Knockout Poker at PokerStars guarantees knockout prizes. Poker Knockout Tournaments PokerStars Knockout Rewards

If knockout tournaments aren't part of your regular schedule yet, you're seriously underachieving. To date, this format is both the most interesting and the most profitable of all tournaments on the Internet.

Knockouts are played like normal MTTs, but with one twist: part prize fund(usually from 20% to 50%) is paid for knockouts - opponents knocked out by you. There is a price set for the "head" of each; knocked out a player - got money. It seems to be not nuclear physics, and yet knockout tournaments firmly hold the position of the most profitable on the Internet. Even highly positive players often play them with huge errors! Obviously, correctly calculating your actions, taking into account the influence of the bounty, is not at all as simple as it seems at first glance.

There are several varieties of knockouts, but three of them are the most popular. In Super Knockouts, 50% of your buy-in goes to the regular prize pool and the other 50% you will pay to the player who eliminates you. So a $100 Super Knockout is basically a $50 MTT where you get $50 for every opponent you knock out. Standard knockouts are played in the same way, but a knockout usually costs 20% of the buy-in, which significantly reduces their value. For a long time, these two options dominated the market, until someone came up with the bright idea to vary the amount of the bounty. This is how progressive super knockouts appeared (Bounty Builders on PokerStars). In this $100 buy-in tournament, the total prize pool is still $50, but every time you knock someone out, you only get half of their $25 bounty, and the prize for your own head goes up by the same amount. and becomes equal to $75. The player who knocks you out at this stage will receive $37.50 and add the same amount to their bounty, and so on. This is the most popular format right now, and certainly the most fun, as late-stage bounties grow to a very serious size.

It seems to be simple. It's pretty obvious that in a standard knockout, bounties don't really matter, and it's rarely profitable for us to chase them. In super knockouts, you need to take risks more often, because bounties make up half of the prize pool.

This is reasonable and not too far from the truth. Yet this is only a small part of the overall picture.

Basic Mathematics

Most amateur players think of bounties as real money. When a shorter stacked opponent goes all-in, they see the amount they can get if they win. This is the wrong approach, because tournament poker is different from the cash game. We must keep our calculations in tournament chips, not in monetary units. To make good decisions, we need to know how many chips each bounty is worth. Luckily, it's not hard to figure this out.

At the start of the Super Knockout, your stack is 3,000 chips and you paid half the buy-in for it. The other half is a bounty; therefore the bounty is worth 3,000 chips.

In a regular knockout with a starting stack of 3,000 and a bounty equal to 20% of the buy-in, the bounty value for the eliminated opponent will be 750 tournament chips.

In progressive knockout, the calculations get more complicated. In a regular PSKO, the value of the initial bounty is just over 1,500 chips. Why a little more? Because the winner of the tournament also gets a bounty for himself. Of course, at the early stage of the kilofield, this “slightly” can be neglected, but towards the end, this feature will definitely have to be taken into account.

The Imperfection of Basic Mathematics

The above is a starting point for mathematical calculations in knockout tournaments, but nothing more. The main reason you probably understand is the ICM model: in tournaments, chips won are always worth a little less than lost ones. Aside from ICM, your stack value will eventually exceed the first prize in the tournament, which is obviously absurd.

On the other hand, slightly looser than math calls have their hidden benefits, which are especially pronounced when you are short stacked. Here's a good example:

Everything is folded to the button. Button (8bb stack) goes all-in. Small blind (10bb) – fold. We are in the BB with an 8.1bb stack and are thinking with a hand slightly weaker than a marginal call on the push/fold charts...

If we fold, after this hand, our stack will be the shortest, and our "bounty equity" will drop to zero - the shortest stack is not capable of knocking anyone out of the tournament.

If we call and win, not only will we get a bounty on the button, but we'll also beat the player on the right who is push-folding. Since we have position on him, our chance of isolating him and fighting for a bounty is higher than the rest, and this should also be taken into account when choosing between calling and folding initially.

The main faces of participants in knockout tournaments

Actually, I could write a book about the recurring mistakes in tournaments with bounties, but in this article I will focus on the most common one - the inability to adapt to the stage of the tournament and calculate the cost of each bounty. The ability to calculate in your mind the approximate value of each bounty in tournament chips gives you an immediate advantage not only over the field as a whole, but also over many plus regulars!

Let's look at an example where a loose call is perfectly justified.

$100 Super Knockout, 3,000 starting stack, blinds 150/300/30. Before the player in the small blind folds, he pushes all-in for 3,000. We're in the big blind with a stack over 3,000.

