How world class backers avoid staking issues
Barry Carter outlines some of the common pitfalls backers and horses face when negotiating staking deals, to help you avoid them.
Last week I wrote a piece about what bonuses backers were entitled to in staking relationships. It occurred to me afterwards that it’s been a while since we had a discussion on the general best practices for staking.
I’ve never been staked as a player, but I have staked other players before, and I have worked at length with a number of staking sites and stables. Unfortunately I have also been on the wrong end of bad staking deals too – where players lose all their money playing outside the agreed terms or even simply disappearing with the money.
Over the years I have interviewed lots of people who make a career backing poker players, and the ones who thrive incorporated a lot of structure into their business model:
Plan for every scenario
This was alluded to in my previous column and it is the most important rule of all with staking. Every single possible scenario has to be accounted for and agreed upon in advance, so there is no debate or bad feeling later on.
So what games the player will play, how much volume they will play, whether a stop loss is in place, what happens with rakeback, what happens with bonuses and promotions, what to do during a downswing, what to do if all the regular games are busy, in tournaments what to do when a final table deal is proposed, how travel expenses are dealt with, how both parties will act if the player is in makeup, how money will be transferred etc.
There are so many potential scenarios for any type of stake, the good backers will map them out ahead of time.
Get references and results
It goes without saying, but good backers always do their homework on their potential horses. They will ask around, get references from trusted players, look up their results online and learn as much as they can about the player.
This is to ascertain in part if they are a winning player, but more to find out if they can be trusted. Most backers will take a small winner with a great reputation over a crusher with a volatile personality.
They are also looking for consistency, which is often a sign of both of the above. Players with big swings in both directions is a big warning sign for a lot of backers. It could be a sign of an unstable player who might end up taking their stake for a joy ride later on.
Backers also ask other backers about players. You might assume they are in direct competition with each other, but the reality is most of the bigger stables are in direct contact with each other for this very reason. When a player leaves a previous stable, alarm bells ring for the other potential backers, wondering why the deal did not work out?
Put a contract in place
The last thing a poker player ever expects to see is a contract of employment. For many poker is a means of escape from the structure of corporate life, after all.
However, I know a number of backers who insist their players sign a contract with their agreed terms on, as well as providing references and forms of identification.
I think this achieves two things. It makes the player realise that this has to be a professional relationship and they should treat it as they would a job. It also likely has the effect of weeding out a lot of players who probably were untrustworthy, as it would no doubt scare them off to leave a big paper trail behind them.
I know one stable that actually insisted that one of their (talented but erratic) players turn up to play in a shirt and tie every day. It is little things like this that have a powerful positive placebo effect on players, and put the emphasis on being professional.
Why do they want backing?
The age old question is if a player is good enough to stake, why do they need backing? The answers vary from being risk averse, to needing their own bankroll for real life, all the way to the player being simply terrible at money management and needs someone to do it for them.
Some players may think otherwise, but it is very important for the backer to know exactly why they are staking someone. This is where due diligence and getting references comes into play. There will be players who simply lie about their winnings and only show a cherry picked sample. Others may be very talented, but have a gambling issue that makes them a bad investment.
It is important for the staker to know their home situation too. Are they paying a mortgage or living at their parents? Do they have children to feed? Poker is a very emotional game and a backer needs to know exactly what they are getting themselves in for from the personal side as well as the tactical side.
The mental impact of staking
My good friend and mental game coach Jared Tendler has given me an interesting insight to another potential pitfall between backer and horse, and that is motivation. He has observed that among his hundreds of clients, the players who are staked have significantly more motivational issues than those who don’t. They work less on their game away from the table and care less about losing.
“It is true that staked players suffer less from issues like Tilt, precisely because they have less pressure because they are backed. However, pressure is not inherently bad, and in many cases when it is not excessive, it is fuel to perform well”.
“If your focus is 5% lower because you are only playing for 50% of yourself, that’s a big problem in the long term”.
Tendler also observed that too much detachment from the money causes other issues:
“One of the biggest causes of decreased motivation for players getting backed is being in makeup. When they are facing the prospect of winning money, but not keeping it because they are in makeup, they can become reckless with it. They view it like a freeroll or play money, with no consequence to it.”
Communication is key
I've seen so many staking arrangements go sour, and in every single one of them they could have ultimately gone without a hitch if both parties had communicated better. Whether it is understanding why a player wants staking, stipulating the ground rules in advance or making sure the player doesn't get demotivated in makeup.
The successful backers know this and treat staking like a full time job, because they need to devote that much time into it to ensure both parties are happy. The best staking deals I have seen is where the backer acts like a boss/teacher/mentor to the player, even if they are not necessarily technically a superior player.
If that sounds like too much hard work, it probably is. Staking, like most things in life, is not easy money. That's why you see a lot of backers gracefully bowing out of the game after a few years because it can be stressful and time consuming.
Are you currently backing or staking? What issues have you encountered? What advice can you give to make staking more efficient? Let us know in the comments box.
