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As we continue with diving into the topics of poker tournament formats, this thread will focus on bounty (Knockout or KO tournaments), and PKOs (Progressive Knockout tournaments).
Bounty (KO or knockout) and progressive knockout tournaments (PKO) are one of the most popular formats you will find online these days. The ability to secure prize money well before the money bubble and even be profitable without making the official money has caught the attention of many poker players, professionally or amateur. There are many factors that influence the play in these tournaments that can be very different from a traditional poker tournament. If you decide to dive into the realm of Bounty and KO/PKO tournaments, you will want to be sure to understand these differences before you enter!
Fundamental Differences Between KO, PKO and Freezeout Tournaments
The single biggest difference in knockout tournaments to a freezeout is the distribution of the prize pool.
As you can see, in a progressive knockout, player’s bounties will only get higher and higher as the tournament progresses and more players are eliminated with the idea being that the final bounties are similar in size to the top prizes in the tournament. This isn’t always the case of course; players that get hot and eliminate a significant portion of the tournament will have a much larger bounty than other players at the table, and it’s also common to see players arrive at the final table of one of these tournaments having claimed no bounties.
It's also interesting to note that the value of an initial bounty in a PKO will typically be 25% of the buy-in – not to say that it’s not worth going after, but you do need to remember that because the bounties in a PKO grow as the tournament goes on, it is more advantageous to be careful early and not risk going for a bounty versus a straight knockout tournament. You want to be able to go after massive bounties later on and it could be a mistake to go after them too early and risk your stack.
Registration: Why Late is Bad
This brings us to one of the more important concepts a player must be aware of when entering a knockout tournament. It is popular, and quite common, for players to register late for a poker tournament for several factors, but when you register late for a KO or PKO, you are effectively missing out on equity if players have been eliminated already.
Think of it this way: when you play a traditional tournament, none of the prize money is available until the money bubble bursts, so registering before the tournament starts or right at the end of late registration, you still have 100% of the prize pool in front of you.
When you play in a KO or PKO, in theory, some of the prize money could be handed out on the very first hand meaning that late registrations would have less than 100% of the prize pool to win. With every elimination that happens, the amount of equity remaining reduces, and the amount of prize money you could win in the bounty prize pool goes down. You are essentially -EV by registering after the first elimination happens in a tournament.
Effective Stack: Why it Matters More
When you play any poker hand, the effective stack is the maximum amount of chips that one can lose in each hand. This is always going to be the smallest stack still in a hand. While this info is good to know in a freezeout, or traditional poker tournament, in a KO or PKO this chip value now carries a dollar value: the value of that player’s bounty. You should also be aware of other stacks in the hand that you cover: partly to know who else could be targeting the effective stack’s bounty and, partly to be aware of what the effective stack is for any potential side pot and what the value of that side pot will be. As you’ll see, your decision making on calling or folding when a player is all-in could vary greatly.
You will also need to track the effective stack potentials if more than 2 players are in a pot, because the side pot is going to have an additional dollar amount attached to it should 3 players go in and 2 bounties are potentially involved. We’ll break down shortly how this could play out, but knowing your standing versus your table mates in each hand becomes crucial information for you to know immediately. This is easy to see playing online, but this intel will influence your initial decision to enter a hand in the first place.
Hand Range Changes
The final and most important point we want to highlight with this lesson is how your calling hand range changes in a knockout and PKO versus a straight poker tournament.
We are not going to dive into specific calling ranges – that is a topic way too advanced for this lesson; but rather highlight how your thought process should change when playing a hand for a bounty.
Let’s set the stage with an example – you are playing in a $11 online tournament, 9 handed, blinds are 100 and 200:
Seat 1: 6500 / 32.5 BB
Seat 2: 7000 / 35 BB
Seat 3: 3000 / 15 BB
Seat 4: 1500 / 7.5 BB
Seat 5: 9000 / 45 BB
Seat 6: 4200 / 21BB
Seat 7: 6100 / 30.5 BB
Seat 8: 3000 / 15 BB
HERO: 6200 / 31 BB
This a knockout tournament with a $5 bounty on every knockout. The first things that we need to know before a hand is dealt:
Why is this important?
