World Championship Of Online poker

i was watching the WCOOP main event final table replay at pokerstars today.
ive noticed that when there where 5 players left they made a deal and chopped the prizemoney.in the chop liberace and ckingusc get the most and AJKHoosier1 gets the least 200k remains where they play for(and the bracelet)
at the end AJKH finished 3th liberace 2th and king first....
is that a common thing that happens on final tables at this level??that players divide the money bfore playing the final?
just wondering first time i see it happen...
good final do...

yea that was stupid of some of them to make that deal. Might as well play it out. You are getting paid regardless. Tons of money, why not just play for what you deserve to win? Great game though, liked how Gregg Raymer called in and did some commentary. Didnt like his tournament strategy but hey...

Almost every Sunday Million tourney on Stars ends in a 5 way deal or so.

Interesting. That's something that I didn't know before. If I ever make final table in big tournament. I wouldn't mind keep playing because I already made good money.

I concur, If I made the Final table of a large tourney and was one of the last 5 or so, there would be no way I'm making a deal, Im there to win, not to make a deal and then have the other players all agree and then to play below par because they settled on a deal.
IMO, if a deal is made at the final table I believe those players will no longer play their best game.

I believe it's usually more worth it to chop, considering the final table at that level must be really solid, so you would have no big advantage over anyone. You aren't going to make final tables in big tourneys that are only once a week or less very often, so rather then risk finishing lower then your current position why not take a more flat chop?

Basically at that point, you're pretty much flipping coins for tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. Chopping is just a way of reducing variance.

I never made it into a finale table at a big tournament but would make a deal if I did depending on the size off my stack compaired to others.If I was one off the short stakes than a deal would be a very good idea if I
was the chip leader than I wouldnt agree and try and wait for maken a deal when there were 3 people left.I think all deals leave a certain amout off money for first place becides the deal that was made so there will be some extra cash for finishing first.

Exactly. Especially when the blinds are so high that there isn't a whole lot of "play" left, just standard moves.

wow, so you're at the final table, first place is 300k (think that's around what the million is usually), 5th is like 20k (making up numbers, wouldn't be surprised if that's right though) and you had the chip lead. You wouldn't want to make a deal at all? With a deal you could probably guarantee yourself 200k+ but without a deal you could end up only making 20k. You talk about already having the money, but you entered a $200 tourney and the mini shorthanded sng now has flips for 100k+. Personally I wouldn't want to be flipping for 100k, but maybe that's just me. It decreases variance and doesn't even decrease ev. Many people sacrifice ev to decrease variance. I think that's stupid, but if you can decrease variance without impacting your expected winnings, why the hell wouldn't you do it?

I'm inclined to agree. It seems ludicrous to me to let the way the cards fall play such a big role in payout considering the stakes and prize structure in tourneys like these (where moving up one spot near the end can make a ridiculous amount of difference). I've never played for that much, but if I did I wouldn't want that crazy variance.

Some people crave a win so badly that they will play things out instead of making a chop. If the chop is done correctly, everyone should leave happy.

Warning: Every tournament I have seen or heard of where everyone wanted a chop except for one person, that one person was usually the next person out. Karma's a biotch!

I've qualified for these big tourneys several times but have never made the final table. I didn't even know you could make a deal like that. If I ever did make the final table, I think that I would have to seriously consider making a deal.