580.00 | $580.00 | $0.00 |
Three players are down and three are up. If every loser paid every winner a share, that could take nine transfers; there are 15 possible pairs at a six-player table. The search finds 4:
- Maya pays Alex $45.00
- Dev pays Alex $10.00
- Dev pays Jonah $85.00
- Sam pays Priya $30.00
Sam’s −$30.00 and Priya’s +$30.00 cancel exactly, so they settle with each other and nobody else is involved. The other four players need three payments between them. Grouping balances like this is how the search beats the obvious plan.
Track the next game as it happensLog each buy-in at the table, have players approve their own, and settle from the app when the night ends.
Start a gameQuestions
- How does the calculator decide who pays whom?
- It works out each player’s result, cash-out minus buy-ins, then searches for the smallest set of payments that brings everyone to zero. For normal table sizes the search is exact. If a very large table makes it run too long, it falls back to a simpler plan and labels it as simplified.
- Why does it need fewer payments than paying each winner directly?
- When a group of players’ results cancel each other out, they can settle among themselves without touching anyone else. Three losers paying three winners can take nine transfers if everyone pays everyone; the search usually finds four or five.
- What if the cash-outs don’t add up to the buy-ins?
- The calculator shows the difference. Split it across everyone, give it to one player, or leave it unallocated. Payments appear only once the totals balance, because a plan that doesn’t add up would leave someone short.
- Which currencies does it support?
- Every ISO 4217 currency your browser knows, each with its own decimals: none for Japanese yen, two for US dollars, three for Kuwaiti dinars. Amounts are kept in whole minor units, so nothing is lost to rounding.
- Is what I type saved anywhere?
- Only in this browser, so the table is still there if you come back. Nothing you enter here is sent to a server.
- How do I handle rebuys and add-ons?
- Enter each player’s total: the first buy-in plus every rebuy and add-on. To log them one at a time during the game, with each one approved by the player, use the Tally Poker app.