To participate in the Palmetto Kingfish Tour, an unlimited amount of boat-teams must pay the required minimum Level 1 entry fee of $500 by June 27th. There will be two optional, powered-up entry levels limited to 100 boats per level. The powered-up Level 2 fee is $1,500 and Level 3 fee is $3,000. Entry to Level 1 for all boats will open on April 1st and close on Thursday, June 27, 2019. However, teams within the Level 1 boat field may add the powered-up optional Levels 2/3 to their team-entry from June 1st until June 27th, by 8PM at the shared Palmetto Kingfish Tour Kickoff and The Lowcountry Open Captain’s Party. All boat teams participating in the Palmetto Kingfish Tour will compete for Level 1 money, while only those teams who enter the optional Level 2 and/or Level 3 will compete for the additional levels of money. Teams may enter all 3 levels upon payment. Note: Level 2 entry is not required prior to entering Level 3.
Single Engine Big Boy Bonus: Single engine boats have a one-time option to add the $200 Big Boy Bonus until June 27, and only registered single-engine boats are eligible to compete. The team to weigh the single-heaviest king mackerel among the 4 qualifying Palmetto Kingfish Tour events will win. Your boat-team must compete in 2 of the 4 qualifying events, and the Big Boy Bonus winner is determined and paid upon the conclusion of the Marlin Quay King Mackerel Shootout. Your team does not have to qualify for the Tour Championship to win. In the event there is a tie, the team with the earliest time stamp of any 4 qualifying events wins.
Level 1, 2 and 3 monies will be awarded in two different ways. The first will be through the qualifying events: The Lowcountry Open Nearshore Division, Hooked on Miracles King Mackerel Tournament, JIYC King Mackerel Tournament and Marlin Quay King Mackerel Shootout. In each of these qualifying events, the top 5 finishing Palmetto Kingfish Tour teams will win money based on which level or levels of entry they are participating. 2019 projected payouts for each of the four qualifying events are as follows:
| Place | Level 1 (based on 120) | Level 2 (based on 90) | Level 3 (based on 60) | Total Payout |
| 1st | $2025 per event | $4560 per event | $6075 per event | $12,660 per event |
| 2nd | $1690 | $3800 | $5060 | $10,550 |
| 3rd | $1350 | $3040 | $4050 | $8,440 |
| 4th | $1010 | $2280 | $3040 | $6,330 |
| 5th | $675 | $1520 | $2020 | $4,215 |
*** $168,750 total prize money awarded to Kingfish Tour winners during Qualifying Events ***
The second way that Level 1, 2 and 3 money will be awarded is at the Palmetto Kingfish Tour Championship. The teams (TBD by Level 1 boat-count) who qualify for the Championship will be competing for the remainder of the purse not awarded in the qualifying events. 2019 projected payouts for the Kingfish Cup Championship event are as follows:
| Place | Level 1 (based on 120) | Level 2 (based on 90) | Level 3 (based on 60) | Total Payout |
| 1st | $13,500 | $30,375 | $40,500 | $84,375 |
| 2nd | $8,100 | $18,225 | $24,300 | $50,625 |
| 3rd | $5,400 | $12,150 | $16,200 | $33,750 |
*** $168,750 total prize money awarded to Palmetto Kingfish Tour Championship winners ***
Note: Purse payouts for the Palmetto Kingfish Tour and/or Tour Championship are 90% of net operating expenses incurred by the tournament.
