CRStals
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I wanted to further my analysis on the thread that ChickenArse started on pokerstars Grand Tour as I too feel there hasn't been enough discussion on this very different and fascinating brand of poker that they recently introduced.
For those unfamiliar with it, basically it's a 100% PKO shootout style MTT where you can buy-in at any level - $1, $2, $5, $12, $25 and $60. You win money for every person you knock-out, and you collect your bounty when it hits $100 - and you win the MTT.
My general strategy for all sprints minus the final one (I'll get into the $60 buy-in later):
- Identify where you are in chips relative to the big stack - people that win and move up may have bigger bounties to start
- Goal is to become chip leader as quick as possible
- Punish stacks 10BB or less on every orbit
- Any two cards do if you can win two bounties
- Expand your range
To date I've played around 55 to 60 Grand Tours, the majority from the $5 level as I believe this is the most profitable level to play from. Other pros such as the OP Poker Team and Croaks who both are grinding this hard, also play from the $5's. Why?
I've noticed that you can expect the three bounties won in a stage to be roughly 30 to 35% of the buy-ins. This obviously is impacted by the purple and gold jerseys that pay out substantially more...but on average if I had to guess I'd say that you can expect the bounties won to be roughly the equivalent to your full buy-in to the level.
So for each buy-in level the bounties to be won are:
$1 - $1.26
$2 - $2.52
$5 - $6.30
$12 - $15.12
$25 - $31.50
$60 - $75.60
So let's say you started at each level and won all three bounties per level. Your net score, exclusive of your own bounty would be:
$1 - $132.30 --> Net of $131.30 over six sprints ($21.88 / sprint)
$2 - $131.04 --> Net of $129.04 over five sprints ($25.81 / sprint)
$5 - $128.52 --> Net of $123.52 over four sprints ($30.88 / sprint)
$12 - $122.22 --> Net of $110.22 over three sprints ($36.74 / sprint)
$25 - $107.10 --> Net of $82.10 over two sprints ($41.05 / sprint)
$60 - $75.60 --> Net of $15.60 over one sprint ($15.60 / sprint)
So obviously playing from the $25's should be the best for profit / hour only having to play 2 sprints but that requires a substantial bankroll to play. The $12 sprints might appear to be the best past that but keep in mind:
- Skill level would be higher at the $12 sprints - harder to get 3 KO's
- You have more KO opportunities starting from the $5 level - more opportunities to hit a jackpot bounty
- More people can afford playing these from the $5's
I would NOT recommend playing from the $1 or $2 level. There is a lot of variance in these games and as you can see your expected profit goes way down per sprint so if you're looking to try it out and get a feel go for it. But with having to win 5 or 6 in a row, your chances of reaching the end go down.
Game play is quite wide - there are some that shove every hand and leave it up to chance. Others play like a normal MTT which is a mistake because blinds go up every 4 hands. Your 20BB stack playing tight will dwindle waiting for premium hands. So in my experience:
- I don't shove or call a shove on hand 1 unless I have a premium hand
- Identify the "MANIACS" and adjust
- Punish those playing tight
As I mentioned above, I believe you need to be chip leader after the first or second orbit. You need to be the one putting the table at risk in these to win boumties. If you are the one at risk, you will be called by wide hands and will lose more than you should because of variance so it's key to get chips early.
You also need to understand the dynamic of this variant. This is an example of what I mean:
I'm first in chips in the BB with 22BB. UTG has 10BB, BTN has 7 BB, and the SB has 12BB. UTG limps, BTN folds and the SB shoves. I have T7d.
I shove here where in a spin n go or typical MTT I'd fold. Why shove?
I''d be left with 10BB back if I lose, and I'll give the UTG odds to call putting their bounty up. Recall I said earlier - if you can get two bounties at risk you call any two cards. I only need to beat one hand to win their bounty, and could win both making this an easy decision. As it turned out, the SB won the hand but I did beat UTG getting their bounty.
The final level does play different - I've played one and did win all three bounties for a massive win but the game play was definitely tighter earlier on due to your own bounty being so lucrative now as it is available to win. Again, you have to chip up and be the one to put pressure on others but you do find shoving doesn't get called as much as the others sprints because of this. You can easily come back from a very short stack because your opponent will be hyper aggressive to win your bounty so keep that in mind. That goes for any buy-in level - you can chip up fast due to the escalating blinds and the bounty over your head.
One other piece of advice - I don't typically play one buy-in to the end. You are allowed to have 6 sprints on the go at once so I tend to play a couple of $5's, get a $12 one on standby and then work to get another one up. Play both and work towards a $25. And I repeat until I have a couple of $60's+ waiting to play one so I always have a bigger race to go if I get hot.
