PKO Tournament Strategy: Progressive Knockout Bounties

## Progressive Knockout Tournament Strategy Progressive Knockout (PKO) tournaments give you a cash bounty every time you eliminate a player, with half the bounty going to you immediately and half being added to your own head prize. This bounty element fundamentally changes optimal strategy. In PKO tournaments, calling ranges widen because each elimination has direct monetary value. If an opponent's bounty is worth half a buy-in, you can call their all-in shove with a wider range than you would in a standard tournament. The bounty effectively adds equity to your call. Stack size matters differently in PKOs because bigger stacks have bigger bounties. Covering an opponent (having them covered in chips) gives you the potential to win their entire bounty if you eliminate them. This makes big stack play even more aggressive in PKOs. ## Tournament Rakeback Reminder Tournament buy-in fees count toward your rakeback tier at most rooms. When evaluating tournaments, factor in the effective discount from your rakeback percentage. A $10+$1 tournament at 40% rakeback effectively costs $10.60 after rakeback — a meaningful savings over thousands of entries.