Answer the question: What is the size of the pot?

The correct answer is 6,570 (the ante, our big blind, the small blind's stack and his 3,000 bounty chips).

We have to pay 2,700 for a pot of 9,270, meaning we only need 29.1% equity to call correctly. Without the bounty, the required equity would be 43%.

Now let's look at another example where a loose call would be a real disaster.

$100 Super Knockout, final table bubble, 10 players left. Blinds 15,000/30,000/3,000. Everyone folds to the small blind and he pushes all-in for 300,000 (10BB). We are in the BB and our stack is bigger.

In this example, the bounty value is still 3,000, but now it's just one ante - practically nothing. For a correct call, we need 43.7%, and without a bounty - 43.9%. It is unlikely that 0.2% can seriously affect the calling range.

And yet, time after time, I see people making loose calls at this stage, looking to get a bounty on their opponent, simply because they see a real money price tag. They are so dazzled by the $50 reward that they readily make the mistake of twenty times the cost.

Another common face of knockout tournament participants is that they get confused about the size of the bounty in progressive super knockouts. This is written in the rules, and I have already talked about this, but obviously it will not be superfluous to repeat it again: you only get half the amount that is indicated under the opponent's avatar! The other half is added to your own bounty, which you also claim as long as you have chips.

Loose calls

I repeat myself again, but repetition is the mother of learning. At least 95% of the field in any multi-table bounty tournament is calling pushes too loosely in an effort to get the reward. You should always be prepared to be covered wider than necessary and adjust your pushing ranges accordingly.

Too tight at the start

As often as people call wide, they often play too tight in the early levels. The real curiosity is why most MTT players are so zealous in protecting their stacks early on only to throw them in the trash with a monster call a few hours later.

Risk aversion early in the tournament is a serious leak because the impact of bounties is much higher in the early stages - 3,000 chips are more valuable in 50/100 blinds than 5,000/10,000. Losing even a small part of your stack at the start of a tournament can be a very expensive mistake if it deprives you of the opportunity to knock out your opponents. With a short stack, you are only fighting for half the prize money.

Let's say you have a flush draw in one of the early levels, but your opponent bets all-in, giving you no direct chances to call. However, if your stack is larger and you can qualify for a bounty, it is almost always profitable to call. And even if the decision is borderline, you should always take into account how many chips you have left after folding. I'm usually willing to take a risk if I'm the shortest at the table if I pass, but I can cover most opponents if I get there. The difference in future bounty equity usually justifies a decision that would not be entirely accurate if the tournament were to stop immediately after this hand.

I emphasize that you should not take this to the extreme and indulge in crazy bluffs in order to immediately take the lead. Yes, with a short stack we are only fighting for half of the prize pool, but when we are eliminated from the tournament, we lose both.

Overestimation of dynamics, excessive leveling

This is more common in high buy-in tournaments. I recently came across a post by a very strong player in which he discussed what seemed to him a very difficult decision in the $1,000 Progressive Super Knockout.

Late stage PSKO for $1,000, bounty for Hero - $5,500. After a series of folds Hero (27bb) raises to 2.1bb with Ad Jd on cutoff. Button folds. The small blind (100bb, very strong regular) 3bets to 6.1bb. The big blind (45bb) folds. How to play Hero?

I've been staring at this question for quite some time, trying to figure out what I'm missing. Why did this topic become the subject of a heated discussion that did not stop for several weeks?

I flipped through a few pages. A surprising number of players recommended folding. The second most popular suggestion was to call and play postflop. Only a few offered push.

Why? Because they thought the small blind's range was incredibly strong because we had a big bounty on us and he would have to call our shove with his entire range.

A great example of how knockout tournaments can drive you crazy. It is not surprising to get confused by playing two games at the same time. different games. This can happen to anyone, no matter how good they are technically.

In the example above, I go all-in without hesitation, and here's why:

1. Villain could have 3-bet worse for value and should now call with Kx Qx or Ax Tx.

2. We may well see a fold. If I were the small blind, I would definitely add full bluffs to my 3-betting range, counting on tight folds from the cutoff.

3. Finally, we have a hand from the top 5% range in the CO with a 27bb stack, damn it!

Although knockouts add a new dimension to the usual tournament game, let's not forget that we're still playing poker, and don't over complicate things. First of all, we must play good tournament poker. Sometimes you have to deviate from the standard, but you don't have to compulsively strive for it in every situation. We will play most hands the same way, with or without bounties, and we should not get carried away with absurd adjustments, driving ourselves into the trap of endless leveling.

