A single knockout changed a player's life in September. In a €100 buy-in Winamax Space KO tournament with an €80,000 guarantee, a player using the handle "oldepaso68" collected a single bounty of €838,000, the largest in the format's history, and finished with €922,104 in bounties and total winnings of €927,783. The first-place prize was just over €5,000. The result has become a reference point in the debate over jackpot-style progressive knockout (PKO) tournaments, a format that GGPoker has now pushed onto the global stage with its Ocean KO series. This article explains how Space KO works, what the record result tells us about variance, and how recreational and serious players should think about jackpot formats.
The Record Result in Numbers
The tournament drew 1,108 entries at €100 each, and it awarded a total of €1,022,441, more than ten times its €80,000 guarantee. It lasted 258 minutes. The winner collected about 90 percent of everything paid out, which is an extraordinary concentration for a tournament with more than a thousand entries. Based on the reported figures, he earned roughly €3,574 per minute of play, or about €60 per second.
A few observations help put that in context:
- At face value, 1,108 entries at €100 would total €110,800 in buy-ins. The prize pool of €1,022,441 is far larger, which reflects the jackpot multipliers funded by the format rather than ordinary buy-in money.
- The €838,000 single bounty is the largest in Space KO history and one of Winamax's biggest payouts ever.
- First place was worth only a little over €5,000, so the winner of the tournament was not the winner of the money. The bounty system effectively created a second prize pool that was far larger than the first.
How Space KO Works
Winamax launched Space KO in December 2024. It brought a random-multiplier concept from Winamax's Expresso and jackpot sit-and-go formats into multi-table tournaments. The key mechanics, as reported:
- Each bounty receives a random multiplier from 0.4x to 100x.
- A 100x multiplier hits roughly once per 1,000 bounty awards.
- Bounties are active from the start, unlike mystery bounty tournaments, where values are revealed later.
- When a player knocks out an opponent, half the bounty goes to the winner in cash and half is added to the winner's own bounty, so bounties can grow over the course of the event.
That last feature is the engine behind the record. A player who accumulates knockouts builds a bounty that grows with each elimination, so a later multiplier can apply to a much larger base. The €838,000 payout is not a simple 100x of a €100 buy-in, but the result of a bounty that had grown and then received a high multiplier.
Why Jackpot Formats Are Spreading
Winamax is not alone. Betclic launched a similar format called Smash Knockout, iPoker is developing a Progressive Mystery Bounty format, and WPN is reportedly working on a similar one. Winamax's own Expresso formats have produced almost 170 jackpots of €1 million since 2013, which shows how much the audience values lottery-style upside. At GGPoker, the $5 Ocean KO opener drew 420,084 entries and $1,932,386 in buy-ins, with multipliers ranging from 0.4x to 400x on early levels and more than 70 percent of knockouts paying less than face value. Read our coverage of that event for the details of how the format scaled.
The strategic reason is simple. Operators have learned that the biggest driver of recreational participation is the chance of a life-changing score for a tiny buy-in. A €100 buy-in turning into €927,783 is a story that attracts more players than a €5,000 first prize ever could. The risk to the operator is limited because jackpot funding comes from the format itself.
What the Result Says About Variance
For players, the key lesson is variance. A tournament where one knockout can be worth ten times the entire first-place prize behaves very differently from a standard freezeout.
Skill still matters, but the lever changes. In a normal tournament, the best players win by making better decisions across hundreds of hands. In a jackpot PKO, the player who gets the most knockouts increases their chance of landing a large multiplier, but luck on the multiplier draw has an outsized effect. Because a 100x multiplier appears roughly once every 1,000 awards, even highly skilled players will rarely see one.
Most knockouts are small. In Ocean KO, over 70 percent of knockouts pay below face value. In Space KO the multiplier range is 0.4x to 100x. The average player's expected return is therefore driven by the many small outcomes, not the rare giant one.
Bankroll requirements go up. If a large share of the equity sits in rare events, the downswings between them can be long. Use our bankroll management guide to set a buy-in limit that reflects this extra variance.
Some regulars worry that the format reduces the role of skill relative to rake over time, and others have raised table-integrity concerns when one seat holds a bounty worth many buy-ins, because collusion or soft-play incentives increase. These are legitimate questions, and operators will need strong fair-play systems as the format grows.
Strategy Adjustments for Jackpot PKOs
If you decide to play these formats, a few principles from standard bounty strategy apply, with adjustments.
- Prioritise knockouts when bounties are large relative to the pot. Because half of every bounty is added to your own, accumulating bounties creates a snowball. See our poker strategy hub for related concepts.
- Call wider against short stacks with big bounties. The price you are getting on a call is better than in a freezeout, so your calling range should expand. Use the pot odds explainer and the poker odds calculator to check the numbers.
- Remember ICM still matters near the money. Even in bounty events, regular prize pool considerations shape bubble and final table play. Review ICM.
- Do not chase the jackpot. A 100x multiplier is rare. Make decisions based on expected value, not on hoping for the extreme result.
Where to Play Bounty Formats
Winamax operates in France and a few other European markets, so many readers cannot play Space KO. Bounty tournaments are widely available elsewhere. US-facing sites such as Americas Cardroom run mystery bounty tournaments, and crypto-friendly operators such as BC Poker offer their own tournament schedules. Compare your options on the tournaments page and the real money poker guide, and check the legal status in your location on our US, Canada and UK pages.
The Bigger Picture
The €838,000 bounty is a milestone for a format that is barely two years old. It shows that jackpot PKOs can generate life-changing payouts at stakes far lower than traditional tournaments, and it explains why operators are racing to launch their own versions. The industry is still working out how to balance entertainment, fairness and skill. For now, treat these tournaments as high-variance entertainment with real upside, play within your means, and enjoy the spectacle when someone beats the odds.