Knock out Strategy

Recently I have started playing Knockout Tournaments at the $1.10 entry level and I am wondering if there are different strategies in play from normal MTT or SitNGo tourneys? So far I haven't done too well in the knockout format. Suiggestions?

You will see more multiway pot
You will have less fold equity when short

I think you have to play aggressive to get a lot of chips and eliminate a lot of players.

Knockout tournaments are played in the same way as regular tournaments, many players play very loose in the hope of knocking out another player.

Like the other writers have said, it does come down to being more aggressive. I have been playing in the 100k knockout tourney that is every day at 12:30 pm eastern time. I have noticed that players take more risks with more average hands to try and win the knockout. I do not play this way as much though; my objective is to win some KO'S but get close to the end and juice up my bankroll.

Yes there are actually some pretty big adjustments, that need to be made in tournaments with bounties. Not so much, when stacks are deep, and the pot is small. But when somebody is all-in, and you cover them, you need to call wider, because their bounty is giving you better pot odds. And because other players might want the bounty to, you sometimes need to be very aggressive in isolating an all-in player, particularly if they are very short.

Also there is much less value in outlasting other players, because only half the price money is distributed based on finishing position. So where ICM cause us to be quite risk averse in normal tournaments, bountys kind of negate that and reward a much more aggressive approach, where the goal is to build and maintain a big stack even at the expense of cashing less frequently.

Lets say for example, that you are playing a 9-man SnG. In the first hand you open raise to 3BB with AKs, it folds to SB, who ships his 75BB into the pot. It folds to you, and based on a population read you expect, that most of his range is small to medium pocket pairs and sometimes another AK. In that case the play in a normal 9-man SnG is to fold, because dubbling your stack dont dubble your EV. But in a bounty 9-man you should call, because now you more than dubble your EV, if you win, since 25% of the buyin is already in your account in the form of his bounty.

Another adjustment is, that if you want to bet the river for value and have to choose between making a small bet or putting your opponent all-in, then you should lean far more towards the latter option, so you give yourself a chance to win his bounty. And as others have already said, if you become short, so that the chip value of your bounty is very significant compared to your stack, you wont have fold equity, and this will change your jamming range. The value of hands like 44 or JTs goes down, whereas the value of hands like KJo or A9o goes up, because they dominate part of your opponents calling ranges.

Thank you very much for your insights, Fundiver...you have helped me a lot

fundiver199 said:

Not so much, when stacks are deep, and the pot is small. But when somebody is all-in, and you cover them, you need to call wider, because their bounty is giving you better pot odds.

Click to expand...

Is this true in POK as well?

One thing I’ve noticed - I get into trouble adjusting my calling range too much.

Yes I’m technically getting pot odds to call with only a 30% equity… but if I loose it substantially kneecaps my ability to chase bounties later in the game (when they are progressively bigger).

Nothing definitive - just a feeling I get when playing progressive bounties.

Thanks for the responses now if I can just apply the thoughts. take care

In tournaments I recommend that you enter at the beginning of the tournament since you can profit from the maniacal players, and you have the possibility of winning money from them.

In my opinion, the most optimal strategy in tournaments of this format is to be patient and play mainly with a strong card, using table position.

I don't play bounty tournaments because the variance of the moves that need to be made is very large and you have to have a great reading of the opponent to have as few mistakes as possible, players are aggressive for the bounty of others.

start the tournament at the very beginning, because then there are more bad players and a better chance to win the bounty right away.
bounty tournaments require a more aggressive style of play because most of the time everyone tries to take smaller stacks off the table themselves.
in bounty tournaments, the size of the stack depends a lot.

the biggest error is play different at the beggining. play tight!!

the early bounty is very little, just like the normal mtt, the biggest prizes come at the mid to the final game

darkvick said:

the early bounty is very little, just like the normal mtt, the biggest prizes come at the mid to the final game

Click to expand...

This is actually not true, since a typical starting bounty in a PKO is 25% of the buyin. So if for instance the starting stack is 5.000 chips, a bounty is worth 1.250 chips, which does give you significantly better pot odds to call an all-in. But even so you obviously still should not put in 100BB without a strong hand, and adjusting to bounties can easily be taken to far. But its an equally big mistake not adjusting at all or thinking, that you "should not gamble in the early game". You absolutely should, if you are getting the right odds to do so, and if you bust, you just reenter or play the next one.

fundiver199 said:

This is actually not true, since a typical starting bounty in a PKO is 25% of the buyin. So if for instance the starting stack is 5.000 chips, a bounty is worth 1.250 chips, which does give you significantly better pot odds to call an all-in. But even so you obviously still should not put in 100BB without a strong hand, and adjusting to bounties can easily be taken to far. But its an equally big mistake not adjusting at all or thinking, that you "should not gamble in the early game". You absolutely should, if you are getting the right odds to do so, and if you bust, you just reenter or play the next one.

Click to expand...

Once again you are spot on Fundiver. Lots of resppect for you.

KO tournaments are played in much the same way as non-KO tournaments. They are only in certain cases where you can make different decisions because there is a considerable Bounty in between and depending on your stack.

The main mistakes newbies make in PKO tournaments is playing too aggressively for bounties. Mistake number two - playing without any adjustment to the format at all.The optimal strategy is somewhere in the middle: act more actively if you cover the opponent in the hand, or when you see an easy target that is chasing an easy bounty. But don't neglect the basic concepts of tournament play.