Progressive Super Knockout - Final Table

In any progressive knockout format, the last player - who is the winner of the tournament - gets a bounty for himself. After knocking out the last opponent, you will receive the full amount for him and for yourself.

Consequently, the payout structure in progressive knockouts and especially super knockouts is always skewed towards first place, and it's important, with all due respect to ICM, to aim to play to win.

Let's look at the next final table:

There are three in the game rikinhf(1.8 million), apop33(748k) and Noooooooooow(838k). Prizes:

1st place: $481

2nd place: $353

3rd place: $258

What should be the strategy of each player?

rikinhd: we have the biggest stack and we can see that the bounty for apop33 is pretty big. It's good to knock him out before the other player does, but it's important to keep a stack that allows you to knock out any of the opponents.

I would play pretty regular poker for the final table, he pressed, but did not do anything very risky. If we double up on any of our opponents, we will lose the opportunity to win the bounty immediately. Failure to scalp apop33 is an extremely bad outcome. The bounty for Noooooooooow is almost irrelevant, so it's not worth doing stupid things in pursuit of it.

So, in this case, the format of the tournament will practically not affect my game, but most players in the place of rikinhd would go out of their way to torpedo apop33, not stopping at completely unprofitable fielding. Yes, the reward is big, but we have absolutely nowhere to hurry. You can safely grind, taking a lot of small pots.

apop33: a very interesting situation, because due to the bounty, our all-in has practically no fold equity. The bounty for the second stack player is negligible, so in terms of knockouts, doubling up gives us almost nothing. So I would try to avoid big bluffs and focus on climbing the ladder: $95 difference is 19 buyins!

But that doesn't mean we have to play nitovo. Taking second place in a progressive superknockout is always a disaster. If rikinhd eliminates the second player, we will get our pagejump, but his stack advantage will increase to 3.5 to 1, and in heads-up we will play for $417.26 (half of the Noooooooooow bounty, the full sum of the other two bounties and the difference between first and second place ). The prize for the first place is not much more - $481. Therefore, risky decisions should not be avoided, the main thing is not to forget that we don't have enough fold equity...

Noooooooooow: If I were him, I would play as aggressively as possible, especially against apop33. We really need this bounty - the next prize is only $95 higher than the previous one, and for apop33 we will immediately get $89.73, plus we will go heads-up for $347.16 with approximately equal stacks.

The ICM model still matters and the $95 pagejump should not be underestimated either, but still I would play aggressively to win without being afraid to take risks, because a knockout will give us not only a bounty and at least second place, but also about 50% equity from the remaining $347.16. Increasing the likelihood of this event is more important than simply climbing the tournament ladder.

excessive tight play and a neat landing in second would be a bigger mistake in my opinion than a slightly questionable push that would often result in us being eliminated third.

P.S: I decided not to cover some of the less popular knockout formats so as not to inflate the length of the article. You can ask your questions in the comments on Upswingpoker or on Twitter - @chuckbasspoker.

On Monday night, PokerStars surprised us with a new tab in the lobby called "Knockout Poker" . And it seems that you rush to see what the poker room has prepared for its users, but then you realize that everything is the same, but in a different wrapper.

New PokerStars 'Knockout Poker' tab features a selection of Sit&Go games (or as the room itself writes - Sit and knockout) and MTT with knockout rewards. Obviously, this is an ardent attempt by the "Red Pike" to draw the attention of the people (and most importantly its recreational part) on Sit&Go.

Here users are offered to play in turbo or regular structures and 9-max or MTSNG formats for 90 people. For the lowest buy-in of $1.50, there is also a 6-max hyper-turbo variation. The limits, in turn, range from $1.50 to $100.

So what's new as a result we have? - Actually, nothing but a new tab in the lobby, as well as an extremely funny animation and sound for knocking an opponent out of the tournament. Check it out for yourself.

At the time of posting (April 18, 22.00 Moscow time) there are obvious bugs in the system. In theory, the player must choose the format and structure he needs, click "Register" and thereby get into a conditional 9-max Sit & Go with rewards for knocking out. Now, from time to time, the "selection" of SNGs does not work and the user is thrown into a regular 9-max without a bounty.

The material will be supplemented as new information becomes available...

Quite a lot of poker players are spoiled for varieties and variations of the game of poker. Different from all games and at the same time more interesting are tournaments with rewards for knocking out. The essence of the game is to knock one player out of the game. For example, you knock out Negreanu, for which there is a bounty, so you and only you will receive a reward for this. The level of awards varies from a dollar to several thousand dead American presidents, for Negreanu exactly 3 thousand and not a cent less.

