Bounties

[babykahuna]

I notice in the Bounty tournaments people will play much differently. That they will go after the bounty no matter what. Does your game change at all? Do you advocate changeing your play? Im not convinced that one should change.

Originally Posted by babykahuna

I notice in the Bounty tournaments people will play much differently. That they will go after the bounty no matter what. Does your game change at all? Do you advocate changeing your play? Im not convinced that one should change.

um... no... it doesn't affect the way I play.

Originally Posted by babykahuna

I notice in the Bounty tournaments people will play much differently. That they will go after the bounty no matter what. Does your game change at all? Do you advocate changeing your play? Im not convinced that one should change.

No, your game should not change at all. I don't know why, but many of the donks that are in those tourney's value KO's more that playing for the win. In those just play your game and play patient. I like to raise with premium hands and limp/call a raise with poket pairs and hope to get paid off whe i hit trips. As long as you dont change your game, you should do fine

[CPOner]

the only way it changes my game is the way i adjust to the maniacs that are willing to be super aggressive or call shoves light because they want a bounty

you just have to be aware of who at the table over values the small bounties.. and play against them accordingly... against these players your fold equity shrinks a little and their calling/shoving/raising ranges widen

but to really answer your question

no it shouldnt change your game at all... mainly because your game should always be adapting to how the players at your table are playing weather its a bounty tourney or a freezeout

on fulltilt it takes winning 11 bounties just to make the same amount of money you would make just barely making ITM... and lets not even talk about how many bounties equals a final table or win

i just try to think of bounties as an added plus if i get them... but they are never the goal

I do not change my play style for a bounty Id rather win the tourny cash then get bounties . and if your playing to win then I guarantee you that you will get bounties on the way.

[babykahuna]

Thank you for your responses. Now I put this to you. Caesers has a 9PM tournament for $100+20 and $50 for the bounties. So Bounties are almost 40% of the buy in. Does your game change then?

I played my first bounty tounery a couple weeks back ,

2.20 buy $1.00 for each bounty, I don't think they play much

different, most of the games I play they buy, bluff part of the time anyway.

[CPOner]

Originally Posted by babykahuna

Thank you for your responses. Now I put this to you. Caesers has a 9PM tournament for $100+20 and $50 for the bounties. So Bounties are almost 40% of the buy in. Does your game change then?

hmm... i guess it would depend on the prizepool in that case

i still dont think i would play much differently... i still would try and figure out who at my table is bounty hungry, and who is playing to win the tourney... it will certainly affect some people, and i think id just try and adjust my game to optimally play against my opponents

you have a lot less fold equity against the big stacks that are bounty hungry... but conversely.. you can shove your monster hands for value and dont have to slow play or be tricky much

so i think it all balances out... but id just play to win

[leavem]

I don't like to alter my play just because it is a bounty tourny, but I have noticed many players do. I actually won a $3 90 player KO the other day and only won 2 bounties. I have noticed some people will risk their game just trying to win that 50 cents. But you have to win a lot of bounties to make the same as the top 3 payouts.

I look at bountiess as a nice way to supplement my buyin. Usually you make 2 or 3 of these and you're even with the cost of entering. I don't go nuts for them but I have to make certain adjustments to my own style to play them. Take for instance the fact that I love to raise steal preflop from the button vs multiple limpers. I do this with almost anything if the situation and stacks are right. Once of twice a tournament it works out great because I can pickup 5 or so big blinds without much of a fight usually in the middle stages when blinds are a little higher.

I CANNOT use this play in a bounty tournament as donkeys will shove it in with a range wider than the top 15% preflop. I've found preflop stealing to be profitable if your opponent doesnt hold the top 15% in normal tournaments. The range widens to almost the top 25% preflop in bounty tournaments. So that play absolutely cannot be made. Another thing I see a lot is more all in with the nuts plays on the river. For some reason bounties make people forget that extracting the maximum from any given hand is the goal of tournament poker (next to survival).

I find that its a lot harder for me to call an all in bet in this style of tournament than it is in a regular tournament. Me personally my all in call range goes down slightly in bounty tournaments as people seem less likely to bluff all in or to move in with just top pair. Normally I'll call with a good two pair vs most opponents. Granted each situation is different but two pair is where I start to strongly consider calling against an average opponent. In bounty tournaments I'm more apt to lay down two pair here I try to only call with a set or better.

Best of luck to you
Jon