How Markup Prices Your Edge
Markup is a multiplier on face value. At 1.2, an investor pays $120 for $100 of your action, and their premium is your compensation for being a winning player, for the work of playing, and for taking the variance of the unsold share.
The arithmetic that governs every package: an investor breaks even when your ROI equals the markup premium. At 1.2 markup they need you to run at exactly 20% ROI to get their money back, and they only profit above it. Price above your demonstrable ROI and every package is investor-negative; the field figures that out quickly. The deal calculator runs both sides of the trade for any package, share, and markup.
| Markup | Investor pays for $100 of action | Investor breakeven ROI |
|---|---|---|
| 1.00 | $100 | 0% |
| 1.10 | $110 | 10% |
| 1.15 | $115 | 15% |
| 1.20 | $120 | 20% |
| 1.30 | $130 | 30% |
| 1.50 | $150 | 50% |
Where the Selling Happens
Four venues verified as live this year. StakeKings is the standalone marketplace open to US sellers, with wallet escrow and payouts within hours of most finishes; note that its Premium tier advertises a 1.15 markup cap that live listings exceeded the day we checked. PokerStake is PocketFives rebuilt as a GGPoker storefront, deep during GG series and thin between them. GGPoker and ACR both settle in-client, automatically, with no fee; ACR adds the sharpest honesty rule in the business, publishing your real name to buyers on any markup above 1.0. Private sales to people you know settle on trust; a marketplace escrow exists for everyone else.
Settlement, Paperwork, and the $600 Line
Escrow models differ more than markups do. StakeKings pays within 2 hours of most event finishes; PokerStake verifies official results and can take up to 10 working days; the in-client platforms credit backers the moment the prize pays. Read the refund rule before posting: on PokerStake an undersold package refunds everyone automatically, and on GGPoker the Auto Unregister rule cancels your registration with it.
On US-facing platforms the paperwork is not optional: KYC at signup, a W-9, and a 1099 once your annual profit crosses $600. What you owe on swapped or sold action beyond that line depends on facts about you; take it to a tax professional.
