Cougar727: I assume you are talking about this pond: Hyper Mega Pond
If you notice, the person who dropped out this past round was a pawn. Once a member turns back into a pawn, they cannot play the ponds. So, their last bid as a member, is the forced bid, until they drop out as the lowest bid. People just looked for that, and knew that anything over 487 would be safe. So, many bid 488.