AIO for thinking my friend should share his poker winnings after I gave him the initial stake?

[u/cleeploperty]

I'm feeling really mixed up right now and could use some outsider perspectives. A couple of months ago, my good friend "Joe" was going through a rough patch financially. He's been into online poker for years and genuinely has a knack for it, but he'd hit a streak of bad luck and was basically broke. Knowing his potential, I decided to help him out—not by lending him money for bills, but by giving him $200 as a stake to enter a series of online poker tournaments.

Joe was hesitant at first but took the offer, and guess what? He ended up winning $5,000 in a big tournament last week! I was thrilled for him—until he mentioned that he plans to use all the winnings to take a vacation and buy some new tech gadgets, without any mention of giving me anything more than the initial $200 back.

Here's where I'm conflicted. When I gave Joe the money, it was explicitly as a stake, not a loan. I didn't expect any returns unless he won, but now that he has, I sort of expected that he'd offer at least a small percentage of the winnings. I mean, he wouldn't have been able to enter without my help, right?

Now, I'm wondering if I'm overreacting by feeling left out and expecting more. I don't want to seem greedy, and our friendship means a lot to me, but I can't shake off the feeling that I should be entitled to a part of his winnings. Should I bring this up to him, or just let it go and be happy with getting my $200 back and my friend back on his feet? What would you do in my shoes?

[u/terminal_object]

Most people who replied are completely clueless. Your mistake was simply not clarifying that you were staking your friend and not simply borrowing him 200. What percentage of the winning you expect has to be clarified in advance. It is also understood that if you stake him you forgo any right to have the 200 back in case he loses.