Traditional Poker Staking vs. Upstakes Funding: What’s the Difference?

For a long time, getting funded in poker has worked in a pretty traditional way. You build a track record. You meet the right people. Someone sees your results, trusts your game and decides to back you. That system works. But it also means many talented players never get the opportunity simply because they don’t have the connections, history or visibility. Upstakes was built to change that. 

We are making poker funding accessible based on what matters most: how well you play.

Traditional poker staking is usually personal. A player finds a backer, introduces their results, negotiates terms and agrees on how bankroll, profits and losses will be handled. For established professionals with a strong network and years of results, that can work very well. For everyone else, getting that first opportunity can be difficult.

You might be a strong player without thousands of tournaments in your database. You might live somewhere without a large poker community. You might simply not know the right people. None of that necessarily says anything about your actual poker ability.

With Upstakes, you don’t need to know us. You don’t need somebody to introduce you. And you don’t need years of poker results to get your first opportunity. You start by taking the Upstakes Poker Skill Challenge. The Challenge measures your decision-making across real poker situations. If you reach the required score, you can qualify for funding.

The process is simple: Pass the Poker Skill Challenge → Get funded to play. 

That’s the fundamental difference. We’re trying to democratize poker funding by creating a system where talented players can prove themselves directly. 

By the way, in the picture below you can see me with one of our funded players, Vlad, in Vegas before the 2026 WSOP Main Event.

MTT funding

For MTT players, Upstakes provides 100% of the funded bankroll. You play the tournaments covered by your Funding Agreement, and profits are split 50% to you and 50% to Upstakes. You get access to a dedicated bankroll without putting up your own tournament buy-ins.

Cash Game funding

For Cash Games, Upstakes matches your bankroll contribution. You bring 50%, we bring 50%, effectively doubling the bankroll available to play with. Because you contribute your own capital, you keep 75% of the profits, while 25% goes to Upstakes.

Keep more of your profits

Our goal is to build long-term relationships with strong players, not fund one short period and move on. If you make money, profits are split according to your plan and you may have the opportunity to renew your funding. Strong performance can also lead to a larger bankroll, a better profit split or improved funding terms.

You owe nothing if you lose

Poker has variance. If you lose while playing according to your Funding Agreement, you don’t personally owe Upstakes those poker losses. Losses may be carried against future profits while your agreement is active. But if the bankroll runs out through normal play and we decide not to continue funding, you don’t have to repay the loss. Repayment may only apply if you breach or terminate your Funding Agreement under conditions where repayment obligations apply.

A different path into poker funding

Before Upstakes, I worked in venture capital. What I always enjoyed most was finding the right people, backing them early and helping them grow. That’s exactly how we think about Upstakes. We want to find talented poker players, give them the opportunity and funding to play bigger, and help them improve and succeed.

We’re not looking for one-off deals. We want to find the right players and grow with them. The better they perform, the more we can build together. Traditional staking often starts with who you know. Upstakes starts with how you play.