As part of the KKPoker 5th Anniversary celebrations, with over $555,000 guaranteed across tournaments and giveaways, players from around the world had the chance to turn small buy-ins into big rewards.

One standout story came from KKPoker ambassador ‘BluffaloSam‘, who jumped into the $5K START GLORY PKO — a thrilling event with just a $10 buy-in. Sam battled his way to an impressive 2nd-place finish, scoring a $709 bankroll boost plus a T$50 ticket to the $100K Banker Mystery Bounty.

Adding to the drama, Sam entered the tournament as a special guest bounty, with a $50 reward on his head — 20x the standard knockout prize. From the very first level, this turned him into a target, with opponents eager to claim a bounty worth more than a final-table payout.

The action kicked off immediately. Early on, Sam was forced to fold twice after aggressive opponents shoved their 250BB stacks over his opens. But moments later, holding Pocket Nines, he called off against the same opponent’s wild QJo shove for 250BB and scored a huge early double-up.

By the time the field was down to the final 25%, Sam had climbed into the chip lead. But in a dramatic twist, back-to-back clashes against one opponent sent his stack tumbling. First, his Pocket Aces were cracked by Pocket Deuces on a cruel J-8-2 flop, and just one orbit later, history repeated itself when Sam’s 75s ran into another set of deuces on the flop. Despite making a disciplined call with middle pair against a suspicious shove, he was once again behind — dropping to just 35BB.

With the blinds climbing and opportunities scarce, Sam’s tournament life came down to a crucial all-in spot with 15BB — a hand that would completely reshape his run.

We caught up with Sam to hear his reflections on the tournament, his approach to PKOs and Mystery Bounty tournaments, the heads-up battle, and of course, his epic recovery hand that brought him back into contention.

Sam, you KO’d an incredible 14 players, the highest amount by any player! How do PKO tournaments fit into your MTT playing schedule?

“I enjoy playing PKOs, definitely less volume vs standard format tournaments, as I try to early register PKOs, and then fill up my tables with anything else!” said Sam.

How much study have you done on PKO tournaments?

“PKO is my least studied format. It’s mind-bending how different adding in a bounty is, for example, as a very large covering stack, you can basically flat any two suited cards when playing from the Small or Big Blind.”

What are your top tips for players yet to focus on PKO games and studying them?

“My top tip for PKO is to minimize reshoving as a covering stack. You’re looking to play postflop, especially in position, when their bounty is at risk. They have to play tighter than you, and you will massively overrealize your equity and pot share, increasing your chances of claiming their bounty!”

You started the head-up match with even stacks worth around 80BB, and the match lasted for over 30 minutes and over 60 hands. How do you feel your heads-up match went overall?

“I was definitely outmatched in the heads-up portion. I’ve been transitioning over to MTTs over the last 9 months, and my study has now moved to final table ICM as I generally get to an FT 1-3 times a session. Next up is heads-up study once I have my FT spots dialed in!”

Tell us about the key hand that turned your 15BB stack into a massive 75BB stack!

“The biggest key hand was winning QQ all in pre-flop 5 ways for 15bbs, catapulting me up to a 75bb stack in just one hand!”

See this epic hand replay at the official KKPoker Global Instagram.

You also won a ticket for the $100K Banker Mystery Bounty, featuring a $10,000 top MB prize. How do you adapt your strategy for MB tournaments, compared to standard MTT format and PKO format?

“Mystery Bounty poker tournaments are very similar to PKOs; you just do your calculations based on the average MB prize. However, people play like maniacs once MBs are in play, so you just have to get in there and gamble with the all-in preflops that are bound to happen.”

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