If we get into a hand, we want to know if we are at risk, how many bounties could be in play, and how many bounties we are eligible to win.
If we are going to be at risk of being eliminated in a hand, we need to understand how our opponent will approach the situation – are they the type to isolate and go after as many bounties as possible or, are they leery of losing chips and becoming a target? This is going to help us adjust the expected range of hands we would expect these players to be playing, to win our bounty.
Likewise, we need to know how many players we could target and win a bounty in this hand and then balance that with our hand vs their expected range – this range would change based on the dynamics of what bounties are in play.
Example:
In a traditional poker tournament, one can make a solid argument that pocket tens are a fold here – you are against two hands, both have shown aggression pre-flop and you would be severely crippled by calling. You are against over cards for sure, and there’s a chance you are against a higher pocket pair, making calling difficult – not impossible, but difficult. If you were against all four over cards, we have equity but would not be a favorite even against Ace-King off-suit and Queen-Jack suited:
In a knockout tournament, this situation changes drastically. The possibility of locking up 2 bounties for $10, and essentially breaking even on the tournament opens the door to calling wider because of the instant money you can win. We aren’t going to advocate for calling or folding in this exact spot, but it does help one understand the following two points about bounty tournaments:
Table Dynamics
The table dynamic will shift with every hand that is played as the shortest stack becomes at risk and the largest stacks become the place to be--having the title of the “Table Captain” means that you can play for any, or every bounty in front of you, while the table short stack has the unfortunate situation to be unavailable to play for any bounty, and will be targeted by anyone, and everyone.
It’s not unheard of to see a short stack shove and multiple players call – which brings us to this word of caution:
Visible Bounty Amounts
If you play progressive bounty tournaments on multiple sites you have probably noticed that sites differ in terms of how they display the bounty of a player. Some will show the total bounty on a player’s head, meaning that if you knock them out you will win half of that amount while others will show the actual amount of money you would win if you take out a player.
Be sure you understand this BEFORE playing a single hand in a PKO as this information is critical to building a case to call, push, or fold when a player’s bounty is in play. You don’t want to think you are going to win what you see, only to find out that it’s half of that amount.
Bounty Pool Percentage and Guaranteed Tournaments
The final comment we’ll make is around the percentage of the bounty pool and guarantees. Most bounty and PKO tournaments will see half of the prize pool set aside for bounties, but not all tournaments are set-up this way. 75% and 100% bounty tournaments are out there in the online world, meaning there is less to play for at the final table, and more to play for going after player’s bounties, so be sure you recognize that before entering a tournament. Playing a 100% bounty tournament means there won’t be a money bubble – it’s all about how many bounties can you collect!
In Closing: Pay Attention!
You may notice an underlying theme will all of our learning series: be aware of what you are getting into, and always have a plan of attack. By paying attention, being intentional, and knowing the dynamics of the games we are playing, we will progress much further on the path of success in poker.
Questions, Comments?
Help us foster the discussion! Post your questions about this topic, or leave your own advice or wisdom here to continue the learning!
For more poker formats deep-dives, check out our first installment of this series: Part 1: Satellites
And for a catalog of all our series and poker concepts covered so far, check out our CardsChat Learning Poker Thread Series Index
Bounty (KO or knockout) and progressive knockout tournaments (PKO) are one of the most popular formats you will find online these days. The ability to secure prize money well before the money bubble and even be profitable without making the official money has caught the attention of many poker players, professionally or amateur. There are many factors that influence the play in these tournaments that can be very different from a traditional poker tournament. If you decide to dive into the realm of Bounty and KO/PKO tournaments, you will want to be sure to understand these differences before you enter!
Fundamental Differences Between KO, PKO and Freezeout Tournaments
The single biggest difference in knockout tournaments to a freezeout is the distribution of the prize pool.
