[FortWorthJim]

Is there any merit to staking without makeup? Would anyone do this?

In the Mark Blade book, "Professional Poker," he said the best deal would be a 70-30 split in favor of the backer with no makeup. The percentages could be adjusted down to 65-35 or 60-40 depending on how strong the player is.

He said even with a 50-50 split he would rather back someone with no makeup because of all the issues talked about here with a prolonged losing streak (jumping ship to another backer, playing worse because of pressure and not having money to live on).

However, it seems like all the deals actually carried out in the poker world have makeup to prevent the player from making money before the backer does.