The poker basics have changed quite a bit since its humble beginnings, and the introduction of various new formats of play has been a trend that many live and online operators have followed for years.
Over time, we have seen tournament poker evolve from a simple game that mostly included freezeout and rebuy tournaments into something a lot more complex.
The introduction of shootout, knockout tournaments , re-entry, and many other formats was accepted by players with excitement, but few formats had as much success right off the bat as mystery bounty tournaments.
The excitement of being able to win a massive bounty with every elimination you make is what draws most players to mystery bounty events and what’s made the game so popular.
With this format becoming more common both live and online, it is time to learn how to play mystery bounty tournaments. So, let’s start by explaining how the format works and what the main differences are between mystery bounty and regular bounty events.
What Are Mystery Bounty Tournaments?
Mystery bounty is one of the most recently invented tournament formats, but one that’s become so popular that you will see an event at practically every major poker festival out there. In many ways, mystery bounty tournaments resemble classic knockout or PKOs, with bounties awarded to the one who eliminates another player.
However, there are a couple of key differences. First of all, you will only be awarded a bounty if you eliminate a player at a later stage of the tournament. Secondly, the actual value of the bounty is unknown.
Instead of winning a fixed bounty for each player you eliminate or a progressive bounty whose value is also clearly indicated, all you will get in a mystery bounty is one bounty token.
Bounty tokens are exchanged for real or virtual envelopes, which can contain bounties ranging anywhere from half a buyin to hundreds or even thousands of buyins.
Some of the biggest mystery bounty events over the last year have awarded million-dollar top bounties to the luckiest players in the field, making it a life-changing experience.
By adding some mystery to the mix, operators have been able to turn knockout tournaments into massively fun events, and there is no telling just how big the mystery bounty format could become in the future.
Playing Mystery Bounty Tournaments
The number of opportunities to play mystery bounty tournaments is increasing by the day as popular demand forces operators to add these events to practically every major poker festival.
Players seem to be eager to play mystery bounty events, even though the format adds infinitely more variance than typical knockout tournaments.
With the top bounties being extremely valuable, players seem to be willing to gamble and happy to walk away with less on occasion to get more when their lucky day strikes. That said, if you are going to play in a mystery bounty tournament, you should know what the structure looks like and how it changes over time.
So, let’s take a look at the most important phases of a typical mystery bounty tournament and how you should be playing each of them.
Early Stages of Mystery Bounty Tournaments
Unlike your regular knockout tournament, a mystery bounty tournament starts with no bounties available for the knockouts.
Even though 50% of every buyin goes towards the bounty prize pool, no bounties are awarded for the majority of the event.
This means you will be playing a regular freezeout or commonly re-entry tournament for the majority of the time, with bounties only available at a later point.
Since there is no direct incentive to eliminate players at this point, your tournament poker strategy should be the same as it would be in a regular event that has no bounties.
In most live mystery bounty events, bounties kick in during Day 2, while online, they may kick in once you reach the money or a certain percentage of players are left in play (15-20%).
Early play in mystery bounty events is somewhat uneventful, but it is worth noting that as the bounty stage approaches, you should step up the aggression a bit to try and build up a stack.
The reason for that, of course, is so that you would be able to start knocking players out once the bounties are finally in play.
If you enter the bounty stage as a short stack, you will be the prey instead of the predator, but this can also work out in your favor if you know how to adjust properly at later stages.
Middle Stages of Mystery Bounty Tournaments
The middle stage starts once the bounties kick in. At this point, all remaining players are usually also in the money, and the hunt for pay jumps and those elusive bounties can begin.
As soon as the bounty stage starts, everything changes. The money that was set aside for bounties is now in play, and you can start collecting your envelopes.
At the very start of the knockout stage, each bounty will be worth the same, as there is no telling which envelopes will come your way. However, as the tournament progresses, you will be able to keep track of all the bounties in play and the ones that other players have already won.
In some cases, a lot of small bounties will be eliminated early, leaving the big juicy ones up for grabs, making each following envelope you win that much more valuable.
