PRIZE PAYOUTS
How payouts work
Real money moves through Trolley (operated by Service Plug Events LLC), which routes your winnings to your PayPal account. No platform escrow, no “trust us” pool. Here’s the actual flow from buzzer to PayPal balance.
Two processors, two roles
- Whop handles money coming in: tournament entry fees. Card data never touches our servers - checkout runs on Whop’s hosted page (Whop is the payment platform that explicitly supports skill-based prize tournaments).
- Trolley handles money going out: every prize is processed by Trolley (Service Plug Events LLC is the payer of record on file) and routed to the PayPal address you set in /p/settings. Bank transfer rails unlock once platform volume crosses Trolley’s threshold; until then everyone receives via PayPal.
Settlement timeline
- 1.Tournament reaches a verified champion (final match in COMPLETE status with box-score uploaded and dispute window closed).
- 2.Within 30 minutes, the platform queues a payout per placement and fires it to Trolley, which routes the send via its PayPal rail.
- 3.PayPal credits funds to the winner’s PayPal account, usually within minutes. Track the live status from your payouts dashboard. If you haven’t set a payout email yet, PayPal will email you a claim link the moment funds arrive.
Set your payout email first
Before you can collect prize money, drop the email tied to your PayPal account into /p/settings. Free to set up a PayPal at paypal.com if you don’t have one yet - takes two minutes.
We never see your password and we never hold your funds. Your email just routes the PayPal send.
Where the prize pool comes from
- Entry fees collected at registration through Whop hosted checkout.
- Player-funded prize pool - $20 Triple Threat Season 1 player entries feed the pool directly. Top 2 teams paid per rulebook v1.3: champion 70%, runner-up 30%. No platform rake.
- Check Up takes zero rake from entry fees. 100% of every entry flows to that event’s prize pool. Memberships are the revenue model, not the pot.
Tax reporting
Service Plug Events LLC (via Trolley) issues Form 1099-MISC Box 3 to winners whose annual prize earnings cross the federal $600 threshold. You must submit a valid W-9 (US persons) or W-8BEN (non-US persons) before any prize disbursement. Check Up does not withhold taxes; you’re responsible for reporting the income. Your dashboard surfaces a year-end summary with tournament dates, placements, and amounts so you can cross-check what Trolley sends to the IRS.
If something goes wrong
If a payout shows “processing” for longer than you’d expect, or shows “failed” in your dashboard, open a ticket. We have full Trolley payout logs (recipient_id, status, event trail) plus the downstream PayPal disbursement record, and can chase the issue with Trolley + PayPal support on your behalf.
Contact SupportWhop collects entries; the pool sits in escrow until a verified champion is logged. PayPal Payouts sends placements out to winners. Captain → Whop → PayPal → recipient.
