How Do You Manage Bounties in Progressive Knockout Tournaments?

[karlovic]

Hi TDA members,

I have a question for you all: how do you handle bounties in Progressive Knockout tournaments? I've been looking for specific rules and guidelines for this format, but honestly, there isn't much out there online.

So, I've decided to take on the task of drafting a set of rules for these tournaments, but I'd love to hear about your experiences first. How do you keep track of the bounties? Any tips or systems you use to keep everything clear and fair?

Any insights you can share would be super helpful. I'm sure we can put together something valuable for the poker community!

Thanks, and looking forward to your feedback!

[BROOKS]

Here is an example where bounty amount is $100:

All players are given 4 x $25 cash value chips

Players must immediately give the Dealer their $100 in $25 value chips.
These Bounties will be kept in the Dealer's tray (banked bounty) until either paid out or the player moves tables

When a player is eliminated, half of the eliminated player's banked bounty will be given to the player that knocked them out. The other half will be added to the winning player's banked bounty therefore increasing the value of their bounty

Any time that a bounty's dollar amount is not able to be evenly divided using $25 green value chips, the amounts will be rounded up in favour of the winning player's banked bounty

In the event that a bounty is being split between multiple players (ie. split pot) the won bounty will be divided evenly between the winning players' banked bounties and value pocketed. Should dollar amounts need to be rounded they will be rounded up to favour the players' banked bounty. Should there be a situation where the bounty amount being pocketed between multiple players cannot be divided equally, the extra $25 green value chip will be awarded to the player closest to the button.
 

[Dave Miller]

I've played in such a tournament online where the math and tracking is automatic and easy, but I've never even heard of this being done live. The tracking and security issues seem like a nightmare.

I'm just spitballing here, but here's my idea:

Instead of bounty chips, give each player an All In button (so that those players who like to toss in the bounty chip to indicate they are all in will have a something to toss in), and a bounty slip with the starting bounty value.

When a player is eliminated, he and the player who eliminated him turn in their bounty slips.

The dealer, or floor person, gives the player a new bounty slip with the new value written on it, as well as a cash out slip for the portion that they keep.

If the player has additional knockouts, they will also turn in the cash slip to get a new cash slip with their new cash total.

In this manner, there doesn't need to be excessive rounding.

You'll probably have to use three part forms and have other security protocols etc. to get gaming to approve it, but that's my thoughts.