Approximately 8 seconds after myself and Barry Carter released our new book PKO Poker Strategy, we stumbled upon an analogy that explained PKOs perfectly to serious players. We really wish we had come up with it beforehand because it clears up a lot of confusion even good players have about them.
The Biggest Mistake You Can Make
The analogy is that PKOs are the tournament equivalent of split pot games like Omaha Hi/Lo. It is a hallmark of a bad Omaha Hi/Lo player to only play for the high pot. You will see these players overplaying hands that dominate in regular PLO like but have zero chance of winning the low pot.