> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://countertrade.gitbook.io/docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://countertrade.gitbook.io/docs/leagues-and-seasons/prize-pools.md).

# Paid prize pools

The paid prize pool rule, a worked example with a 1,000 USDC sponsor top-up and 10 USDC entries, and how money a season does not pay out comes back to its members and sponsor in proportion to what eac

A paid season's prize pool is built from the members' entries and, in some seasons, a sponsor's top-up. The platform fee is taken from the entries only. Money the season does not pay out comes back to everyone who put it in, in proportion to what each paid.

The pool is real USDC, held on chain by the season's vault. Your paper balance in the season's battles is simulated and is never part of it.

## The rule

**Prize pool = sponsor top-up + all entries − platform fee**

* The **platform fee** is a share of the entries, shown before you join: "up to 10% of the entries · charged only as battles that pay prizes settle". The sponsor's money pays no fee.
* A paid season without a sponsor has a top-up of zero, so its pool is the entries less the fee.
* The pool grows with every member who joins. The split's shares are fixed when the season is published, and the amounts follow the pool.
* A stage that has several battles divides its part of the pool equally among them, and each battle's places share that battle's part.

The **Prizes** section of the season's **RULES** tab gives its own figures: the fee, what each member's entry adds to the pool after it, and the sponsor's amount, "fee-free".

## Where the sponsor top-up shows

The season header reads **Paid entry**, as on any paid season. The difference is on the Overview's **STAKES** card.

A season with a top-up opens registration only once the whole top-up is in the vault. Until then the join panel reads "Registration opens when the pool is whole", and the card shows the pool as **planned**, with the chip **Top-up pending**. Once the top-up is in, the chip reads **+ Sponsor**, and the card gives the pool in two parts: the sponsor's top-up, and what comes from the entries after the fee.

When several places pay the same share, the card's **Final pays (share)** lists the single places, for example 45% / 27% / 17.5%, and "Then 4th–10th: 1.5% each" sits beside its **VAULT** link.

## Example: a 1,000 USDC top-up and 10 USDC entries

The sponsor puts in 1,000 USDC. The entry is 10 USDC, and the platform fee is 10% of the entries, so each member adds 9 USDC to the pool. With N members, the pool is 1,000 + 9 × N USDC.

With 50 members:

|                                  | USDC      |
| -------------------------------- | --------- |
| Sponsor top-up, no fee taken     | 1,000     |
| Entries, 50 × 10                 | 500       |
| Platform fee, 10% of the entries | −50       |
| **Prize pool**                   | **1,450** |

Only the final pays. In a final of one battle, its top 10 places share the whole pool:

| Place       | Share     | With 50 members |
| ----------- | --------- | --------------- |
| 1st         | 45%       | 652.50 USDC     |
| 2nd         | 27%       | 391.50 USDC     |
| 3rd         | 17.5%     | 253.75 USDC     |
| 4th to 10th | 1.5% each | 21.75 USDC each |

With 250 members the pool is 3,250 USDC, and the 4th to 10th places pay 48.75 USDC each.

## What comes back when the season closes

Part of the pool can go unpaid, for example when no finalist trades. That money comes back "without a claim and without gas", in proportion to the money each person put in. Every member and every sponsor gets back the same fraction of what they paid in, and the sponsor is not repaid first. A season's rules put it as "What the season does not pay out returns to the members and the sponsor, pro rata by money in."

In the example, the members and the sponsor paid in 1,500 USDC together. If 150 USDC comes back, that is 10% of what everyone paid in: 1 USDC to each member and 100 USDC to the sponsor.

A battle that is cancelled, or called off because nobody in it traded, charges no fee: its prize money and its fee both go back to the vault. So in the example, a final where no finalist trades returns all 1,500 USDC: 10 USDC to each member and 1,000 USDC to the sponsor.

When it comes back depends on where the money is. Money the vault still holds comes back when the season closes. Money left unpaid inside a battle that settled is released only about a year after that battle, and then comes back by the same rule. Amounts are rounded down to the token's smallest unit, so a return can be short by a millionth of a USDC.

In a paid season without a sponsor, every member paid the same entry, so the money comes back in equal shares.

## If the season is cancelled

The vault returns the money by itself. Nobody claims and nobody pays gas.

* **Before the first prize payout**, everyone gets back exactly what they paid in: each member's entry in full, and the sponsor's top-up in full. In the example, that is 10 USDC to each member and 1,000 USDC to the sponsor.
* **After a payout**, what is left comes back by the same rule as at the close: every member and every sponsor gets back the same fraction of what they paid in.

Your entry is not refunded if you don't play, and you cannot leave a season once you have joined. See [Entering a season](/docs/leagues-and-seasons/entering-a-season.md#you-cannot-leave-a-season).

## Related

* [Rewards and records](/docs/leagues-and-seasons/rewards-and-records.md)
* [Entering a season](/docs/leagues-and-seasons/entering-a-season.md)
* [Playoffs and finals](/docs/leagues-and-seasons/playoffs-and-finals.md)