The appetite of a modern audience for poker was on full display, as a record for most entries was smashed during GG Poker’s $5 Ocean KO Opener.
The previous record was set in October 2015, standing at 253,692 participants, but the latest iteration of the tournament witnessed 420,084 entries.
It means the tournament’s prize pool will be significant, standing currently at more than $1.9m, almost doubling the previous record.
Engagement in the Ocean KO Opener has undoubtedly been boosted by the injection of randomised jackpots and bounty prizes, which can multiply during games.
It adds a new layer to poker and potentially brings in a wider audience that would need the gap bridging between the volatility of slots and the card game’s long-form technical battle.
Anderson Mccutcheon, Head of GGPoker & ClubGG, took to LinkedIn to express his happiness over the tournament and its growth, adding that they did not intend for this to be the largest tournament ever and that this was no gimmick, praising the will of the players for making it happen.
“They logged in, loved what they saw, and proceeded to play poker,” stated Mccutcheon.
GG Poker launched the format on 2 October, following the success of similar jackpot knockout tournaments at Winamax.
Describing how it works in practice, GGPoker has outlined: “In a Progressive Knock-Out tournament, your buy-in is split into two parts. One part goes into the regular prize pool, which pays out based on where you finish. The other becomes your bounty, the reward for whoever knocks you out.
“In a typical PKO, that split is 50/50 (setting the fee aside). In a $100 tournament, $50 goes to the prize pool, and every player starts with a $50 bounty on their head.
“When you eliminate an opponent, their bounty is split in half. You receive half as cash, which is added immediately to your GGPoker wallet, while the other half is added to your own bounty. Knock out a player with a $50 bounty, and you collect $25 in cash while your bounty grows from $50 to $75.
“That’s the “progressive” part. Every knockout makes you a bigger target, and the players who build the biggest bounties become the most valuable opponents at the table. The tournament winner collects their own bounty as part of their final payout.”
