The Bounty Builder Series are one of the most popular type of tournaments available on PokerStars, a progressive knockout type of tournament with around 2.5K GTD and 4k GTD respectively.

Many new tournament players (such as myself) looked up to two particular type of bounty builder tournaments:

-The 0,55$ Daily Bounty Builder
-The 1,10$ Daily Bounty Builder

There are a few reasons why:

1. It allowed the new players to take part in a tournament experience with a minimum deposit bankroll (5$)
2. It allowed for a chance to quickly recover the tournament fee by knocking out about 4 opponents, basically turning the tournament in a free-roll.
3. The investment into these tournaments took a small hit at anyone's bankroll, as the initial fee was so small
4. The speed of those tournaments was regular, just perfect for getting familiar with the experience of an online poker tournament.

Most of the new players on any given poker room will usually deposit a small amount of money to start with, with additional deposits following the initial one if needed.
This meant that you had a few chances to compete into these small tournaments without wasting more than 5$ to 10$ per week, that's one of the reason why these tournaments were very popular, because it was the closest thing we had to a free-roll tournament with decent payouts.

The remaining Bounty Builder Tournaments now start from 2.20$ which may result into some players not having the bankroll to join these type of tournaments anymore as the entry fee raised up considerably for those with a small bankroll.

Hi there!
Thank you for the updates. That’s really not a good news for players who just started and the bankroll is small((
I think PokerStars made a mistake and can loose some players.

I think it is a serious mistake, I do not see well that those tournaments take place. everyone should have the opportunity to play tournaments on the site, whatever their finances.

They have not only removed the Bounty Builder ($0.55 , $1.10) but also all the Hots and the Bigs. You can still find some $1.10 tournaments.

Plus they change the SnG satellites. Shootouts of 16 players have now stopped and got replaced by on-Demand(I think I like that better) , with 1 Rebuy and 1 Add-on(1R1A).

I don't know if they have feedback by microstakers but I was playing all of them!

But nevertheless, each player can play in freerolls and thus build a bankroll from scratch. Freerolls are a great option for beginners.

Of course less choise is never a good thing for players, but volume has been tanking lately, so its quite natural, that PokerStars have had to reduce the availability of SnGs and MTTs a bit. And there are still plenty of 1$ tournaments, people can play, including 45 and 180 man SnGs.

I see other sites keeping games like these , even if they do not reach the guarantees and they have overlays , for players' bankroll boost reasons , even if many players do not reivest their profits in these games , I believe they shouldn't have stopped providing them . That was a mistake .

Hopefully there just making changes and they will be back shortly once they are done with what every there doing. Poker stars is not a company that makes stupid moves.

Originally Posted by akmost

Plus they change the SnG satellites. Shootouts of 16 players have now stopped and got replaced by on-Demand(I think I like that better) , with 1 Rebuy and 1 Add-on(1R1A).

Guys just discovered that the 16 players Shootout tournaments(16 players , 4 Max tables) are still running but you need to double check your filters in the ''Sit & Go'' tab.

After the update it was by default unchecked(at least for me) the short ring 3-6 players option.

i noticed that pokerstars has reduced drastically its number of traffic during the last years, what will happen after this?

Originally Posted by canabero

i noticed that pokerstars has reduced drastically its number of traffic during the last years, what will happen after this?

Thats difficult to say, but at least 3 things are going on here:

1) Volume in online poker has been slowly declining for more than 15 years after the so called "poker boom".

2) COVID-19 related lockdowns gave online poker a huge boost. But now, that those have mostly been lifted, people want to catch up on all those outgoing activities, that were not allowed for more than a year. And that means less time to sit at home and play online poker.

3) GG Poker have taken a substantial amount of market share from other sites over the last few years.

There are many ways to improve your game without spending a single cent.Yes, playing for money increases the excitement and tension in the game it is always difficult when there is something to lose.In the game, you need to set goals first of all.When considering tournaments, find suitable ones for yourself.Experience comes with years and whether you have money in your account or not does not matter at all.

