different strategy for knockout tournaments?

Jacki Burkhart

Jacki Burkhart

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I've never actually played a knockout tournament, however I think it may be something for me to try since usually in every MTT I play I tend to knockout at least 1 player....and the deeper I run the more players I tend to knock out (duh....I know everyone does....what I mean is I tend to knock out more than my fair share....I don't sit tight and wait, I mix it up and have a good feel for where I'm at post flop)

anyways, is there any different kind of strategy compared to a standard MTT?

The only thing I can think of off the top of my head is it is even more profitable to play speculative hands early on....so maybe calling a few more raises with a small pocket pair in position is a good idea...

am I on the right track? any other thoughts or adjustments to make?
 
IntenseHeat

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The first bounty tournament that I played was a $10 tourney with $5 going to the prize pool and $5 going to your bounty. I was immediately amazed at the way the chips were flying. Players were shoving 1900 chips into 200 chip pots the second they flopped top pair, regardless of their horrible kicker. It was insane. I had a player call my 5x pre raise with J-4. A Jack hit on the flop. So when I bet 2/3 pot with my pocket Kings, this guy came over the top of me for his whole stack. Luckily I had him covered and was left with 350 in chips when he caught a 4 on the river. A couple hands later I picked up A-A and shoved all-in after a couple of players limped in front of me. Four players called, with all manners of weak nonsense, all hoping to collect my bounty. All they managed to do was quintuple me back up to a playable stack.

Although I did cripple my share of players, leaving them holding 2 or 3 blinds, I would always pick up a hand like 3-7 when they went all-in the next hand. A lot of players would call with ATC, hoping for the bounty, but that's not the way I play. I figure if you play strong poker, you don't have to chase bounties. They will come to you. Eventually they did, but not until I had reached the final table, where I knocked five players out on my way to victory.

I do play in one bounty tournament a few times a week. It's a $5 tourney, with a $1 bounty on each player's head. Again, I'm amazed at how many players are willing to shove all-in for ten or twenty times what is in the pot to win a bounty that is one fifth the entry fee.

My strategy is to play my normal game, not force anything. I play to make the money first and foremost and let the bounties come to me. I might tend to leave a lot of short stacks behind for other players to pick off and benifit from. But if you play for the win, you can't help but pick up a few bounties on the way. I tend to get a lot of players shoving into me with the second best hand. They seem to suspect me of bluffing alot, even though no one ever seems to be able to catch me bluffing. They must see me in spots where they would ship it if they had it, and assume that I must be bluffing or I would have done the same.

At any rate. Give one a try and see how you like it. You have to be a little bit tilt proof, because you're going to see a lot of crazy play, like players calling light, chasing draws, and shipping their stacks on draws. I try to keep my game tight and play hands in my normal range. I do tend to check raise and trap more. I will often check the best hand on the river, giving my opponent the opportunity to bluff at the pot. Of course their bluffs tend to be all-in bluffs. Just be careful not to get caught up in the nonsense. Don't let yourself be blinded by the bounties. Play good poker and they will come to you.
 
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Jacki Burkhart

Jacki Burkhart

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thanks!

what about considering stack sizes of opponents? for instance, should I take into account whether or not I cover somebody before deciding whether or not to call their raise with a speculative hand? or should it be business as usual? I do consider stack sizes in normal play....but not with an emphasis on who covers who.

also, it seems to me that hands like AK and AQ should be played extra cautiously in the beginning
 
IntenseHeat

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Oh yeah, stack sizes should definitely be taken into account. Some players will be more hesitant to shove on someone that has them covered. However this is not always the case.

I would say to stay away from speculative type hands. But then again, those are always the type of hands that end up getting me, especially in bounty (knockout) type tournaments. I would caution you that chips will be flying and it will be hard to tell whether someone really has the goods or if they are just getting carried away with a mediocre hand. My preference is to stick to stronger starting hands. This way I don't find myself in the position where I have to decide whether or not to call my stack off with something like top pair, with a weak kicker and a straight draw, where you may be outkicked, up against two pair, or facing someone that has already made their draw.

