Mystery bounty
A knockout format where bounties are not fixed: each time you eliminate someone after the bounty period begins, you draw an envelope from a pool with prizes ranging from small to a share of the top prize. Popular in live festivals since the early 2020s.
Related terms
Full glossaryFrequently asked questions
What is a mystery bounty tournament?
A tournament where eliminating a player wins a randomly drawn prize of unknown value from a pooled bounty prize table. Most of the prizes are small, with a few very large ones and a single headline top bounty.
How is a mystery bounty different from a progressive knockout?
In a PKO, each player carries a visible bounty from the start, and half of each bounty won is added to the winner's own head, so bounties compound. In a mystery bounty the prizes sit in a pool and are drawn at random, so every elimination is worth the same expected amount and there is no compounding or targeting.
When do the bounties start?
Usually not from the first hand. Most events activate bounties at a defined stage, commonly when the field reaches a set size around the money bubble. This concentrates the prizes among players who have survived into the later stages.
Does a mystery bounty change how you should play?
Less than a progressive knockout does. Because every bounty is worth the same average, there is no reason to target particular opponents. Calling and shoving ranges widen somewhat once bounties are live, and the clearest adjustment is around activation: survival is unusually valuable just before it, aggression just after.