GGPOKER

GGPoker has taken bounty tournaments to new depths with the Ocean KO, which launched on October 4, 2026. It takes the Progressive Knock-Out (PKO) format players already know and adds two twists: a random multiplier on every knockout, and a 14-tier evolution system that grows your bounty from a humble Egg all the way up to the Legendary Shark.

Every knockout can pay up to x400 the Bounty Prize. And at the very top of the food chain, a single bounty can be worth up to $1,500,000. Here’s how it all works.

How a Standard PKO Works

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.

What Makes Ocean KO Different

Ocean KO keeps the foundation of a PKO but changes how bounties pay out and how they grow. Here are the key differences:

• Random rewards: In a standard PKO, a knockout always pays a fixed share of your opponent’s bounty. In Ocean KO, a Bounty Wheel spins and multiplies their bounty by a random amount.
• Evolution tiers: Every player belongs to one of 14 tiers, from Egg to Legendary Shark, based on the size of their bounty. An opponent’s tier determines the multiplier range you can win when you knock them out.
• Bigger possible wins: Knockouts against Tiers 1 to 10 can pay up to x400 their bounty.
• The same 50/50 split: Your reward, which is given after the spin, is still divided between your wallet and your bounty, just as in a standard PKO.
• A final spin for the champion: Instead of simply collecting their own bounty, the tournament winner’s bounty is settled with one last spin of the Wheel.

The Bounty Wheel

Every time you knock out an opponent in Ocean KO, the Bounty Wheel spins. It takes the eliminated player’s full Bounty Value and multiplies it by a randomly selected multiplier from their tier. For Tiers 1 to 10, the multiplier ranges from x0.4 to x400.

The result is your Random Bounty, and it’s split in two:

• 50% goes straight to your GG wallet as cash, paid immediately.
• 50% is added to your own bounty, making you a bigger target and pushing you toward the next tier.

Say you knock out an opponent with a $50 bounty and the Wheel lands on x2. Your Random Bounty is $100. That means $50 is paid to your wallet right away and the other $50 is added to your bounty. If the Wheel lands on x1, you get exactly what a standard PKO would pay: $25 in cash and $25 added to your bounty.

Your reward depends only on the player you eliminate. Your own bounty, tier, and chip stack play no part in the calculation. In Ocean KO, the rule is simple: the higher their tier, the bigger your reward.

Not Every Spin Is a Jackpot

The x400 hits are what everyone will be talking about, but they’re rare by design. Most spins land at 1x or below, and a multiplier under 1x means you’ll receive less than the opponent’s displayed bounty.

If the Wheel lands on x0.4 against that same $50 bounty, your Random Bounty is $20, split into $10 cash and $10 added to your bounty. The remaining $30 isn’t lost. It stays in the tournament’s bounty pool and helps fund the big multipliers when you hit them.

That balance is what makes the huge wins possible. Over time, the multiplier distribution is designed so that total bounty prizes will match the total bounty pool. Because any single tournament can land above or below that mark, Ocean KO bounty pools are shown as estimates in the lobby.

Evolving Through the Ocean

As your bounty grows, you evolve. There are 14 tiers in total, split into two groups.

Tiers 1 to 10 scale with the tournament buy-in. Here’s how they look in a $10 Ocean KO:

Tier	Name	Bounty	Multiplier	Max KO Reward
1	Egg	$5 (Starting)	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
10	Shark	$500	x0.4 to x400	$200,000

That’s right: in a $10 tournament, knocking out a Shark can be worth up to $200,000.

Tiers 11 to 14 are the Legendary tiers. These are fixed bounty thresholds no matter the buy-in:

Tier	Name	Starting Bounty	Multiplier	Max KO Reward
11	Legendary Octopus	$10,000	x0.5 to x50	$500,000
12	Legendary Dolphin	$50,000	x0.6 to x10	$500,000
13	Legendary Whale	$250,000	x0.65 to x2.5	$625,000
14	Legendary Shark	$1,000,000	x0.8 to x1.5	$1,500,000+

Max KO Reward is based on the starting bounty for each tier.

Players only enter the Legendary tiers once their bounty climbs past 50x the buy-in. From there, the fixed thresholds take over.

You’ll notice the Legendary multipliers are much narrower. With bounties this large, a tighter range keeps payouts balanced. Multipliers below 1x are still possible, though, so no specific payout is guaranteed even at the top.

A few more things to know about evolving:

• Your tier is based on your bounty, not your KO count. A knockout that doesn’t push your bounty past the next threshold leaves you where you are.
• You can skip tiers. A big multiplier or a high-value knockout can push your bounty past several thresholds at once.
• Chip stacks don’t matter. A short stack can be a Legendary tier, and a chip leader can still be a Fry.
• Tiers reset every tournament. Your progress doesn’t carry over from one Ocean KO to the next.

Where Every Player Starts

Your starting tier depends on how the tournament splits its buy-in. In a standard 50/50 Ocean KO, your starting bounty is 0.5x the buy-in, so the entire field begins as an Egg.

Bounty-heavy tournaments start further up the ladder. In a $100 Ocean KO with a 20/80 split, every player starts with an $80 bounty. That’s more than 0.75x the buy-in but less than 1x, so the whole field begins at Tier 3, Fish.

Reading the Table

Ocean KO gives you plenty of information to work with. Each player’s tier icon sits next to their seat. Tap it to see their Bounty Value along with the minimum and maximum bounty you can win by knocking them out.

Want the bigger picture? Open the Field tab in the tournament lobby for a Live Status panel showing how many players remain in each of the 14 tiers. Every Wheel result is also displayed publicly at the table, so when someone lands a big multiplier, everyone sees it.

Special Situations

Multiple knockouts in one hand: The Wheel spins separately for each eliminated player, based on their own Bounty Value and tier. The combined total is then split 50/50 between your wallet and your bounty.

Split pots: When two or more players share a pot that eliminates an opponent, the Random Bounty is divided equally among them. Each winner’s share is split 50/50 as usual.

Disconnections: The Wheel result is determined on the server the moment a knockout happens. If you disconnect, your cash is still credited and your bounty still updates, including any tier change.

Winning It All

The champion’s payday doesn’t stop at the top prize. The winner receives two spins of the Wheel.

The first is for knocking out the runner-up, and it’s split 50/50 like any other knockout. The second is the Final Bounty Spin, based on the champion’s updated bounty amount and tier, and it’s paid 100% in cash.

Dive In

Ocean KO tournaments are available now in the GGPoker Tournament lobby. They’re also eligible for GGPoker Staking, where permitted by local regulations, with stakers sharing in both cash bounties and final prize payouts according to their backing percentage.

For the full breakdown of tiers and multipliers, visit the dedicated Ocean KO page. Then find a table, crack your Egg, and start working your way up the food chain.