The market for buying and selling action for poker tournaments is bigger than most people realize. Various poker sites, such as PokerStake.com and StakeKings.com, help facilitate the exchange of funds.
Most of the market is focused on buying or selling equity prior to a tournament beginning. But what about once you're deep in a big event? What about when your stack is worth hundreds of thousands or over a million dollars?
That's where Derek Wolters likes to get involved.
Buying action deep in the Main Event
"I used to play professionally, and I used to buy a lot of action," said Wolters. "I was buying action in the Main Event starting in 2010. I haven't been doing as much of that, but lately I've been more interested in raising bigger amounts of money."
He's not interested in buying a small piece of one player on Day 1. He wants bigger action in bigger spots.
"Instead of buying a piece on Day 1 of the Main Event, maybe $5K for 50% of someone's tournament, I'm looking at buying a piece on Day 7 — more like $100K for 15% of someone's equity. That's been a big part of me posting the ICM calculations on Twitter/X each year."
You may have seen Wolters' posts each day as the Main Event progresses. He calculates the monetary value of each player's stacks and shares them via social media.
Offloading action in the biggest spots
Seeing those calculations can make people realize just how valuable their stack is as the Main Event rolls on. For players who don't have a massive bankroll or are about to make the biggest score of their lifetime, offloading some of that risk can be a smart choice.
"If you're sitting there with a stack worth $1 million in front of you on Day 7, and your bankroll outside of this one event is $50K, you're going to want to take some insurance and sell some of that equity off," said Wolters.
People are used to selling with markup when they think they have an edge. As the field gets smaller and typically more difficult, that edge is harder to find.
"On Day 1, pros can sell for a high markup," said Wolters. "In the Main Event, 25%, 50%, and even 100% isn't unheard of. Once you get down to the final 200 players, it's typically a tough field. I'm usually looking to buy at face for ICM value."
What Wolters looks for in his horses
While Wolters and his team typically buy at ICM face value, he is selective about who he invests in.
"We're looking for an edge, of course," he said. "We look at player experience; live experience is most important, but online is really good. We look at the table position. Who's at your table? Do you have an easy table? Do you have a small amount of chips, or do you have a large amount of chips? While I typically buy at face value, sometimes we'll do a small markup or markdown based on all of those factors."
Wolters is in-house at the WSOP, and you can usually find him on the rail sweating the players he's bought a piece of or scoping out prospective sellers.
"If you're interested in selling off some equity, come and find me," said Wolters. "Or you can message me on Twitter/X."
