Tourney Ideal Bounty Chip to Buy-in Ratio (1 Viewer)

[MrCatPants]

Just wondering if any of you have an opinion on this topic (dangerous question, I know). What's the best ratio in your opinion for a bounty chip compared to the buy-in for the tournament? Right now I'm doing a $40 buy-in with a $10 bounty chip - but thinking that I might be short changing the bounty slightly. Thoughts?

 

[CraigT78]

Whatever makes taking the money the easiest. I run a $40 buy-in with a $10 bounty. This give my player $10 change which is the suggest donation for the beer/food/booze. If you are not asking for a donation - I would suggest a $50 buy-in with a $10 bounty so all you have to take is 3 $20s and not have 20 $10 bills laying around for change.

 

[SixSpeedFury]

A quarter of the buy-in should suffice. But YMMV.

 

[krafticus]

I think it all depends on what the players want, as well as the cost.

I once had a $50 buy in with a $5 bounty. I now run a $60 tournament, which includes a $10 bounty. Generally they are the same cost to the player (I used to take $5 for beverages, and stocked the fridge). I think the players prefer the bigger bounty.

I think it also needs to take into consideration the number of players. well, maybe not, but if you have 10 players, I would think you would want a higher bounty. if you had 40, you could probably to a smaller one.

I think at the end of the day, it is all personal preference though.

 

[krafticus]

Whatever makes taking the money the easiest. I run a $40 buy-in with a $10 bounty. This give my player $10 change which is the suggest donation for the beer/food/booze. If you are not asking for a donation - I would suggest a $50 buy-in with a $10 bounty so all you have to take is 3 $20s and not have 20 $10 bills laying around for change.

As mentioned, I do the 50/10 (for a total buy-in of 60). I still need to have many 10's on hand for the players that do cash out the 1, 3, or 5 bounties collected. I don't request donations, as I have changed to a BYOB format, and don't provide any food.

 

[upNdown]

I'm comfortable with 1/3 at the very most. Any more than that and I think you're short-changing the pot. I prefer 1/4 or less.
I like the 50/10 above.

 

[CraigT78]

As mentioned, I do the 50/10 (for a total buy-in of 60). I still need to have many 10's on hand for the players that do cash out the 1, 3, or 5 bounties collected. I don't request donations, as I have changed to a BYOB format, and don't provide any food.

Agree - still need $10s, but nearly the number as needed with a $40/$10 split. I have to have $200 in tens on hand, just to receive most back as a donation. Ah the pleasures of hosting...

 

[krafticus]

Agree - still need $10s, but nearly the number as needed with a $40/$10 split. I have to have $200 in tens on hand, just to receive most back as a donation. Ah the pleasures of hosting...

I do the same. I usually get about 8 10’s per 10 players. I’ll buy in myself with the tens, and put the remainder in. The bank loves me when I come in....
10 in 1s
30 in 5s
160-200 in 10s

I should just get a ton to have on hand... but I would probably just spend it

 

[MrCatPants]

Whatever makes taking the money the easiest. I run a $40 buy-in with a $10 bounty. This give my player $10 change which is the suggest donation for the beer/food/booze. If you are not asking for a donation - I would suggest a $50 buy-in with a $10 bounty so all you have to take is 3 $20s and not have 20 $10 bills laying around for change.

That's a good idea. I"m just providing a "build you own snack mix" assortment of stuff right now (nuts.com is awesome for stocking this) so $10 might a little much, but I like this concept if I give a bigger spread.

 

[bsdunbar1]

I prefer 1/4 or less.
I like the 50/10 above.

Agreed.
We are usually in the neighborhood of $50 buy-in with $10 of that towards the bounty or $100 buy-in with $20 of that towards the bounty.

 

[BGinGA]

I don't think there is a single 'right' answer. Differing bounty amounts make for different types of tournaments - none right or wrong, just different.

$20 bounties for $80 to $100 buy-in events are pretty common (and popular, fwiw). So are $5 bounties for $20 to $60 buy-in events.

A close look at the two extremes indicates what type of play strategy may be needed to capitalize on the features of the structure:

A $100 buy-in event with all $100 going toward the bounty chip will best reward players who are tight-agressive, as merely out-lasting your opponents will not result in any cash winnings.

At the other extreme, a $100 buy-in event with only $1 going towards the bounty pretty much makes the bounty irrelevant in the big picture view.

So, to summarize..... a 1% bounty is irrelevant to play, and a 100% bounty is highly significant.

That said, I've found that 25% to 50% are the two extremes that make them both worth the added hassle and worth altering strategy to collect. But it's just an opinion. I've played in 100% bounty events that were a blast.... for some players. Some folks just don't care for the bounty concept in general.

 

[MrCatPants]

I don't think there is a single 'right' answer. Differing bounty amounts make for different types of tournaments - none right or wrong, just different.

$20 bounties for $80 to $100 buy-in events are pretty common (and popular, fwiw). So are $5 bounties for $20 to $60 buy-in events.

A close look at the two extremes indicates what type of play strategy may be needed to capitalize on the features of the structure:

A $100 buy-in event with all $100 going toward the bounty chip will best reward players who are tight-agressive, as merely out-lasting your opponents will not result in any cash winnings.

At the other extreme, a $100 buy-in event with only $1 going towards the bounty pretty much makes the bounty irrelevant in the big picture view.

So, to summarize..... a 1% bounty is irrelevant to play, and a 100% bounty is highly significant.

That said, I've found that 25% to 50% are the two extremes that make them both worth the added hassle and worth altering strategy to collect. But it's just an opinion. I've played in 100% bounty events that were a blast.... for some players. Some folks just don't care for the bounty concept in general.

I would imagine it would depend on the size of the tournament, in terms of players, too. In a small tournament, I just have a hard time wrapping my head around needing to knock X (say, 4) people out to break even, if you don't place in the money. But maybe in a like 4+ table tourney it would make more sense.

 

[BGinGA]

I would imagine it would depend on the size of the tournament, in terms of players, too. In a small tournament, I just have a hard time wrapping my head around needing to knock X (say, 4) people out to break even, if you don't place in the money. But maybe in a like 4+ table tourney it would make more sense.

I never consider the bounty cost as part of the buy-in, since it's not part of the prize pool.

I need to knock out one person to break even on the bounty cost. Cashing in the tournament is entirely different, and is unrelated to my bounty cost/performance.