GGPoker Conducted the Largest Tournament in online Poker History

GGPoker Breaks PokerStars’ 2015 Record

The record-breaking tournament was part of the Bounty Hunters Series and featured several dozen starting flights. The first flights kicked off on October 2, with the final hand played overnight on October 13–14. Demand was so high that one of the flights on October 11 hit the 10,000-player cap.

The $5 Ocean KO Opener attracted 420,084 entries from 250,972 unique players.

GGPoker’s biggest tournament ever! Bounty Hunters Series, $5 Ocean KO Opener, $1M GTD. Total Entries: 420,084. Thank you for your support. Congratulations to everyone who made history today! #OceanKO #GGPoker

— GGPoker (@GGPoker) October 12, 2026

The previous record belonged to PokerStars. In October 2015, its $0.01 Common Cents Kick-Off attracted 253,692 entries. GGPoker surpassed that figure by 166,392 entries, an increase of nearly 66%.

However, the PokerStars tournament was a freezeout, and it still holds a slight lead in unique players, with 2,720 more than GGPoker's event. The Ocean KO featured multiple starting flights, so players could re-enter on different Day 1s.

Ukrainian "Sange Savchenko" won a record-breaking tournament

Ukrainian player "Sange Savchenko" won the inaugural $5 Ocean KO Opener. In the heads-up match, he defeated a player from China known as "HHHBVVVVBB."

Savchenko began the final duel with a smaller stack but managed to even the chip counts after hitting a king-high flush against his opponent's two pair.

In the decisive hand, the Chinese player committed his chips after flopping second pair (fours), but "Sange Savchenko" held pocket sevens.

Final table results:

Interestingly, the Ukrainian player’s total winnings came to $61,817, while "HHHBVVVVBB" earned more at $63,157 due to a larger share of bounty prizes. 

What is Ocean KO

Ocean KO is a new GGPoker tournament format that combines progressive knockouts with random bounty multipliers.

When a player eliminates an opponent, the Bounty Wheel spins, potentially increasing or decreasing the bounty payout by applying a multiplier ranging from 0.4x to 400x.

There are 14 levels in total, ranging from Egg to Legendary Shark, assigned to the participants. The higher the level, the larger the potential knockout prize. According to GGPoker, the maximum payout can reach $1.5 million. A player's level depends on the total bounty they have accumulated.

The combination of a low buy-in, multiple starting flights, and the chance to win a huge knockout prize helped Ocean KO attract a record number of entries.