- Freezeout tournaments will have 100% of the prize pool divided among the top finishers, typically between 10 and 18% of the field
- Knockout tournaments (KO) will divide the prize pool in half, saving 50% of it for the top finishers and 50% to a player who eliminates another player, i.e. the bounty. These tournaments will establish the value of the knockout before and award prize money as players are eliminated. For example, in a $11 KO tournament online with a rake of $1, $5 goes to the prize pool and $5 goes onto your own head, awarding this to another player who takes you out. So, if you eliminate 3 players, you win $15 even if you don’t make the money payouts.
- Progressive Knockout tournaments (PKO) work similar in that half of the buy-in goes to the prize pool, but the other half becomes your bounty, but this time if you get eliminated, half of your bounty gets paid out immediately to that player, and the other half goes on their head, increasing their bounty.
Example:You enter that same $11 tournament with a rake of $1- $5 goes to the prize pool for the top finishers
- $5 becomes your bounty, awarding half to someone who eliminates you ($2.50) and half will go into their bounty, increasing it to $7.50. Anyone who eliminates them will win $3.75 right away and add $3.75 to their own bounty.
As you can see, in a progressive knockout, player’s bounties will only get higher and higher as the tournament progresses and more players are eliminated with the idea being that the final bounties are similar in size to the top prizes in the tournament. This isn’t always the case of course; players that get hot and eliminate a significant portion of the tournament will have a much larger bounty than other players at the table, and it’s also common to see players arrive at the final table of one of these tournaments having claimed no bounties.
It's also interesting to note that the value of an initial bounty in a PKO will typically be 25% of the buy-in – not to say that it’s not worth going after, but you do need to remember that because the bounties in a PKO grow as the tournament goes on, it is more advantageous to be careful early and not risk going for a bounty versus a straight knockout tournament. You want to be able to go after massive bounties later on and it could be a mistake to go after them too early and risk your stack.
Registration: Why Late is Bad
This brings us to one of the more important concepts a player must be aware of when entering a knockout tournament. It is popular, and quite common, for players to register late for a poker tournament for several factors, but when you register late for a KO or PKO, you are effectively missing out on equity if players have been eliminated already.
Think of it this way: when you play a traditional tournament, none of the prize money is available until the money bubble bursts, so registering before the tournament starts or right at the end of late registration, you still have 100% of the prize pool in front of you.
When you play in a KO or PKO, in theory, some of the prize money could be handed out on the very first hand meaning that late registrations would have less than 100% of the prize pool to win. With every elimination that happens, the amount of equity remaining reduces, and the amount of prize money you could win in the bounty prize pool goes down. You are essentially -EV by registering after the first elimination happens in a tournament.
Effective Stack: Why it Matters More
When you play any poker hand, the effective stack is the maximum amount of chips that one can lose in each hand. This is always going to be the smallest stack still in a hand. While this info is good to know in a freezeout, or traditional poker tournament, in a KO or PKO this chip value now carries a dollar value: the value of that player’s bounty. You should also be aware of other stacks in the hand that you cover: partly to know who else could be targeting the effective stack’s bounty and, partly to be aware of what the effective stack is for any potential side pot and what the value of that side pot will be. As you’ll see, your decision making on calling or folding when a player is all-in could vary greatly.
You will also need to track the effective stack potentials if more than 2 players are in a pot, because the side pot is going to have an additional dollar amount attached to it should 3 players go in and 2 bounties are potentially involved. We’ll break down shortly how this could play out, but knowing your standing versus your table mates in each hand becomes crucial information for you to know immediately. This is easy to see playing online, but this intel will influence your initial decision to enter a hand in the first place.
Hand Range Changes
The final and most important point we want to highlight with this lesson is how your calling hand range changes in a knockout and PKO versus a straight poker tournament.
We are not going to dive into specific calling ranges – that is a topic way too advanced for this lesson; but rather highlight how your thought process should change when playing a hand for a bounty.
Let’s set the stage with an example – you are playing in a $11 online tournament, 9 handed, blinds are 100 and 200:
Seat 1: 6500 / 32.5 BB
Seat 2: 7000 / 35 BB
Seat 3: 3000 / 15 BB
Seat 4: 1500 / 7.5 BB
Seat 5: 9000 / 45 BB
Seat 6: 4200 / 21BB
Seat 7: 6100 / 30.5 BB
Seat 8: 3000 / 15 BB
HERO: 6200 / 31 BB
This a knockout tournament with a $5 bounty on every knockout. The first things that we need to know before a hand is dealt:
- Who can we eliminate in the next hand?
