Ten reasons to try the Bounty Builder Turbo Series
We are a few days in to the Bounty Builder Turbo Series on PokerStars and the action is only getting more heated. If you’re still unsure whether to take the plunge, here are 10 things you might consider as reason to get involved.
Remember, you’ll be playing for a slice of $25 million guaranteed across the series (Reason 1), and there’s enormous enjoyment to be had in building up bounty payments (Reason 2), from players across the globe (Reason 9). You might even end up playing for an enormous final bounty (Reason 3), which will make a heads-up duel even more exciting than ever.
We present: 10 reasons to play Bounty Builder Turbo Series
1. EARN A SLICE OF $25 MILLION GUARANTEED
It’s not unusual for there to be an enormous guarantee on a major PokerStars series, but it always feels good to restate it. In Bounty Builder Turbo Series, there are guaranteed prize pools of $25 million across the 184 tournaments, with a minimum of $10,000 for even the very smallest $5.50 buy-in event. Even if you’re only comfortable at the lowest stakes, it should be fun to look at the enormous prize pools and smile. Check out the full schedule.
2. PROFIT EVEN IF YOU DON’T CASH
Although everyone will rightly still be aiming for top spot, PKO tournaments give you the chance to get your buy-in back, and more, even if you don’t make the money. How so? Well, all players in PKO events have bounties on their heads and you earn a cash reward for knocking them out. With at least 25% of a buy-in on offer for each elimination, it doesn’t take long to get your buy-in back (at the very worst, four knockouts) and then everything else that comes your way is pure profit. Take a look at our PKO explainer infographic to learn more.
Yuri “theNERDguy” Martins: Bounty hunter extraordinaire
The difference between first and second places in any poker tournament is always significant, but in PKO events it can be simply enormous. In Event #7 of this Bounty Builder Turbo Series, the Brazilian crusher Yuri “theNERDguy” Martins won a total prize of $169,762 for his first place, an incredible $112,383 of which came in bounty payments. That’s nearly twice what he earned from the main prize pool. How important were his bounty payments? Well, “ULOSEMFKR!!”, of Estonia, who finished second, won “only” $14,414 in bounties, meaning their total was $71,793. The rush for winning a heads-up duel at the end of a PKO event is second to none. Martins won nearly $100K more than his opponent thanks to winning that last battle.
4. DOUBLE UP IN THE MAIN EVENT
Although SCOOP and WCOOP tend to offer three buy-in levels for all events (low, medium and high), tournaments in Bounty Builder Turbo Series for the most part only take place at one price point. It means there’s usually only one chance to prevail in each event. The exception to this rule is the Main Event, which takes place on Sunday, May 30, and has two buy-in levels. There’s a $2 million guarantee on the tournament with a $530 buy-in, and $1 million on the lower buy-in Main Event, which has a buy-in of $55. For a combined $585, you can play for $3 million, and pit your wits against players of all levels. Remember, satellite tournaments are available to get you into all of these tournaments, and you can find out more about the satellite route in our Beginner’s Guide to the series.
5. GET RICH REWARD FOR BULLYING WITH A BIG STACK
It’s always fun to have a big stack in poker. It allows you the freedom to make so many more plays than when you’re hindered by a short stack, and it promotes you to the role of bully. The gratification comes instantly when you’re a chip leader in a PKO event as you can take marginal lines against shorter stacks and potentially knock them out — picking up their bounties if and when you hit. Big stack bullying is an absolutely critical part of tournament play. “You get to snowball your already big stack to an untouchable point if you can pick your spots wisely,” according to PokerStars School’s Pete Clarke.
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6. GET IN ON THE CHEAP, AND THEN…
The lowest buy-in in BBTS is $5.50. The highest is $5,200. But in keeping with all major tournaments on PokerStars, there are a host of satellites running to get you into the higher buy-in events for relative pittance. Often there are satellites to the satellites, so you can reduce your initial outlay even more. There’s nothing like getting into a major event for a tiny fraction of the buy-in, and the BBTS offers your latest chance.
7. …LEARN HOW TO ADJUST YOUR STRATEGIES
According to Irish pro Dara O’Kearney, who wrote the first book about playing Progressive KO poker tournaments, “It isn’t the worst advice to say that in PKOs you should do the complete opposite of what you would do in a satellite.” O’Kearney expands his advice in a book excerpt we published on PokerStars Blog last year: “In satellites you make some extreme folds with strong hands because the prize structure is all or nothing, you don’t get more for winning more chips. In a PKO you make some extreme calls with weak hands because the presence of bounties gives you an extra incentive to win a hand beyond increasing your chip stack.” This switch up in strategies should appeal to players trying to show their versatility. How about qualifying via a satellite and then loosening up?
8. HATE THE BUBBLE? PLAY A TOURNAMENT WHERE THERE ISN’T ONE
Total Progressive KO poker has one very unusual characteristic: there isn’t a bubble. In fact, there isn’t a prize structure at all, at least not in the conventional sense. In this format, the total buy-in goes into the bounty pool, meaning there’s a big reward if you manage to knock anybody else out — and there’s a big bounty on your own head from the start. We outlined the difference between KO, PKO and TKO in a recent post, but just remember this: if you’ve ever been stung by finishing on the bubble, there’s no such thing in a TKO.
…as if you needed any encouragement
9. GO BOUNTY HUNTING ACROSS THE WORLD
International travel is difficult at the moment, but Bounty Builder Turbo Series allows you to lock horns with players from across the globe. On the series’ opening night, winners came from Canada, Argentina, Romania, Slovenia, Peru, Brazil, Sweden, Russia, Belarus, Uruguay and Uzbekistan and that’s just a tiny fraction of the number of countries whose players joined the fray. Here’s a chance to build up a nice pile of international bounties.
10. GET IT DONE IN AN INSTANT
Every tournament in the Bounty Builder Turbo Series is quick, but some are super quick. The first three hyper-turbos of this series took 2hrs 13mins, 2hrs 56mins and 2hrs 45mins, respectively, to play through. The next three were done in 2hrs 24mins, 2hrs 33mins and 1hr 54mins. In short, if you only have a very limited amount of time to spare, you can hop into one of these hypers and play every single hand, and it’ll still be quicker than your average Scorsese movie. Take a look at the schedule breakdown, where we’ve highlighted the quickest events.
