“Wanted: dead or alive.” These words are familiar to every fan of the Old West, the spiritual home of the great game of poker. But you don’t have to be an outlaw to have a bounty on your head. Instead, you can play progressive knockout (PKO) tournaments as you strive to win poker shootouts against opponents and head for the final showdown. The more players you eliminate in a PKO tournament, the more you stand to win. No wonder it’s considered one of the most exciting ways to play competitive online poker right now. 

Keep on reading to find out how this popular bounty-hunting tournament format works, and take home a few solid PKO poker tournament tips to help you claim some bounties of your own.

What Is a PKO Tournament?

If you’re someone who stumbled upon this article because you wanted to know “what does PKO mean in poker,” even if you’re familiar with other online poker tournament formats, there are a few key differences between traditional poker tournaments and this specific style of poker tournament. 

As previously mentioned, PKO stands for progressive knockout. It is a type of poker knockout tournament but with an added element of risk for the players involved. In this knockout poker tournament format, each player has a bounty on their head. However, in this version of poker, the bounty is a double-edged sword. As you eliminate players from the game, you only collect half of the eliminated player’s bounty. The other half is added to your own bounty, incentivizing other players in the game to try and take you out of the game.

So, while eliminating players is a great way to increase your bankroll in a game, other players will want to cash in on your success by claiming your bounty. Of course, this creates a snowball effect as the players with the highest bounty will frequently be targeted by other players who are looking to raise their own worth. This may sound stressful, but for many players, this is also what makes this poker tournament format very, very exciting.

How PKO Tournaments Work

If you’re interested in playing in a PKO tournament, here’s how it typically works when you play PKO poker online. For example, say you enter a Texas Hold’em poker PKO with a buy-in of $100. Half the money goes to the prize pool, and the other half goes to your bounty, so you start out with a bounty of $50. You then manage to knock out another player with a bounty of $50. You keep half of the $50, and the rest is added to the bounty on your head, so now you’re on $75. This amount automatically goes onto your cash balance if you’re playing in an online poker tournament.

But if you know the differences between online and offline poker tournaments and would prefer to play in person, don’t worry. There are live PKO poker tournaments. In live poker tournaments, you’ll get special bounty chips. This process continues for as long as you keep eliminating other players. The more bounty you pile up, the more other players are going to want to knock you out! If you manage to win the tournament, you’ll collect money from the prize pool, all the bounties you’ve won during the event, and all of the bounty on your own head.

PKO Poker Tournament Tips

The Early Stages

PKO tournaments attract a different mix of players. A lot of recreational players participate purely because the bounty-hunting aspect is so much fun, while seasoned players see these events as offering excellent value. Understanding this value, though, requires a shift in thinking, with a different strategic approach for each stage of the tournament.

For example, the early stages of a PKO tournament tend to be pretty wild. Players often go all-in even though they’re holding nothing, playing fast and loose in a bid to accumulate chips and pick up bounties. However, this wild gambler approach isn’t recommended.

At this stage of the game, bounties are still quite small, so it doesn’t make much sense to risk your stack to get them. Instead, your goal should be to reach the final stages of the game, where there’s much more money at stake. Rather, approach the early stages of a PKO tournament in the same way as you would play in standard multi-table tournaments (MTTs): go for value and add chips so that you aren’t caught short-stacked in the later stages.

The Middle Game

By the middle stages of a PKO tournament, some players will have bigger bounties on their heads. This makes them prime targets, as the rewards of taking the risk to knock them out increase. Now is the time to loosen up and play more aggressively against players who you have covered. In other words, focus on opponents with fewer chips than you, as you’ll be able to call if they go all in and still have chips left if you lose. For the same reason, be careful of opponents with bigger stacks.

Also, note that the size of your bounty can affect play. If you haven’t knocked out that many opponents and your bounty is still quite small, you can aim to steal pots and bounties without being a target. At the same time, if you’ve been a successful bounty hunter, there’ll always be players who’ll take big risks with weak hands just to take you down. It’s best to avoid bluffing too much under these circumstances. On the other hand, you can make the most of strong hands by using your bounty as bait to lure risk-taking players with weak hands into putting their stacks on the line.

The Late Game

If you make it as far as the late stages of a PKO tournament, you’ll typically see a lot of short stacks with juicy bounties. Once again, this calls for strategic adjustments. Specifically, this is the time to put your stack on the line. Say you’re in a late position, and a short-stacked player goes all in from an early position. It’s actually safer to shove (say, with 40–50 big blinds) than to call. Otherwise, other players might also get involved in hopes of claiming the same bounty you’re going for. That’s the kind of pressure a player can do without.

If the short stack with the large bounty is you, it’s important to adjust how much you go all in with. Make sure you have strong cards when you shove and know when to fold. If you make it to the final table, don’t focus on the bounties so much that you lose sight of the prize pool.

PKO Tournaments are a Knock-Out at Borgata Online

Now that you have a better understanding of PKO tournaments, you’re one step closer to joining the biggest poker tournaments around the world.

But for now, if you’re just interested in claiming your share of the bounty in a PKO tournament, simply register here at Borgata Online. Borgata Online now offers PKO events as a part of a great line-up of weekly and daily online poker tournaments featuring popular variants such as Stud, Omaha, and Texas Hold’em poker. Experience all the fun of live poker without leaving the comfort of home.

In between poker events, Borgata Online’s online casino offers a broad range of great recreational gambling games, including video poker, online slots, and classic table games, such as live dealer blackjack, baccarat, and roulette.

All of this is at your fingertips when you sign up to play at Borgata Online.