Types of tournaments with knockout rewards

There are several main types of knockout tournaments. These include Fixed and Increasing Bounty Knockout Tournaments, which are subdivided into Marked Knockout Bounty Tournaments and Knockout Bounty Tournaments. The main field for such tournaments is POKERSTARS (read review).

Fixed Prizes

In this type of knockout tournament, the main goal is to knock out players marked with a special mark. Here you need to knock out one of the marked players in order to win extra money. It's especially interesting when poker pros are the target. They are also given for knocking them out, but the game is much more interesting.

Increasing Rewards

In this type of knockout tournaments, the main difference is that here the reward is not fixed, and the player who knocked out the opponent will receive a percentage of his knockout and at the same time, focusing on this figure, increases the prize for his own knockout. Everything is confusing at first glance. It is better to explain with an example: let's say you get $40 for knocking out one player, the player who knocked him out will receive $30, and the remaining $10 will go to the fund, increasing the cost of knocking out a player.

Contributions

These tournaments are quite expensive in terms of buy-in. So, the buy-in can be three numbers. The first number means the collection in the general pot, which is taken by players who have overcome the deadline and entered the prize zone. The second number means how much you pay into the knockout fund, i.e. collecting for awards. The third digit means the usual tournament fee. Let's say you go to play this type of tournament and see a terrible buy-in of $10+3$+1$. So, 10$ will go to the general cashier, 3 to the prizes for knocking out, and 1$ will go as a poker room commission.

Poker types

This type of tournament is played in both Hold'em and Omaha. Basically, of course, such tournaments are played in Hold'em, it is faster and more maneuverable. The game during such a tournament is quite fast, although slow. When a player with a mark appears, the whole table comes to life and begins to fill it up and knock it out with all his might. Sometimes, it does, but often the players who need to be eliminated are part of the poker room team, for example, at PokerStars, very often those who need to be eliminated belong to the poker room team, eliminate everyone else and win the tournament. The Headhunt promotion is especially popular at PokerStars. This promotion usually takes place once a month, maybe more often.

The tournament is played according to the general rules of the type of poker that you play in the tournament.

conclusions

Tournament battles with knockout rewards are a very interesting part of poker tournaments. These tournaments can be compared with fresh air. While playing poker, you noticed that for the first few days you have excitement and hope, then it all fades away and the players who make money on it forget about the meaning of playing poker, poker simply turns into work. It is knockout tournaments that bring that flavor of victory that has dulled with months or even years of play. Play carefully, but don't fold and don't be afraid when you see a "significant guy". Even after playing and losing to such a player, it will give you pleasure. When all players are the target, play as usual, regardless of the type of tournament. When playing these tournaments, be careful and don't look for trouble if you want to live to the prize line.

There will be a week of rewards for knocking out with a prize pool $5,000,000! During the promotion period, players are expected 35 special tournaments with excellent guarantees. But still, the main feature of the events is the presence of various rewards for knocking out opponents, including super rewards and increasing rewards. 18 October the main tournament of the promotion will take place with a guarantee $500,000. In addition, all week long, players will be able to complete tasks and instantly win up to $5,000. Also, the best players of the leaderboard will compete for an award in $10,000!

Tournament Schedule

Tasks for the week

During the week, all players will have access to daily tasks with random rewards. Upon successful completion of the task, you will receive a prize from $1 before $1,000. Also in the list there is one weekly task, completing which you can get from $5 before $5,000!

Race of the best

During the week, all players will take part in a special leaderboard. To take part in the race, it is enough to knock out two players in one of 35 promotion tournaments. All players who have fulfilled this condition 25 October will take part in a freeroll with a prize fund $10,000 = $5,000 + $5,000 (for knockout bounties). By the way, your stack directly depends on what place you will take at the end of the race.

Free ticket

Make a deposit from $10 (€8/£6/CAD $13) no later than the evening 18 October, indicating bonus code "KOWEEK", and get a free satellite ticket to the main event of the promotion with a guarantee as a reward $500,000!

Promotion Rules

• If the total amount of Knockout Bounty in the Knockout Week Leaderboard Freeroll is less than $5,000, the remainder will be paid to the winner of the tournament. For example, if the total knockout bounty is $4,750, then the winner will receive an additional $250 in addition to their winning prize.
• Tickets for the $10,000 freeroll will be credited no later than 06:59 UTC October 24 (23:59 ET October 23). Players must self-register for the freeroll using the ticket they received. Unused tickets will be cancelled.
• The deposit bonus can be used from October 5 until October 18 at 18:00 Moscow time (11:00 ET). Each player can only receive one Main Event satellite ticket. The minimum deposit is $10.
• Quests can only be completed in Knockout Week 1-35 tournaments. Satellites and other tournaments with knockout rewards do not count towards the mission.
• Satellite tickets cannot be transferred or exchanged for other prizes or money.

