Knockout Tournament Strategy
Guide To The Best Knockout Bounty Tournaments Online
Your Guide To The Best Knockout Tournaments Online + Knockout Bounty Tournament Strategy Tips
by The Poker Dog
Knockout bounty tournaments have proven to be a big hit – introduced by several poker sites in late 2007 these range from just a few dollars right up to the big buy-in ‘Sunday Brawl’ at Full Tilt and ‘Pro Bounty Knockout’ At Ultimate Bet. This article provides a dual function, a guide to what knockout tournaments are available (and worth playing) and a quick strategy guide for knockout bounty tournaments.
Knockout Bounty Tournaments At Full Tilt Poker
 The biggest weekly Knockout bounty tournament of them all takes place on Sundays at Full Tilt Poker. ‘The Sunday Brawl’ is a $240+$16 buy-in knockout tournament which puts a $40 bounty on the head of each player. In addition to the large field and even larger prize pool there is a leaderboard competition for the most knockouts – the winner each week receives free entry to the Sunday Brawl KO bounty tournament the following week. Satellites to the Sunday Brawl run throughout the week and start from as little as $8+80c (many of these are also knockouts)
For those with smaller bankrolls there are a great selection of knockout MTTs and knockout SNGs running at Full Tilt. MTT knockouts include the twice-daily $24+$2 events with a $7,500 Guarantee as well as $10+$1, $5+50c and $3+30c competitions. SNGs run around the clock in 90 player format (final 9 paid) with buy-ins at $24+$2, $10+$1 and $3.30c.
In addition to the advertised knockout tournaments, Full Tilt actually award up to $200 + a free t-shirt for knocking any of their ‘red-pros’ from a regular tournament with more than 30 participants – check the Full Tilt website for details of this and all of their knockout tournaments.
Full Tilt Poker Referral Code SNGPLANET
Knockout Bounty Tournaments At Ultimate Bet
Ultimate Bet are bidding to become the home of the knockout bounty tournament with a massive selection covering many different buy-ins and game types. Monday through Saturday evenings (20:01 Eastern) they host a $20,000 guaranteed knockout bounty tournament with a buy-in of $120+$9.
For those with more modest buy-in requirements there are many further guaranteed knockout bounty tournaments including A $1500 guaranteed with a $6+50c , a $6,000 guaranteed knock-out with a $25+$2 buy-in and many others besides. Pot-Limit Omaha guaranteed knockout bounty tournaments can also be found at Ultimate Bet.
Knockout Bounty Tournaments – Strategy Tips
The main strategy consideration with knockout bounty tournaments is whether to adjust your play to actively seek out ‘bounties’ or whether to play your standard MTT game and see the bounties as an extra bonus. Which ever path you choose, an awareness of what opponents are doing will be useful in making the right adjustments at the right time. With this in mind below are 5 knockout bounty tournament poker strategy tips.
- Expect Looser Play: The ‘fun’ element of knockout tournaments tend to attract more recreational players with a correspondingly lower level of poker strategy knowledge. Expect to see some ‘crazy’ all-in bets and showdowns between decidedly mediocre hands, particularly in the early stages.
- No ‘Cooperation Plays’: In a normal tournament, particularly close to the bubble, players will ‘check-down’ a hand when a small stack is all-in to maximize the chance of eliminating them. In KO tournaments the bounty effectively stops this move – meaning ‘betting a dry side-pot’ becomes the norm.
- When A Small Stack Enters The Pot: With small stacks raising the pot or in the blinds there will often be several players after their bounty! This may lead to a succession of calls or raises by players without premium hands. Isolating the small stack or ‘catching’ a medium stack isolating without a hand both become profitable moves.
- Stay A Little Above Average Chips: There is nothing more frustrating in a knockout tournament than winning a big pot only to miss out on the bounty as your opponent has you slightly covered. Staying aggressive enough to keep (at least a little) above the majority of stacks at your table will maximize the chance of collecting those bounties when big-hands occur.
- The Prize Pool Matters: Finally, the structure of knockout bounty tournaments means that 80% of the players fees are used for a ‘standard’ prize pool – this is significant. However you approach trying to win bounties throughout the tournament the ‘big money’ is at the final table, make sure that reaching this is your primary objective.
Check out Full Tilt or Ultimate Bet today and find out how knockout bounty tournaments can be both profitable and enjoyable – both sites offer you excellent bonuses on your first deposit.
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