Even though the record-breaking $10 million GTD Venom is still fresh in everyone’s minds, Americas Cardroom is about to launch a new multi-million tournament. Americas Cardroom has recently announced the return of Venom which is the biggest progressive knockout event in entire online poker with a guarantee of $5 million. Given that it is the third reiteration of Venom PKO, ACR will ensure that players receive bigger bounties than ever before, with tens of thousands of dollars for eliminating one participant. Read on to find out more details and the PKO Venom schedule.
PKO Venom Schedule
The PKO Venom $5M GTD will have a $2,650 buy-in and has starting flights on September 17, September 19, September 24, and September 26. All participants will have 20-minute levels and a starting stack of 300,000 chips. Here is a tournament schedule:
Day 1A: Friday, September 17
Day 1B: Sunday, September 19
Day 1C: Friday, September 24
Day 1D: Sunday, September 26
Day 2: Monday, September 27
Day 3: Tuesday, September 28
Day 4: Wednesday, September 29
However, if the $2,650 buy-in is too expensive for your bankroll, Americas Cardroom also offers quite a few satellites through which take place during the Venom Fever (from September 3 to September 26). Buy-ins for standard satellites start from $12 but Americas Cardroom is also running freerolls Blitz Step, on-demand step and skip tournaments, with qualifiers starting from $0.11.
What is the PKO Tournament?
It is clear that Americas Cardroom is a fan of hosting progressive knockout tournaments, as Venom is the largest event of this sort in online poker. However, not everyone might be familiar with this format. Therefore, here is our brief explanation.
The main idea of a progressive knockout tournament is that everyone has a certain bounty on their head and this bounty increases with each elimination by this player, hence they are called progressive. Usually, 50% of your buy-in goes to the overall prize pool of the given event. But the other 50% of your buy-in is used to generate the starting bounty on your head.
Let’s take a look at a specific example. When you eliminate a player and snatch their stack, 50% of their bounty will be paid to you. The other 50% of their stack will be added to your bounty. So in a $100 progressive knockout tournament, $50 will be contributed to the prize pool, while the other $50 will be your starting bounty. When you eliminate a player, you will receive $25 to your account instead of $50. The other $25 will go towards your bounty, making it $75 in total.
It is clear that the further you progress in the PKO tournament, the bigger bounties you will get. However, the bounty on your head will also increase with each elimination, making you an attractive target. One of the main advantages of this format is the fact that you can still win a few thousand dollars by eliminating a couple of players.
Here is what Chris Moneymaker, Team Pro for Americas Cardroom, has to say about PKO Venom.
“The Venom is our flagship tourney and the PKO version gives players the ability to play a different format with unique tactics. It also offers immediate gratification in the form of bounty money instantly in your account when you eliminate a player. The great thing about the Venom PKO is you can qualify for a seat in so many ways, including Satellites, Sit n Go’s, Blitz Satellites and giveaways.”