I noticed too. It's really a shame as it was a good opportunity for micros to play in a tournament like the bounty builder. I particularly liked to play. I don't understand why they removed these limits from the grid.

these tournaments are unprofitable for pokerstars
too little rake
useless load on servers
players will just go to + 3$ tournaments

Originally Posted by Maxmustdie

these tournaments are unprofitable for pokerstars
too little rake
useless load on servers
players will just go to + 3$ tournaments

If that was the line of thinking, it is a little strange, that they still offer so many SnGs for less than a dollar like the 10c 360 man turbo and so on and so forth. So I think, its more a case of volume having declined, and therefore the offer of MTTs must be adjusted accordingly.

This can be done in two ways. Either they can cut the guaranty of each tournament, or they can reduce the amount of tournaments running, or a combination of both. If they only reduce the guaranties, they might end up with a lot of rather small field tournaments, which might also result in some players being unhappy.

Given that some tournaments had to go, because much less people are playing, I do think, it makes sense to cut the bottom buyins of the featured formats like Bounty Builder, Big and Hot. These are supposed to be the "main" tournaments on the side, and except for the "Hot" they usually last something like 6 hours or even more.

Obviously the people playing the now removed tournaments will disagree, but if we are potentially going to play for such a long time, dont we want to be playing for even just a bit more money like 2,2 or 3,3$, so that we can win some decent prices in the end?

As you say, some players will move up, and one person playing a 3,3$ Bounty Builder generate as much rake as 3 people playing the now axed 1,1$ Bounty Builder. And as for those, who still want to play for 1,1$, there are "regular" tournaments, which start a bit shallower with just 100BB, and there are 45-180 man SnGs. These finish in a bit less time, which at least to me makes more sense, if we are only playing for a dollar.

So I was going to post a thread about how I love how stars has cut most of it's tournies under a buck to offer more BB's at $2 an above as well as adding a couple more Bigs at $2.20 and $3.30. I love the changes as it offers me more to play but I see how this hurts the smallest stake micro players. I think this has something to do with GG trying hard to make a great Micro Sched based around $2-$3 tournies and Stars trying to catch up a bit.

One thing has gone, another will come, I hope even more interesting, usually pokerstars set the fashion, and then the rest of the pokerrooms take themselves with minor changes. As for the traffic, I tried other poker rooms, but in the end you realize that everything is a little more comfortable at the stars.

I found it hard to find smaller buy in knockouts on there, I guess it will be even harder now

don't be discouraged, card chat gives you plenty of bankroll opportunities!













[COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.54)][COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.54)][/COLOR][COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.54)][/COLOR]



[/COLOR]

Since PS has been sold to Fox, they are getting more and more greedy. What did you expect? They have billions, what does a penny mean to them? Only one more reason to leave PS and stay on 888

Originally Posted by akmost

Guys just discovered that the 16 players Shootout tournaments(16 players , 4 Max tables) are still running but you need to double check your filters in the ''Sit & Go'' tab.

After the update it was by default unchecked(at least for me) the short ring 3-6 players option.

You can also find them by clicking on the '<X> satellites available' link from the main lobby or the satellite section at the bottom of the lobby.

Originally Posted by johnnylawford

You can also find them by clicking on the '<X> satellites available' link from the main lobby or the satellite section at the bottom of the lobby.

Thanks a lot , I always forget that!!!

Best of luck!

Originally Posted by KRANKES

Only one more reason to leave PS and stay on 888

Thats kind of a weird statement, since most of the feutured tournaments on 888, that can be compared to "bounty builder", "big" or "hot", are for 4,4$ and up. In fact PokerStars have far more budget friendly tournaments than 888. So really this is more a case of PokerStars catching up to the rest of the industry, as someone already said.

Originally Posted by Schokk

Hi there!
Thank you for the updates. That’s really not a good news for players who just started and the bankroll is small((
I think PokerStars made a mistake and can loose some players.

I haven't played one of those for ages but they're a good idea. I prefer knockout tournaments myself. Had a bad week so going to give it a break for a while.

Couldn't have introduced games in the micros like the previous ones , but with smaller or far smaller prizepools ?? I think again many players would play them , and they wouldn't have overlays , such games do exist in other poker rooms .

Originally Posted by antonis32123

Couldn't have introduced games in the micros like the previous ones , but with smaller or far smaller prizepools ?? I think again many players would play them , and they wouldn't have overlays , such games do exist in other poker rooms .

