Hudon won it last year for $4.1 million, beating out 2,960 entrants in the first edition of the WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas.
He moved all in with K♥J♥ and a short stack against the A♠Q♣ held by Ardit Kurshumi. No improvement for either hand came on the board, and that was the end of the title defense.
WPT World Championship Day 3 Recap
Daniel Sepiol
The defending champion is out, but there are still ( xxx ) players with a shot at the $5,678,000 first place prize, the most anyone in the 3,835-entrant field will take home. One possibility as to who will be crowned champion on Dec. 21 is Daniel Sepiol, who is one of a number of players to win some thrilling hands late in Sunday's session.
Sepiol, a Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) champion, was all in preflop for about 2.4 million chips with A♥J♣ against the K♥K♦ of Davidi Kitai. The board would run out J♣3♠2♣J♥A♦, giving Sepiol a full house to suck out, and it brought him up to around 100 big blinds late in the session. Kitai, on the other hand, was left with a small stack.
At the end of the five-level session, Naj Ajez finished with the largest stack at 11,435,000 chips. He built that big of a stack thanks to playing the largest pot of the tournament to date late on Day 3 when he won a race to double through Maxime Chilaud.
Chance Kornuth, however, had his run stopped just short of Day 4 when he was eliminated in 137th place ($34,100). Other notables to bust on Day 3 include Jason Somerville (140th for $34,100), Hossein Ensan (144th for $34,100), Chris Hunichen (155th for $31,300), Lynn Gilmartin (454th for $18,700), and David Williams (468th for $18,700).
Day 4 begins Monday at noon PT with 132 players remaining. The blinds will jump to 40,000/80,000 (80,000 big blind ante) when play resumes. A complete list of chip counts will be available in the morning.
The bubble phase is always tense in any poker tournament, especially when there's at least a five-figure sum waiting around the corner in one of the richest live poker tournaments of all time.
Whether you're an amateur on a fabled Cinderella run or a seasoned vet like, say, a WSOP Main Event champion, decisions can be difficult, definitely when you're on the shorter stack.
With players on the cusp of the hand-for-hand phase in the 2023 WPT World Championship, Joe Hachem was dealt pocket kings in second position and facing a raise from under the gun.
What happens next? Watch it below or keep reading to find out what transpired.
From under the gun, chipleader at the table Ben Bianco came in with a raise to 40,000 holding A♠A♣. Hachem three-bet to 120,000 with the K♣K♥ to his left, keeping 385,000 behind, and action folded back to Bianco.
"Oh my goodness, oh no," commentators Henry Kilbane and Ashley Frank chimed in unison.
While the American was displaying his acting chops, Hachem playfully chirped to get him to fold, only to be met by a four-bet shove mere seconds after. Hachem's face quickly turned sour and after a minute, he decided to let it go.
"Are you kidding me?" Kilbane said in disbelief. Bianco indicated to Hachem he'd show if the Australian champ would show, and Hachem complied by flashing the cowboys.
"You are sick man," Bianco complimented him while tabling the blades. "You had more time chips, you should've waited!" he chuckled. The rest of the table just looked in stunned disbelief as Bianco raked in the pot.
Shortly after, the bubble burst — with cracked aces no less — to guarantee all remaining players, including Hachem, at least $18,700.
Poker players were glued to the action on the WPT live stream and needless to say, the hand caused waves among the poker fans. Popular poker streamer Rayan "Beriuzy" Chamas was among the thousands watching the action concurrently.
Confidently, while Hachem was in the tank, 'Beriuzy' put out the following tweet:
The $1,000,000 buy-in Big One for One Drop will debut from Dec. 18-20 at the WPT World Championship festival at Wynn Las Vegas. It marks the fifth edition of the seven-figure buy-in event, and the first one since 2018.