- Who can eliminate us in the next hand?
Why is this important?
If we get into a hand, we want to know if we are at risk, how many bounties could be in play, and how many bounties we are eligible to win.
If we are going to be at risk of being eliminated in a hand, we need to understand how our opponent will approach the situation – are they the type to isolate and go after as many bounties as possible or, are they leery of losing chips and becoming a target? This is going to help us adjust the expected range of hands we would expect these players to be playing, to win our bounty.
Likewise, we need to know how many players we could target and win a bounty in this hand and then balance that with our hand vs their expected range – this range would change based on the dynamics of what bounties are in play.
Example:
- We are in seat 9 and are dealt pocket tens.
- The action starts in seat 3 who shoves 15 BB.
- It gets folded around to seat 8 who re-shoves for 15 BB.
- What’s our action?
In a traditional poker tournament, one can make a solid argument that pocket tens are a fold here – you are against two hands, both have shown aggression pre-flop and you would be severely crippled by calling. You are against over cards for sure, and there’s a chance you are against a higher pocket pair, making calling difficult – not impossible, but difficult. If you were against all four over cards, we have equity but would not be a favorite even against Ace-King off-suit and Queen-Jack suited:
In a knockout tournament, this situation changes drastically. The possibility of locking up 2 bounties for $10, and essentially breaking even on the tournament opens the door to calling wider because of the instant money you can win. We aren’t going to advocate for calling or folding in this exact spot, but it does help one understand the following two points about bounty tournaments:
- The smallest chips stacks are going to know they will be called with a wider range with players going for their bounty, and tighten up in general, but more apt to shoving, knowing they are likely to be called
- The largest chip stacks are going to want to win money and will tend to be aggressive against shorter stacks, pushing more and wider to win money
Table Dynamics
The table dynamic will shift with every hand that is played as the shortest stack becomes at risk and the largest stacks become the place to be--having the title of the “Table Captain” means that you can play for any, or every bounty in front of you, while the table short stack has the unfortunate situation to be unavailable to play for any bounty, and will be targeted by anyone, and everyone.
It’s not unheard of to see a short stack shove and multiple players call – which brings us to this word of caution:
- Before you make your first decision in a PKO or KO tournament hand, you must ask yourself: are you prepared to play for your entire stack? The action behind you, the stack sizes in front of you, and taking into consideration the blinds will craft the foundation of your first decision.
Visible Bounty Amounts
If you play progressive bounty tournaments on multiple sites you have probably noticed that sites differ in terms of how they display the bounty of a player. Some will show the total bounty on a player’s head, meaning that if you knock them out you will win half of that amount while others will show the actual amount of money you would win if you take out a player.
Be sure you understand this BEFORE playing a single hand in a PKO as this information is critical to building a case to call, push, or fold when a player’s bounty is in play. You don’t want to think you are going to win what you see, only to find out that it’s half of that amount.
Bounty Pool Percentage and Guaranteed Tournaments
The final comment we’ll make is around the percentage of the bounty pool and guarantees. Most bounty and PKO tournaments will see half of the prize pool set aside for bounties, but not all tournaments are set-up this way. 75% and 100% bounty tournaments are out there in the online world, meaning there is less to play for at the final table, and more to play for going after player’s bounties, so be sure you recognize that before entering a tournament. Playing a 100% bounty tournament means there won’t be a money bubble – it’s all about how many bounties can you collect!
In Closing: Pay Attention!
You may notice an underlying theme will all of our learning series: be aware of what you are getting into, and always have a plan of attack. By paying attention, being intentional, and knowing the dynamics of the games we are playing, we will progress much further on the path of success in poker.
Questions, Comments?
Help us foster the discussion! Post your questions about this topic, or leave your own advice or wisdom here to continue the learning!
For more poker formats deep-dives, check out our first installment of this series: Part 1: Satellites
And for a catalog of all our series and poker concepts covered so far, check out our CardsChat Learning Poker Thread Series Index
