How do you run your bounties? (1 Viewer)

[grebe]

that was actually a follow up question I had. Would a bounty be mandatory or optional? I could see it both ways:
Mandatory: pretty obvious how it works now barring any other fun bounty tournaments.
Optional: Pay out bounties as normal, but you don't get anything if you knock someone out with a bounty but you didn't pay in yourself, and the person you knock out gets any bounties they may have acquired.

A tournament I frequent has optional bounties. If you dont have a bounty chip, you dont collect them. If someone gets knocked out with a bounty by someone without a bounty, he cashes his chip back in for purchase amount. We play a $50 buyin with an optional $5 bounty.

There is also an optional $5 high hand of the night.

 

[legonick]

My 2 cents....

Has anyone tried fun alternative bounties, like scratch tickets? To me that would seem really neat as you have the added bonus of potentially making a lot more from a knock-out! Maybe a $5 scratcher or 3 $1 if it's a low-stake tourney.

Also I'd be careful with bounties as they should and usually do change the dynamic a bit. For most home games you don't always want to encourage crazy-aggressive situations which will bust people out early and thereby are more likely to send them home. My plan is to only play with bounties after getting a good home game going and having everyone very comfortable with non-bounty play.

 

[JZPdub]

My 2 cents....

Has anyone tried fun alternative bounties, like scratch tickets? To me that would seem really neat as you have the added bonus of potentially making a lot more from a knock-out! Maybe a $5 scratcher or 3 $1 if it's a low-stake tourney.

Also I'd be careful with bounties as they should and usually do change the dynamic a bit. For most home games you don't always want to encourage crazy-aggressive situations which will bust people out early and thereby are more likely to send them home. My plan is to only play with bounties after getting a good home game going and having everyone very comfortable with non-bounty play.

We've done something like this a couple times, with "mystery bounties". Totally stole the idea from a potential WSOP event that was supposed to happen this past summer (https://www.cardschat.com/news/poker-players-buzzing-about-wsops-mystery-bounty-event-87488/)

Here's how it works - the bounty pool is established (say $10 per player with 15 players - so $150). Instead of each bounty being worth $10, some are worth $5, some are worth $20, and usually one or two are larger, like $30 and $50). The bounty amounts are put in envelopes, and everyone draws an envelope at the start of the tourney. Once you are knocked out, you give your envelope to the person who knocked you out, they open it up, and see how much your bounty was worth. Adds a little bit more gamble to the whole event - lots of fun watching someone open the envelope, and also figure out what bounties are left as the tourney goes on.

 

[legonick]

We've done something like this a couple times, with "mystery bounties". Totally stole the idea from a potential WSOP event that was supposed to happen this past summer (https://www.cardschat.com/news/poker-players-buzzing-about-wsops-mystery-bounty-event-87488/)

Here's how it works - the bounty pool is established (say $10 per player with 15 players - so $150). Instead of each bounty being worth $10, some are worth $5, some are worth $20, and usually one or two are larger, like $30 and $50). The bounty amounts are put in envelopes, and everyone draws an envelope at the start of the tourney. Once you are knocked out, you give your envelope to the person who knocked you out, they open it up, and see how much your bounty was worth. Adds a little bit more gamble to the whole event - lots of fun watching someone open the envelope, and also figure out what bounties are left as the tourney goes on.

Cool idea! What exact breakdown do you use, and why? Where did you get the breakdown from, the WSOP event?

 

[JZPdub]

Cool idea! What exact breakdown do you use, and why? Where did you get the breakdown from, the WSOP event?

Exact breakdown depends on the size of the bounty pool, but the general idea is that there is one big bounty, one or two larger bounties, a handful of 'above average' bounties, and the rest minimum bounties. The general concept was taken from the WSOP event, and then we just made up what felt fun.

 

[flipkick]

My plan is to only play with bounties after getting a good home game going and having everyone very comfortable with non-bounty play.

pretty much my plan too, I want to establish a stable home game first and then start adding the craziness.

