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.