PokerStars still have plenty of 1,1$ PKO tournaments, they are just not called "bounty builder". But I sort of fail to see, why thats a big deal. Its just a name, and recently the structure for "bounty builder" was changed anyway making them 8-max tournaments, shortening late registration and allowing two reentries. So "bounty builder" now is not even the same as, it was a few month ago. Here is a list of the 1,1$ tournaments, you can play on PokerStars today with starting times listed as Central European Time:

10:45: 1,1$ Progressive KO 6-max turbo 500$ guarantied
11:40: 1,1$ Progressive KO 9-max turbo 500$ guarantied
13:20: 1,1$ Progressive KO 9-max regular 1.000$ guarantied
14:00: 1,1$ 9-max regular 250$ guarantied
15:15: 1,1$ 9-max regular 1.000$ guarantied
16:15: 1,1$ Progressive KO 9-max turbo 1.000$ guarantied
16:40: 1,1$ 9-max regular 1.000$ guarantied
17:40: 1,1$ Zoom 9-max turbo 500$ guarantied
18:25: 1,1$ 6-max regular 750$ guarantied
21:30: 1,1$ 9-max regular 1.000 player cap 750$ guarantied
23:20: 1,1$ Progressive KO 9-max regular 2.000$ guarantied

So a bit for every taste really just not the featured formates like Bounty Builder, Big or Hot. And in top of that you can always get into some 1$ 45-180 SnGs, if you want more action

Originally Posted by fundiver199

10:45: 1,1$ Progressive KO 6-max turbo 500$ guarantied
11:40: 1,1$ Progressive KO 9-max turbo 500$ guarantied
13:20: 1,1$ Progressive KO 9-max regular 1.000$ guarantied
14:00: 1,1$ 9-max regular 250$ guarantied
15:15: 1,1$ 9-max regular 1.000$ guarantied
16:15: 1,1$ Progressive KO 9-max turbo 1.000$ guarantied
16:40: 1,1$ 9-max regular 1.000$ guarantied
17:40: 1,1$ Zoom 9-max turbo 500$ guarantied
18:25: 1,1$ 6-max regular 750$ guarantied
21:30: 1,1$ 9-max regular 1.000 player cap 750$ guarantied
23:20: 1,1$ Progressive KO 9-max regular 2.000$ guarantied

Thanks fundiver , but I have the feeling the GTD prizepool is far less than it used to be in the past , when I play for $1 I want big GTD , as I am not good player and with small bankroll , so if ITM I desire a good score

55c seems better for my skills and bankroll , satellites at these stakes <$1

my bankroll allows me to play1$ tourneys but I do not dare , some on ACR sometimes , when they offer big promotions and big GTDs for $1.10 or $2.20 , their ACR veryday $1.50 tourney for GTD $1500 is better than almost all PStourneys nowadays , lol

Originally Posted by Luvepoker

Hopefully there just making changes and they will be back shortly once they are done with what every there doing. Poker stars is not a company that makes stupid moves.

You're trollololololing here, right?

Originally Posted by antonis32123

Thanks fundiver , but I have the feeling the GTD prizepool is far less than it used to be in the past , when I play for $1 I want big GTD , as I am not good player and with small bankroll , so if ITM I desire a good score

The guaranties are smaller, because less people play. But that is actually mostly a good thing, because it makes it easier to reach the final table and win the big prices - even if they are then a bit smaller. You make it sound like, you regularly final table in MTTs with 1.000+ participants. But thats simply not the case. And unless you final table, the size of the price pool does not matter, since the smaller prices are always the same relative to the buyin.

With all that being said if you find good tournaments on other sites than PokerStars then by all means play them. I have never said, Stars is the best place to play MTTs. In fact I have always said the opposite, at least until you reach mid stakes and/or if you are a heavy volume grinder, who wants to play 10+ tables at the same time. If neither of that apply to you, then one obvious disadvantage of Stars is, that they charge 20% more rake for micro and low stakes MTTs than any other site. But thats a different topic and has nothing to do with their game selection or the size of the guaranties.

Yeah, I didn't like nor understand this update.

I was disappointed with this change! let them review this attitude!