On the other hand, you may also get unlucky and see another player win the top bounty or a few of the other valuable ones before it’s your turn to pick.
In either case, remember that bounties are generally more valuable if there are more big ones still in play and less valuable if there are fewer.
In fact, you can do some quick math to calculate the exact value of each bounty as the tournament progresses, giving you a rough idea of how loosely you should play for those envelopes.
Late Stages in Mystery Bounty Tournaments
The final stages of a mystery bounty tournament are the most entertaining ones, as the big bounties are often still up for grabs while the overall number of players is reduced.
As the event comes into the final stage, you will greatly benefit from having a big stack, as quite a few people will be getting it all in with their short stacks, giving you opportunities widen your poker ranges to try to earn extra bounties.
However, you should also keep in mind that there is an actual prize pool in the mystery bounty event as well, which means you should also be looking out for those pay jumps.
While the sheer value of the bounties will make it more profitable to call off all-in with a wide range of hands, the effects of ICM will sometimes make it less profitable to lose chips and put your tournament life at stake.
If you happen to find yourself riding the short stack, remember that people will be looking to bust you and will call you with very wide ranges, which requires you to adjust your ranges a little bit.
Look to shove more value hands and fewer bluffs and expect to get called by the big stacks who are out for your bounty.
Optimal Mystery Bounty Strategy
Mystery bounty tournaments are a very new format, which means there are few players out there who are actual experts on it. Instead, most players are still looking to adapt to the format, while many don’t even care about mystery bounty strategy and play any way they feel on the day.
If you want to make a long-term profit in mystery bounty events, you are going to need to adopt a consistent poker strategy and stick to it every time you play this format.
So, here are a few mystery bounty strategy tips you will want to keep in mind the next time you play one of these tournaments.
Don’t Worry About Min-Cashing
With half of all buyins going towards the bounties, min-cashes in mystery bounty events tend to be quite small and aren’t really worth considering too much.
While it’s still nice to get that min-cash here and there, you should really be more concerned about entering the ITM phase with a solid stack.
The advantage of having a big stack in a mystery bounty cannot be overstated, as having chips means you can win everyone’s bounty and even lose a few all-ins while still being in contention.
Mystery bounties are really all about racking up those bounty chips, so don’t worry about poker ICM until you reach the final table and focus on building your stack and getting those knockouts.
Add Bounty Value to Your Equity
When considering calling all-in bets in a mystery bounty tournament, you should always remember that you are getting extra value if there is a bounty on the line.
A percentage of the time, you are going to win the hand and the bounty that comes with it. For that reason, it is important to consider the value of the bounty.
But before you can do that, you need to know what the bounty is actually worth. You can do this by adding up the remaining bounties and dividing that number by the number of envelopes left.
This way, you are going to get the current value of a bounty, and you can do some simple math to calculate how much equity this bounty adds to your call.
Don’t Go Too Crazy
One thing that you will often see recreational players do in mystery bounty tournaments is calling quite literally every single all-in they face, looking to win bounties. While every knockout is valuable in this format of play, playing too loose and calling too many all-ins will not pan out in the long run.
You must remember that you are still playing Texas Hold’em, there are still equities at play, and there is also a prize pool to consider.
While winning the top bounty is worth a lot, there is no guarantee you will get that envelope even if you do knock out a bunch of players.
So, instead of going for every bounty there is, make sure to do your calculations and only call when it’s actually profitable and when you can afford to lose some chips off your big stack.
Fun Never Stops in Mystery Bounty Tournaments
The mystery bounty format has certainly brought a lot of joy to the poker world, presenting a brand new way to compete at the poker table and adding some extra variance to things.
While mystery bounties are definitely highly volatile, they can also be quite rewarding if you stick with them and play every event you can.
The level of play you can expect to encounter in an average mystery bounty tournament, similar to PKO tournaments, is going to be quite low compared to your typical poker tournament.
So, if you are looking for a maximum edge, playing in mystery bounties is definitely a good idea, just as long as you make sure you have the appropriate bankroll to handle the swings.
