Progressive Knockout
A bounty tournament where half each bounty goes to the eliminator and half adds to their own bounty.
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What Is Progressive Knockout?
In Progressive Knockout (PKO) tournaments, every player starts with an initial bounty value included in their buy-in. When a player is eliminated, the player who knocked them out immediately collects half the bounty in cash, while the other half is added to their own growing bounty, making later eliminations increasingly valuable. This structure creates strong incentives to accumulate chips and eliminate opponents throughout the tournament.
Examples
After knocking out three opponents, his own bounty had grown from $10 to over $40 in the Progressive Knockout event.
She called off her stack slightly wider than usual, factoring in the added bounty value available in the Progressive Knockout structure.
Strategy Tips
Adjust your calling ranges to be somewhat wider in PKO tournaments, since winning a hand carries the added value of collecting an opponent's bounty. Target short stacks with large accumulated bounties more aggressively, since eliminating them offers outsized value relative to the risk. Balance bounty-chasing against standard ICM considerations, since busting yourself for a bounty can be costly if it happens too often. Track your own growing bounty value, since it affects how much opponents may be incentivized to target you.