PKO Bounty Calculator
In a progressive knockout (PKO) tournament, winning an all-in also wins the opponent's bounty. Enter the pot, your call and the bounty to see the equity you really need.
Chips in the middle before your call, including the opponent's all-in.
Chips you must put in to call.
The bounty on the opponent's head, in currency (the player you can knock out).
Chips each player starts with.
The part of the buy-in that goes to the prize pool, not to bounties ($5 of a $10 PKO).
50 = the half of a bounty that is paid out in cash on a knockout. Raise it if you value the half added to your own bounty too.
Your chance to win the hand against the opponent's range. Leave empty to skip the verdict.
- Equity needed without bounty
- 25%
- Equity needed with bounty
- 11.1%
- Bounty value in chips
- 5,000
- Change in required equity
- -13.9%
Chip-EV estimate. You must cover the opponent to win the bounty. It ignores ICM and the future value of the bounty added to your own head.
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How a bounty changes the call
Without a bounty, calling 1,000 into a 3,000 pot (including the opponent's all-in) needs 1,000 / 4,000 = 25% equity. In a PKO the winner also takes the loser's bounty, so the prize for calling is bigger and the equity you need falls.
To compare chips and money, the calculator converts the bounty to chips using the prize pool: one chip is worth about the prize-pool part of the buy-in divided by the starting stack. A $5 bounty with a $5 prize-pool part and a 10,000-chip stack is worth 10,000 chips.
In standard PKO half of the bounty is paid out in cash at once and the other half is added to your own bounty. That is why the default credit is 50%. The required equity is then call / (pot + call + bounty in chips × credit).
Worked example
The pot is 3,000 with the opponent's all-in and you must call 1,000. Without a bounty you need 25%.
The opponent's bounty is $5, the starting stack is 10,000 and the prize-pool part is $5, so the bounty is worth 10,000 chips; at 50% credit that adds 5,000 to the pot you win. You now need 1,000 / (3,000 + 1,000 + 5,000) = 11.1%, so many hands become calls.
Questions and answers
What is a PKO tournament?
A progressive knockout tournament: every player has a bounty on their head. When you eliminate someone, you collect part of their bounty in cash and the rest is added to your own bounty.
Why does the bounty lower the equity I need?
Because winning the hand wins more than the pot: you also collect the bounty. A bigger prize for the same price of a call means you can call with less equity.
Do I need to cover the opponent to win the bounty?
Yes. You collect a bounty only by eliminating the player. If the opponent has more chips than you and you win the all-in, you double up but they stay in the tournament and there is no bounty. Count the bounty only when you cover the opponent.
Does the calculator include ICM?
No. It is a chip-EV estimate. Near the bubble or at final tables ICM can make calls with a small edge worse than the chip-EV figure suggests.
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Poker is a game of skill and chance. The calculator is an educational tool and does not guarantee results. Play responsibly: responsible gambling.