Split a fixed prize pool into ranked tiers using a halving scheme: each lower tier gets roughly half of what remains, so the top tier takes most of the budget while smaller consolation amounts still exist. Contest organizers use this pattern when they want a steep payout curve without manually tuning every share.
Algorithm
Given a non-negative total T and a tier count n (default five), the helper walks from the lowest tier upward, repeatedly assigning round(remaining / 2) and subtracting that amount from the remainder. Any leftover after rounding is added to the last slot so the shares sum exactly to T. The resulting array is ordered from smallest tier to largest top tier.
When to use it
- Contest or tournament pots where the top tier should dominate the payout
- Quiz or league ladders with a fixed budget and five payout tiers
- Quick "what does a steep 50/25/… split look like?" planning before printing prize cards
Limitations
Halving is a rounding heuristic, not a formal probability or fairness model. Rounding can make adjacent tiers differ by one currency unit. It does not account for taxes, fees, or sponsored physical goods. Negative totals and invalid counts are rejected. Currency formatting is left to you—the values are plain numbers.
Example
For a pool of 1000 split into 5 tiers, the algorithm yields approximately [31, 63, 125, 250, 531] (smallest to largest). The five amounts sum to 1000; the top tier is about half the original pool after successive halvings of the remainder.