Winning bounty poker tournaments calls for a special strategy because you’re playing for two different prize pools at the same time: the regular tournament prizes and the bounty prizes. Since a large portion (possibly 75%) of online tournaments are now bounty formats, it’s really important to know how to adjust your play. Online poker pro and Upswing Poker coach, Pav, focuses on Progressive Knockout (PKO) tournaments, the most common type online, while also discussing Static Bounty tournaments.
Here are some important strategy tips for winning bounty tournaments:
- Master Bounty Valuation: Knowing how to roughly calculate a bounty’s value while you play is super important. A general guideline is that each starting bounty is about 25% of the starting stack. For example, in a $109 buy-in with $100 going to the prize pool, a $25 bounty is 25% of the buy-in and a quarter of the starting stack. To make the best decisions, calculate how many extra big blinds the bounty adds to the pot at any given time. A 1250 chip bounty is worth 12.5 big blinds with 100 blinds, but only 1 big blind with 1200 blinds, which is a big difference.
- Adjust Pot Odds Calculations: You need to include the bounty’s value when figuring out your call calculations. When a player you cover goes all-in, the bounty adds chips to the pot that you win instantly if you knock them out. Adjust your required equity by dividing your call amount by the total pot plus the bounty’s value. For instance, if you normally need 43% equity to call an all-in, with a 1250 chip bounty, you might only need 29% equity to call. This lets you call with a wider range of hands, like 83 offsuit, which has almost 30% equity against a typical jamming range.
- Exploit the Early Stages: In the early stages of a tournament, you can gamble a lot because the bounty is worth the most in terms of big blinds. ICM (Independent Chip Model) isn’t really a factor early on, so if a call is profitable based on bounty value, it’s a profitable call no matter your stack size. You can re-enter early if you bust, but re-entering becomes risky later when a significant portion of the prize pool (bounties) has been claimed.
- Target Short Stacks and Players You Cover: It’s key to strategically target players you cover, especially those with short stacks and bounties. You could theoretically call with a very wide range (even 80%) and three-bet less, particularly with short stacks behind you that you cover, because you want to get involved in the pot and try to stack them. In reality, you can still three-bet strong hands but flat call with many weaker ones since opponents don’t squeeze wide enough. If you’re on the button and the big blind is short (like 5 big blinds) with a good bounty, you should open with almost every hand (at least 75-80%), playing like a big ante game. If a player with a moderate stack (like 15 big blinds) and a decent bounty raises, play against them more often. This might mean three-betting with a wider range, including speculative hands like suited connectors, to try and force them all-in pre-flop. But be aware of players behind you who cover you; a smaller three-bet might be better than shoving yourself.
- Adjust Your Shoving Range When Short: When you’re short-stacked (like 8 big blinds) and expect opponents to call wider because of your bounty, shove tighter. Instead of hands like suited connectors (89s, 109s), which rely on fold equity you won’t have, look for more high cards. Hands like Ace-high or King-high, and even weaker offsuit high-card hands (like King four offsuit), become better shoves because opponents call with very loose ranges that your high cards dominate.
Static vs. Progressive Bounty Tournaments:
- In Static Bounty Tournaments, the bounty value stays the same. Since the bounty is a portion of the starting stack, its value in big blinds decreases a lot as the tournament progresses. Late in the tournament (like the final 20%), you can almost ignore the bounty because it doesn’t add enough value to justify wide calls; it’s often best to play solid and tight like a normal tournament. Overvaluing the bounty late is a common mistake.
- In Progressive Knockout (PKO) Tournaments, your bounty increases when you eliminate someone, making them more important later in the tournament than in static bounties. But even in PKOs, players tend to overvalue the bounty in the mid-stages and at the final table. At the final table, consider the bounty value along with ICM. Compare the potential bounty win to the next pay jump; if the bounty is much smaller, it’s probably not worth risking a large part of your stack.
To improve your strategy, use equity calculation tools like Poker Equilab to understand how bounties affect required equity against different ranges. Doing some “pen and paper” math and practicing this “mental muscle” will help you make faster, better decisions during games.
You can find more strategy tips in the course Runitonce Knockout Tournament Mastery.