Here's how it works - the bounty pool is established (say $10 per player with 15 players - so $150). Instead of each bounty being worth $10, some are worth $5, some are worth $20, and usually one or two are larger, like $30 and $50). The bounty amounts are put in envelopes, and everyone draws an envelope at the start of the tourney. Once you are knocked out, you give your envelope to the person who knocked you out, they open it up, and see how much your bounty was worth. Adds a little bit more gamble to the whole event - lots of fun watching someone open the envelope, and also figure out what bounties are left as the tourney goes on.

I LOVE THIS IDEA!

 

[TexRex]

We have 2 bounty tournaments a year. They have different bounty rules.

The first is a regular bounty in a freeze out. In our case, $5. That bounty can be split, so if 2 players chop as winners of a hand with a bounty KO, they split the bounties. Bounties, in theory, could be split up to 4 ways. It's difficult to have a single bounty chip in that situation, so we track these on paper.

The second is a bounty that can't be split. The first player to either put the player all-in, or the first to call an all-in, who wins, gets the entire bounty.

This year, that tournament will be a re-buy, so players will get another bounty chip with their re-buy. If you collect 4 bounties, and then are KO'd you keep the 4 you won and give up your own bounty chip.

In both, the winner keeps his own bounty. If we chop, remaining bounties are split among the choppers.

I hadn't ever thought of BG's idea of in a re-buy, you only win the bounty if the person doesn't re-buy. I don't see a reason that wouldn't work. It might change when someone might try to take someone out because it changes the math a bit. I will actually have a 3rd bounty and will poll players to see if they would like to try that.

 

[Blind Joe]

Also not mentioned so far is the 'Bounty-Only' tournament format, where the is no prize pool other than that $$ collected from bounties.

Interesting, I'd never heard of this but I wouldn't mind giving it a go one time!

 

[Talrem]

This post has been very helpful. I had a few ideas of how to run bounties, and the suggestions from other members has been enlightening.

One idea I was toying with was to have the bounty chip introduced as a pot bonus.
It can go one of two ways during the game depending on how many tables you have:
1) The chip is introduced into the pot in the first hand. The winner takes it and claims a percentage of the bounty based on how many tables in the tourney. For example, if you’re playing a 3 table tourney, the three who win the chip on that first hand claim 1/3 of the bounty at the end.”

2) The chip is issued when the pot reaches a certain amount. Winner gets the bounty. Bounty is split based on table count. The amount threshold raises as levels raise. So let’s say it’s a T2500 tourney and the blinds are 25/50 for the first level, the pot must reach 5k for the bounty chip to be thrown in. If the table doesn’t meet the pot threshold in the first level, then the amount increases in the second level as the blinds increase. Once the pot threshold is reached, the bounty chip gets added to the pot. I don’t foresee the threshold not being met even as levels increase.

Alternatives to the usual format.
Good or bad ideas?

 

[ratbastard]

We play a structure with optional bounties and unlimited rebuys for the first 5 levels (15 or 20 minute levels, usually). The buy-in is relatively small, $10, and the bounty is an optional $5 on top of that. If you buy a bounty and bust someone at any point in the tournament, you win their bounty "chip" (we use hotwheels). You can only lose your originally purchased bounty, so if you bust three players, you're guaranteed to get $15 back, no matter what happens.

If you bust someone and didn't buy a bounty, that player gets to keep their bounty (if they rebuy) or just get their $5 back.

Players have the option of buying or not buying a bounty chip with every buy-in or rebuy. Sometimes, people will buy in and get a bounty chip, bust, and then just buy in without a bounty on their future rebuys.

 

[TeamNapoli]

The way i play bounties is the more traditional way mentioned in the previous posts.
I have played at a house game where they run it a bit different.
20% of the initial buy ins goes towards the bounty pool. re buys do not contribute to the bounty pool
the bounty chip is hidden in a starting stack which is randomly picked when you buy your stack
if bounty holder looses their stack in a hand the winner gets the bounty chip
say game starts at 8pm at 9pm the holder of the bounty gets 20% of the bounty pool, at 10 pm no more re buys and the holder of the bounty gets 20% of bounty pool at 11pm holder of the bounty gets 60% of the pool money and bounty is dead

it was interesting way of playing and I will say it was fun, i like games where cash is distributed through out the game via prizes