As for hands like A-K and A-Q, I wouldn't say it's necessary to be extra cautious, but every hand should be played with some amount of caution. Again, I can't stress enough how much the chips will be flying. People will be getting them in pre-flop left and right with small pairs and weak Aces. For the most part, stronger players won't be open shoving or to eager to get their chips in pre-flop without trying to extract some value out of their hand. But that won't stop bad players from getting lucky. Once you've managed to build up a decent sized stack you can play big starting hands more aggressively. I'm not necessarily the biggest fan of getting your chips in pre-flop. On the other hand, I don't like to lay down big starting hands to donkey farts. You'll know what I'm talking about, once you see some of these guys's shoving ranges. Remember, there's a big difference between flipping for all of someone else's chips and flipping for all of yours.
 
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IntenseHeat

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I was cleaning up my desktop when I saw this hand history. I don't know why I saved it, but it just so happens to be from a bounty tournament.

It's still early in the tournament (level 2). Blinds are 15/30. Starting stacks were 2000. The average stack is prabably about 2300 to 2400 or so at this point. The relevant players in this particular hand are the small and big blind and the player in the +1 seat.

Stack size are...

SB: 1835
BB: 1426
+1: 2245

SB: :as4: :7c4:
BB: :ad4: :9h4:
+1: folded before showdown

Action goes...

+1: Calls 30
Action folds around to SB
SB: Raises to 90
BB: Calls 90
+1: Calls 60

I don't have a problem with any of the pre-flop action. BB was a defender, which is probably why nobody bothered trying to steal the blinds. A-7 is not a bad raise from SB, assuming +1 would have raised if he held more than a speculative hand. Also, A-9 is not a bad call from BB. In fact, I'm surprised he didn't reraise here, being him. The post flop play is where things get a little bit crazy.

Flop: :2d4: :9s4: :7h4:

SB: Bets 180
BB: Raises to 1336 (all-in)
+1: Folds
SB: Calls 1156

Turn: :kc4:
River: :jc4:

Again, I don't have a problem with SB's initial play on the flop. He continues for 2/3 pot, which is a good idea to see where you stand. But when BB goes all-in over the top of him, he calls off 3/4 of his remaining stack with very little hesitation, like it was a no brainer. Initially, I thought that BB's play was a little reckless here too. 44.5x seems like a lot to ship into a 15x pot. But if you're confident that you're ahead here, you don't want to give SB a chance to catch up. So you put him to the test. If he folds here, you're almost back to an average stack. Of course he's not folding, because all he sees is the bounty. Now, he's about to become a bounty. Now, every time someone picks up a decent hand, their hoping this is the hand that he's shoves the rest of his chips in.

Maybe it's just me, but this kinda of play seems a little outlandish for this point in the tournament. But this kind of play is typical for these kinds of tourneys.
 
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horizon12

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Knockouts are not so very different from the freezeout. We're just looking for a little more calll all in , especially against short stacks.
 
Jacki Burkhart

Jacki Burkhart

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played my first knockout last night and picked up 3 bountys before busting. I was about 75% through the field when I busted, so still about 18 players from the money but I still broke even for the tourney (actually, not quite even because of the rake).

I think it was a good experience....I played basically my normal tight game except just a couple more speculative hands in position (maybe 4 more than normal in the first hour).

In regular tourneys sometimes I am afraid to raise the blinds of a short stack when I have a medium strength hand (like A9 or KQ) because I'm afraid they'll ship on me and I'll have to fold, or call at an equity disadvantage...but in this case I made it work to my advantage by just betting most of their stack, pot committing myself if they shoved, but giving myself an out in case a bigger stack shoved.... Other than that small adjustment I played my normal game.
 
IntenseHeat

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Outstanding! I only play them on weekdays during the day. The ones in the evenings and on weekends turn into donkey ship-a-thons, which takes all of the fun out of them. I'm glad you did well and enjoyed it. Good luck in the next one.
 
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