GGPoker’s $5 Ocean KO Opener drew 420,084 entries, the most ever recorded for a poker tournament online or live. It beat a record PokerStars had held for 11 years. The event opened GGPoker’s October Bounty Hunters Series, and its prize pool came to more than $1.9 million, almost double the $1M guarantee.
| $5 Ocean KO Opener: key numbers | |
|---|---|
| Series | GGPoker Bounty Hunters Series (October 2026) |
| Buy-in | $5 |
| Entries | 420,084 |
| Guarantee | $1,000,000 |
| Prize pool | $1.9M+ (over $1.05M of it paid as bounties) |
| First prize | About $43,900, plus bounties |
| Day 2 | 12 October 2026, 24,000+ players |
| Previous record | 253,692 entries, PokerStars, October 2015 |
What record did GGPoker break?
The Ocean KO Opener broke PokerStars’ 2015 record of 253,692 entries, set by its one-cent “Common Cents” tournament, which Simon “DaDumon” Grabenschweiger won for $10,000. GGPoker‘s field was more than 165,000 entries larger. GGPoker called it its “biggest tournament ever” in a post on X and thanked the players who “made history”.
How was the prize pool split?
The Ocean KO Opener is a progressive knockout, so more than $1.05 million of the $1.9M+ pool went to bounties paid out during play. The rest made up the regular prize pool. First place was worth about $43,900 before bounties, so the winner’s total depends on how many players they knocked out. PokerNews and PokerListings reported the record during Day 2, before a winner was decided. We’ll update this post when GGPoker publishes the final result.
How did a $5 tournament get 420,000 entries?
A $5 buy-in, dozens of Day 1 flights and re-entries let hundreds of thousands of players take a shot. The Bounty Hunters Series also pays out its $1M daily leaderboard for knockouts, so every bounty you win also counts toward the leaderboard. The Ocean KO Opener came days after CoinPoker’s The One paid out its first $1M, so October has been a big month for online tournaments.
Can I still play the Bounty Hunters Series?
Yes. The Bounty Hunters Series and its daily leaderboard run until 27 October; our Bounty Hunters October 2026 guide covers the dates and the leaderboard. If you’d rather play trophy events with Asian Poker Tour seats as prizes, APT Online 2026 on Natural8 runs until 2 November. To play the Bounty Hunters Series, sign up through our GGPoker link.
Sources: PokerNews, PokerListings and GGPoker’s post on X (checked October 2026).