GGPoker has set a new world record for number of entries in an online poker tournament after drawing a field of 420,084 players in its $5 Ocean KO Opener – more than enough to outdo the prior record of 253,692 set by PokerStars in 2015.
Across the dozens of Day 1 starting flights, the entry numbers just kept climbing as players were eager to test out the newly-introduced Ocean KO format.
The six-figure field generated a prize pool of $1,932,386, smashing the $1 million set guarantee.
The frenzy to get in on the action was so intense that on October 11 one of the Day 1 flights hit its player cap of 10,000.
On Monday, the remaining 24,134 players battled it out on Day 2, playing down to a final table of nine. The following day, they fought it out for the first-ever Ocean KO crown. Ukrainian Sange Savchenko emerged from the carnage at Tuesday's final table as the first-ever Ocean KO champion, banking $52,665 plus $9,152 in bounties after defeating China's 'HHHBVVVVBB' during heads-up play.
Savchenko started proceedings as the shorter of the two in the chip counts, but managed to draw level when his king-high flush held up against his opponent's two pair.
Soon after, he closed out the win with 
coming out on top against the 
of 'HHHBVVVVBB' on 
runout.
Sange Savchenko drew level with his heads-up opponent after this key hand went his way. $5 Ocean KO Opener final table results
| Place | Player | Prize | Bounty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sange Savchenko | $52,665 | $9,152 |
| 2 | HHHBVVVVBB | $53,095 | $10,062 |
| 3 | HI-MARS | $33,371 | $417 |
| 4 | Djd@shaa | $41,390 | $15,599 |
| 5 | DrCali | $21,508 | $1,541 |
| 6 | 3ayp | $17,429 | $1,971 |
| 7 | Basnl | $15,597 | $3,630 |
| 8 | SybH02 | $9,664 | $400 |
| 9 | Demonstr9925 | $8,384 | $1,211 |
Ocean KO format explained
The Ocean KO format is GGPoker's version of a jackpot bounty, a new tournament structure that is becoming increasingly popular across online poker platforms.
Ocean KO events add two distinct twists to the standard format of a Progressive Knockout (PKO): a random multiplier on every knockout and a 14-tier evolution system that grows players' bounties.
In PKO events, players have a fixed bounty attached to their tournament life. When you eliminate that player, half of the bounty goes into your pocket and the other half goes to the bounty on your own head.
Ocean KO events introduce a Bounty Wheel spin to the fun, multiplying each bounty by a range of x0.4 to x400. Once the multiplier is applied to the bounty, half goes directly to the player and the other half goes to the bounty on their head. As you eliminate other players and add to your own bounty, you'll ascend through the 14 Ocean KO tiers – from Egg to Legendary Shark. With each step up the ladder, your maximum bounty reward increases.
While the allure of massive bounties have enticed many players to try the events, others have expressed concern about the format. The jackpot bounty format, they argue, could see online poker take a turn into more of a lottery.
Below, you can see the 14 Ocean KO tiers and each of the corresponding bounty details in a sample $10 event.
GGPoker Ocean KO Evolution Tiers ($10 Sample Event)
| Tier | Name | Bounty | Multiplier | Max Reward |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Egg | $5 | x0.4 to x400 | $2,000 |
| 2 | Fry | $6 | x0.4 to x400 | $2,400 |
| 3 | Fish | $7 | x0.4 to x400 | $2,800 |
| 4 | Shrimp | $10 | x0.4 to x400 | $4,000 |
| 5 | Crab | $15 | x0.4 to x400 | $6,000 |
| 6 | Turtle | $25 | x0.4 to x400 | $10,000 |
| 7 | Octopus | $50 | x0.4 to x400 | $20,000 |
| 8 | Dolphin | $100 | x0.4 to x400 | $40,000 |
| 9 | Whale | $200 | x0.4 to x400 | $80,000 |
If you want to learn more about the format, check out the GGPoker blog.
