GGPoker Sets Record for Largest Online Poker Tournament with 420,084 Entries

GGPoker has set a new record for the largest online poker tournament in history, with its $5 Ocean KO Opener attracting 420,084 entries. The event surpassed the previous record of 253,692 entries, set by PokerStars in October 2015.

The record-breaking tournament formed part of GGPoker's Bounty Hunters Series and generated a prize pool of more than $1.9 million, comfortably exceeding its original $1 million guarantee. With thousands of players advancing to Day 2, the event has established a new benchmark for online poker tournament participation.

Previous Largest Online Poker Tournament Fields

Before GGPoker's Ocean KO Opener set a new benchmark, PokerStars had held the online poker tournament field-size record for years. Its Common Cents Kick-Off attracted more than 253,000 entries in 2015, surpassing the previous record of 225,000 set in 2013. Earlier milestones included a 200,000-entry tournament in 2011 and a 149,196-entry field in 2009.

*Sources differ slightly on the 2015 field size: Guinness World Records report 253,692 participants, while PokerStars' original report gives 253,698 entries.

What Makes the Ocean KO Format Different?

GGPoker's Ocean KO format combines traditional Progressive Knockout (PKO) tournaments with random bounty multipliers. Whenever a player eliminates an opponent, a virtual Bounty Wheel determines the reward. Multipliers range from 0.4x to 400x across the first ten tiers, while the four Legendary tiers use their own multiplier ranges.

The format also features a 14-tier progression system, ranging from Egg to Legendary Shark. When a player scores a knockout, 50% of the resulting bounty prize is paid directly to their wallet, while the remaining 50% is added to their own bounty. This creates the potential for significantly larger knockout rewards than in a standard PKO tournament.

The Ocean KO Opener attracted 166,392 more entries than the previous record, representing an increase of approximately 65.6%.

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