WINNING TIPS FOR KNOCKOUT POKER TOURNAMENTS

If you haven’t yet played in a multi-table knockout poker tournament (MTT), this article may be your best place to start understanding the game and the level of excitement you can expect. If you’re a veteran of MTTs, this is where you can pick up a number of valuable online tournament strategy tips that lead to you slaying a bunch of eager competitors and walking away with their cash bounties.

The coolest part of MTTs is that every player buys in for the same price. These tournaments have become the game for serious poker players all over the world. In fact, lots of players have turned the smallest starting bankrolls into massive sums of cash very quickly, while risking very little money by surviving and dominating an MTT.

Our Ignition knockout tournaments allow you to play up to 15 tables at the same time. All you need is a little cash, a razor-sharp mind, nerves of steel and a killer instinct. Oh, and some invaluable advice from the folks that know these tournaments inside and out.

If you’re not playing knockout poker tournaments on the regular, you’re totally missing big fun and bigger opportunities. Among seasoned players and newbies, they’re considered the biggest and best value online, hands down.

WHAT ARE KNOCKOUT TOURNAMENTS?

Knockout poker tournaments are unique MTTs and Sit & Gos that split the prize money. One part goes into the general pool and the other gets distributed among the players for every opponent they knock out.

Once seated at possibly dozens of tables, every player in a knockout poker tournament, including you, has a bounty on his or her head. So, when you play in a tournament with a $25+$2.50 buy-in and $5 bounties, for example, $20 goes into the regular prize pool, $5 goes to each player’s bounty, and $2.50 is the fee. Every time you eliminate a player, you win their $5 bounty plus the usual payout.

What’s fun about these tournaments is that you can win cash even when you don’t finish in the money. You’re boosting your bankroll with every opponent you knock out.

IGNITION HAS HIGH OCTANE KNOCKOUT TOURNAMENTS 

This past summer at Ignition, our very first knockout poker series featured 100 daily events and more than $4.5 million in guaranteed prize pools. It’s super intense and lightning-fast action with our sit-and-go knockout tournaments with buy-ins ranging from $3.30 to $162 and 6 or 18 player formats.

Our progressive knockout tournaments (PKO) ramp up the excitement, the battles and the prizes even further. In this format, every player’s bounty grows with each opponent they knock out. This also puts a bigger reward on knocking them out. Anytime you eliminate a player, you not only pocket their displayed bounty amount, the same amount is added to your own progressive bounty. That makes you a high-value target.

When you’re ready to step into the big leagues check out our progressive knockout tournament schedule and details.

WINNING TIPS: HOW TO KNOCK OUT YOUR OPPONENTS AND TAKE IT ALL

Knockout poker tournaments are often fierce battles where only the strong (or the very lucky) can survive… and thrive. So, if you’re equipped with nerves of steel, solid poker skills and a killer instinct (cruel but kind), you could win the whole thing.

But “could win” is not good enough. So, we’ve got some poker tournament tips you’re going to want in your weapons cache to help you stay alive and continue the fight.

1. PLAY AGGRESSIVELY FROM THE START

Show your opponents who’s the boss. First, it makes the whole thing more fun, but aiming to win chips right from the start sets the stage, draws the line in the sand, distracts the enemy… and other art-of-war clichés. Seriously though, even adding just 10% to your stack early may put you ahead of most at your table and give you way more chances to win your opponents’ bounties.

2. AIM FOR THE SHORTER STACKS

Look, you’re only going to win a bounty against an opponent with fewer chips than you. So, you should look for every opportunity to get into pots with shorter stacks. You don’t want to play multi-way pots because you’ll need to play your hand more honestly, while another stack could have more chips. That’s how you kill your plans to take the bounty in your sights.

3. WATCH FOR THE MICROSTACKS

Don’t let any opponent with a very short stack get away without pressuring them when you have the chance. If you’re playing multiple tables and making numerous quick decisions, your attention gets distracted too easily. That’s when you miss the player getting their stack demolished. When you see a stack with a good bounty, you need to do everything you can to challenge that player because you’ll get bounty equity without hurting your own stack.

4. KEEP YOUR CHIPS ABOVE AVERAGE

Imagine the frustration of holding a winning hand in a knockout tournament and missing the bounty because an opponent had a few more chips! You should maintain your aggressive playing style to keep just ahead of most of your opponents. When those big stacks come along, you will get the bounties and win the chips!

5. BEWARE LOOSE PLAYERS

Knockout poker tournaments are fun so they attract the kind of players whose math skills and strategic thinking are somewhat lacking. Wacky bets and all-in showdowns are too common, especially early on. Make adjustments to get the most value from your made hands and close the door on bluffs and continuation bets.

BRUSH UP ON YOUR POKER SKILLS

As much fun as they are, knockout poker tournaments will get frustrating very quickly if your poker game is not up to the challenges better opponents will throw at you. Before you register for your next poker tournament, spend some time on our poker strategy page and learn how to improve your playing, or, head over to the poker lobby for the full schedule of qualifiers, tune-up tournaments and more.