From April 5-12, we at 888poker are proud to host another edition of the “God of the Arena Progressive Knockout (PKO) Series,” which will be comprised of 33 tournaments offering nearly $1.1 million in guaranteed prize pools.
Highlights for the series include the $109 buy-in, $150K GTD Tune Up on Sunday, April 5 and the $55 buy-in, $100K GTD Warm Up on Sunday, April 12. Also taking place on the final day of the series is the capstone Main Event, which costs $109 to enter and boasts a $200,000 guaranteed prize pool.
As always, you can satellite your way in for as little as 1 cent via our online step satellites and qualifiers!
A Trio of Buy-Ins – Regular, Mini & Late
Each day of the series will begin with a “Daily Kickoff” event at 15:15. Those tournaments cost $44 to enter and offer a $15K GTD. From there, every day offers a tournament with regular, mini and late variations of each.
For example, the aforementioned Main Event takes place at 18:00 while 30 minutes later the $33 buy-in, $50K GTD Mini Main Event gets underway. Then at 19:00, the $5.50 buy-in, $15K GTD Micro Main Event closes out the evening.
Each variation offers a different buy-in, so there’s a tournament for everybody.
What Are PKO Tournaments?
Progressive knockout (PKO) tournaments have become extremely popular in recent years. They differ from regular bounty tournaments because instead of offering a fixed bounty for each knockout, a player’s bounty increases as they progress through the event.
That’s because each time a player knocks out another player, he or she receives a portion (usually either 20% of 50%) of the eliminated player’s bounty, while the other portion is added to the price on their own head.
In other words, your own bounty grows every time you eliminate a player. Even still, it’s lucrative to try and score knockouts early in a PKO tournament.
The format requires players to alter their strategy as they progress. That’s because the deeper you go the bigger bounties will be up for grabs, and of course the winner ultimately gets to keep their own bounty, which will be the biggest of all!
888poker Ambassador Martin Jacobson once said about PKOs, players need to “find a good balance between playing aggressively enough to accumulate bounties without being too loose.”
Another tip fellow 888poker Ambassador shared regarding PKO tournament was not to bounty hunt too hard with less-than-premium hands, especially when taking the shot would result in a big hit to your own stack, if you lose.
A Look Back at 2019
The last God of the Arena PKO Series took place back in November and was a massive success. The series catered to 22,300 entrants over 24 events and awarded a combined $1,170,087 in prize money.
Among the countries to claim titles were Ukraine, Malta, Germany, Russia, Kazakhstan, Canada, Costa Rica, Thailand, Latvia, and Argentina. However, none of them did as well as Brazilian players, who captured six tournaments.
As for the Main Event, which last year had a $320 buy-in, the tournament drew 847 runners who rebought 203 times, which meant the $300K guarantee was surpassed with a $315,000 prize pool. In the end, Russia’s “pokanuktus” beat out “BreakYaNeck9” to win the match for a $28,507.50 top prize and $14,284.93 progressive bounty.
God of the Arena PKO Series Schedule
Keep in mind that most, if not all, of these events have satellites where you can get your seat for a fraction of the direct buy-in.
Sunday, April 5 at 15:15 -- $44 buy-in PKO Series #1 - $15,000 Daily Kickoff
Sunday, April 5 at 18:00 -- $109 buy-in PKO Series #2 - $150,000 Tune Up
Sunday, April 5 at 18:00 -- $22 buy-in PKO Series #3 - $40,000 Mini Tune Up
Sunday, April 5 at 20:00 -- $55 buy-in PKO Series #4 - $30,000 Late Tune Up
Monday, April 6 at 15:15 -- $44 buy-in PKO Series #5 - $15,000 Daily Kickoff
Monday, April 6 at 18:00 -- $55 buy-in PKO Series #6 - $30,000 8-Max
Monday, April 6 at 18:00 -- $8.80 buy-in PKO Series #7 - $10,000 Mini 8-Max
Monday, April 6 at 20:00 -- $22 buy-in PKO Series #8 - $10,000 Late 8-Max
Tuesday, April 7 at 15:15 -- $44 buy-in PKO Series #9 - $15,000 Daily Kickoff
Tuesday, April 7 at 18:00 -- $109 buy-in PKO Series #10 - $40,000 9-Max
Tuesday, April 7 at 18:00 -- $16.50 buy-in PKO Series #11 - $20,000 Mini 9-Max
Tuesday, April 7 at 20:00 -- $55buy-in PKO Series #12 - $20,000 Late 9-Max
Wednesday, April 8 at 15:15 -- $44 buy-in PKO Series #13 - $15,000 Daily Kickoff
Wednesday, April 8 at 18:00 -- $109 buy-in PKO Series #14 - $40,000 8-Max
Wednesday, April 8 at 18:00 -- $16.50 buy-in PKO Series #15 - $20,000 Mini 8-Max
Wednesday, April 8 at 20:00 -- $33 buy-in PKO Series #16 - $15,000 Late 8-Max
Thursday, April 9 at 15:15 -- $44 buy-in PKO Series #17 - $15,000 Daily Kickoff
Thursday, April 9 at 18:00 -- $109 buy-in PKO Series #18 - $40,000 9-Max
Thursday, April 9 at 18:00 -- $16.50 PKO Series #19 - $20,000 Mini 9-Max
Thursday, April 9 at 20:00 -- $33 buy-in PKO Series #20 - $15,000 Late 9-Max
Friday, April 10 at 15:15 -- $44 buy-in PKO Series #21 - $15,000 Daily Kickoff
Friday, April 10 at 18:00 -- $55 buy-in PKO Series #22 - $20,000 Freezeout
Friday, April 10 at 18:00 -- $16.50 buy-in PKO Series #23 - $15,000 Mini Freezeout
Friday, April 10 at 20:00 -- $33 buy-in PKO Series #24 - $10,000 Late Freezeout
Saturday, April 11 at 15:15 -- $44 buy-in PKO Series #25 - $15,000 Daily Kickoff
Saturday, April 11 at 18:00 -- $109 buy-in PKO Series #26 - $30,000 6-Max
Saturday, April 11 at 18:00 -- $16.50 buy-in PKO Series #27 - $20,000 Mini 6-Max
Saturday, April 11 at 20:00 -- $55 buy-in PKO Series #28 - $15,000 Late 6-Max
Sunday, April 12 at 15:15 -- $44 buy-in PKO Series #29 - $15,000 Daily Kickoff
Sunday, April 12 at 16:00 -- $55 buy-in PKO Series #30 - $100,000 Warm Up
Sunday, April 12 at 18:00 -- $109 buy-in PKO Series #31 - $200,000 Main Event
Sunday, April 12 at 18:30 -- $33 buy-in PKO Series #32 - $50,000 Mini Main Event
Sunday, April 12 at 19:00 -- $5.50 buy-in PKO Series #33 - $15,000 Micro Main Event
We hope you run like a God of the Arena in the upcoming series.
See you at the tables!