“After a five-year hiatus it seems the grounds have never been more fertile for the Big One, it is clear it has been missed,” said Alexandre Meunier, One Drop Foundation’s Chief Marketing and Events Officer. “Past players from the worlds of business and high-stakes poker are showing strong interest as well as players who have never played a Big One before which is very encouraging. We would go as far to say that we haven’t seen such strong interest at this stage since the early editions of the history-making event.”
According to WPT, the tournament features the lowest rake it has ever offered and 6% of each buy-in will directly benefit the One Drop Foundation "to continue their mission of ensuring sustainable access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene for communities facing extreme challenges, and one percent will be held as the house fee."
Below is a look at the players previously confirmed by WPT to be playing. The field is sure to grow as the tournament grows closer given anyone with the seven-figure buy-in is welcome to join, and rumors on the ground suggest there are other players likely to jump into action.
With so many big name poker players and recreational businessmen in Vegas for the WPT World Championship, the world will just have to wait and see who might be inclined to jump into action.
Confirmed Big One Players:
Phil Ivey
Chris Brewer
Dan Cates
Nick Petrangelo
David Einhorn
Talal Shakerchi
Rick Salomon
Mikita Badziakouski
Jason Koon
Artur Martirosian
Orpen Kisacikoglu
Santhosh Suvarna
Aleksejs Ponakovs
Phil Ivey First to Sign Up
Phil Ivey
Back in September, Phil Ivey became the first player to officially register for the Big One for One Drop. Ivey, who is widely recognized as the greatest poker player of all time, will look to add to his $4.4 million in lifetime WPT earnings and $40.7 million in lifetime earnings five years after coming up short in recent One Drop offerings. Ivey finished three spots outside of the money in the last Big One for One Drop in 2018 and bubbled the EveryOne for One Dropearlier this summer.
“The Big One is what high stakes is all about," Ivey said in a press release. "Everyone's game elevates when they play in the biggest buy-in event in WPT history.
In October, six more players confirmed that they would join Ivey at Wynn Las Vegas later this year for the biggest buy-in event of the year.
Those players included high-stakes regulars Rick Salomon and Talal Shakerchi, investor David Einhorn, top pros Chris Brewer and Nick Petrangelo and two-time Poker Players Championship winner Dan "Jungleman" Cates.
“Our partnership with the One Drop Foundation has already seen some big names turn up in the Alpha8 fields,” WPT CEO Adam Pliska said in a press release at the time. “As the Big One draws near, we are elated with every new entry, building excitement and securing further support for the One Drop Foundation’s global cause.”
A few of the six new players confirmed for the Big One for One Drop have had success in the event in the past. Salomon played all four editions of the Big One, finishing fourth in the 2014 and 2018 offerings and third in the 2016 WSOP Monte Carlo event for $3.3 million, while Einhorn finished third in the 2012 tournament for $4.3 million.
Cates, Shakerchi and Petrangelo have also played previous One Drop editions, while Brewer, who has had a fantastic year of high-stakes tournament poker that has brought him his four biggest tournament cashes, will be making his One Drop debut.
“It is amazing to witness the first wave of entrants into the Big One, which includes some of our past participants as well as new faces,” One Drop Foundation’s Chief Marketing and Events OfficerAlexandre Meunier said in a press release. “Rick, David and Talal have been a part of every Big One since its inception. We welcome all the players and cannot wait to add more incredible names to the lineup.”
High-stakes veteran Jason Koon will once again be taking part in the Big One For One Drop, while newer high-stakes grinders Aleksejs Ponakovs, Artur Martirosian, Orpen Kisacikoglu and Santhosh Suvarna will all make their Big One debuts.
Koon, who sits fourth on the all-time money list with $52.6 million in live earnings, played the 2018 One Drop but failed to cash.
Previous Big One for One Drop Winners
YEAR
ENTRANTS
WINNER
PRIZE (IN USD)
2012
48
Antonio Esfandiari
$18,346,673
2014
42
Dan Colman
$15,306,668
2016
28
Elton Tsang
$12,248,912
2018
27
Justin Bonomo
$10,000,000
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