Offer from Pokeroff

Register on PokerStars from Pokeroff, make a deposit from $10 with bonus code 10GET20", and instantly get more $20 on account! You will also get access to our exclusive freerolls.

Let's see how we could adjust our strategy for bounty tournaments. Having bounty prizes encourages more action than you would see in a standard tournament. With bounty tournaments becoming more and more common in poker, it would be nice to know how to play these tournaments effectively. If you choose the right approach to them, you will have many opportunities for profit.

In general, a tournament with a bounty is no different from a regular tournament, with the exception of one feature: when you knock out an opponent, you not only take his chips, but also receive an additional reward. As a rule, this is a cash prize, which does not depend on your final place.

This format is popular with new players because even in the event of an early exit, you can leave the tournament not empty-handed, provided that you have eliminated several players. Even if you didn't get into the prize zone, but recorded three or four bounties in your asset, the tournament can be profitable for you. So bounty hunting is worth it, and it's not hard to see why the action at the table becomes more intense when the tournament has bounties.

Check tournament structure

It is worth noting that in some tournaments there is a reward for knocking out only "special" players. Sometimes, tournaments have a pro head bounty to encourage players to play more actively and add a show element to the tournament. But basically the bounty prize is for knocking out any player. In any case, read the rules to take big risks only to find out later that the player who is knocked out is not entitled to a prize.
Read also: Before you start playing, figure out how much of the prize pool is allocated to bounty prizes. In some tournaments, such as K.O. Poker on, it is 50%, in others - only 20%.

But just like in a regular tournament, your main goal is to finish in the top 3.

Let's play!

In tournaments with bounties, players are more likely to play speculative hands because they can get anywhere from 20% to 50% buy-in if they can knock out an opponent. This makes every player with a small stack size a tempting target, but it also suggests the presence of uncharacteristic mistakes by bounty-chasing players. The game will be looser than regular tournaments, which means more tough situations, more bad beats and more opportunities to win money (in literally) with strong hands. Get ready to take action and you won't be disappointed.

More fish

In ordinary poker tournaments it is difficult for amateurs to break into the prize zone, but in bounty tournaments they have a good chance of at least returning their buy-in, even if their tournament life does not last long. An experienced player with a good understanding of tournament strategy can take advantage of the mistakes that players inevitably make. poker lovers. They may forget that if folding looks like the right decision, they should fold. The desire to get "prizes without a prize zone" attracts more weak players than usual, but at the same time, there is more gambling. This can add some easy chips to your stack.

Attacking Short Stacks

Short stacks are not just short stacks, they are treated as ready bounties and players will focus on getting the prizes for knocking them out. And you must be ready for this. You will see a lot more players in the pot and a lot more callers when the short stacks decide to play the hand.

You will get more opportunities to squeeze with a strong hand because your opponent's range of hands is getting wider. They will be distracted by the very fact that the short stack is in play. By knowing this and playing a little tighter, you can get a large amount of chips in multiplayer hands like this.

Nothing more, Mr. Check

In a situation where someone has gone all-in and there are still two players left in the hand, it is common to checkdown, in the hope that one of the players will eliminate the opponent who went all-in. Don't expect such courtesy - when a bounty is at stake, the prize is not shared. This is one of the nuances of a regular tournament that does not work in bounty tournaments.

You are the short stack

After a few of your hands have failed and you're short stacked, you may feel like you're being watched. And you will be right. You've been targeted, so keep that in mind when you're thinking about all-in when trying to steal the blinds. Players will call with weak hands more often than usual, even if the poker software questions their decision. Obviously, we can't play too tight and if it's right to go all-in with a strong hand, do it, but be prepared for bad beats and disappointments.

However, if you get strong hands, you can expect to be rewarded handsomely. Your opponents will make easy calls, so you have three streets to add value with a strong hand because your opponents think of you more as a bounty than what you can play.

Maintaining your stack

You have to provoke your opponents by staying aggressive and never feel safe enough to sit for a long time without getting involved, waiting for a strong hand and letting your stack dry up. Keep growing your stack as there are always enough opportunities to do so.

Participation in bounty tournaments means action, action, action. This format is not for the faint of heart. If you like action, you'll love this tournament structure.