One tour win to my name thus far - how are you doing in the tour and what things about it do you want to know more about??
Good luck!!
For those unfamiliar with it, basically it's a 100% PKO shootout style MTT where you can buy-in at any level - $1, $2, $5, $12, $25 and $60. You win money for every person you knock-out, and you collect your bounty when it hits $100 - and you win the MTT.
My general strategy for all sprints minus the final one (I'll get into the $60 buy-in later):
- Identify where you are in chips relative to the big stack - people that win and move up may have bigger bounties to start
- Goal is to become chip leader as quick as possible
- Punish stacks 10BB or less on every orbit
- Any two cards do if you can win two bounties
- Expand your range
To date I've played around 55 to 60 Grand Tours, the majority from the $5 level as I believe this is the most profitable level to play from. Other pros such as the OP Poker Team and Croaks who both are grinding this hard, also play from the $5's. Why?
I've noticed that you can expect the three bounties won in a stage to be roughly 30 to 35% of the buy-ins. This obviously is impacted by the purple and gold jerseys that pay out substantially more...but on average if I had to guess I'd say that you can expect the bounties won to be roughly the equivalent to your full buy-in to the level.
So for each buy-in level the bounties to be won are:
$1 - $1.26
$2 - $2.52
$5 - $6.30
$12 - $15.12
$25 - $31.50
$60 - $75.60
So let's say you started at each level and won all three bounties per level. Your net score, exclusive of your own bounty would be:
$1 - $132.30 --> Net of $131.30 over six sprints ($21.88 / sprint)
$2 - $131.04 --> Net of $129.04 over five sprints ($25.81 / sprint)
$5 - $128.52 --> Net of $123.52 over four sprints ($30.88 / sprint)
$12 - $122.22 --> Net of $110.22 over three sprints ($36.74 / sprint)
$25 - $107.10 --> Net of $82.10 over two sprints ($41.05 / sprint)
$60 - $75.60 --> Net of $15.60 over one sprint ($15.60 / sprint)
So obviously playing from the $25's should be the best for profit / hour only having to play 2 sprints but that requires a substantial bankroll to play. The $12 sprints might appear to be the best past that but keep in mind:
- Skill level would be higher at the $12 sprints - harder to get 3 KO's
- You have more KO opportunities starting from the $5 level - more opportunities to hit a jackpot bounty
- More people can afford playing these from the $5's
I would NOT recommend playing from the $1 or $2 level. There is a lot of variance in these games and as you can see your expected profit goes way down per sprint so if you're looking to try it out and get a feel go for it. But with having to win 5 or 6 in a row, your chances of reaching the end go down.
Game play is quite wide - there are some that shove every hand and leave it up to chance. Others play like a normal MTT which is a mistake because blinds go up every 4 hands. Your 20BB stack playing tight will dwindle waiting for premium hands. So in my experience:
- I don't shove or call a shove on hand 1 unless I have a premium hand
- Identify the "MANIACS" and adjust
- Punish those playing tight
As I mentioned above, I believe you need to be chip leader after the first or second orbit. You need to be the one putting the table at risk in these to win boumties. If you are the one at risk, you will be called by wide hands and will lose more than you should because of variance so it's key to get chips early.
You also need to understand the dynamic of this variant. This is an example of what I mean:
I'm first in chips in the BB with 22BB. UTG has 10BB, BTN has 7 BB, and the SB has 12BB. UTG limps, BTN folds and the SB shoves. I have T7d.
I shove here where in a spin n go or typical MTT I'd fold. Why shove?
I''d be left with 10BB back if I lose, and I'll give the UTG odds to call putting their bounty up. Recall I said earlier - if you can get two bounties at risk you call any two cards. I only need to beat one hand to win their bounty, and could win both making this an easy decision. As it turned out, the SB won the hand but I did beat UTG getting their bounty.
The final level does play different - I've played one and did win all three bounties for a massive win but the game play was definitely tighter earlier on due to your own bounty being so lucrative now as it is available to win. Again, you have to chip up and be the one to put pressure on others but you do find shoving doesn't get called as much as the others sprints because of this. You can easily come back from a very short stack because your opponent will be hyper aggressive to win your bounty so keep that in mind. That goes for any buy-in level - you can chip up fast due to the escalating blinds and the bounty over your head.
One other piece of advice - I don't typically play one buy-in to the end. You are allowed to have 6 sprints on the go at once so I tend to play a couple of $5's, get a $12 one on standby and then work to get another one up. Play both and work towards a $25. And I repeat until I have a couple of $60's+ waiting to play one so I always have a bigger race to go if I get hot.
One tour win to my name thus far - how are you doing in the tour and what things about it do you want to know more about??
Good luck!!
