Ivey, Dwan Among 48 Players Registered for $1 Million Buy-in The Big One for One Drop

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Jun 30, 2012 19 min read Last updated Sep 27, 2023

On Sunday, July 1, the World Series of Poker will host The Big One, a $1 million buy-in tournament that will benefit the One Drop foundation. Among those who are confirmed to take a seat at the blue-felted tables are Phil Ivey, Tom Dwan, Bobby Baldwin, Daniel Negreanu, and Erik Seidel.

The event will run from July 1 through 3 and is capped at 48 players. It will be live-streamed on WSOP.com and televised on ESPN. The final day of the charity tournament will be broadcast live on ESPN 2 at 4:00 p.m. EDT and then on ESPN at 8:00 p.m. EDT until its conclusion.

The One Drop foundation was created by Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte. From each buy-in, 11.1 percent, or $111,111, will be donated to the One Drop foundation, meaning that more than $5.5 million will be donated from the buy-ins.

The tournament is rake free, so $888,889 of the buy-in will be placed directly in the prize pool. Players will begin with 3 million in chips and the tournament will pay out the top nine spots. The winner will receive a WSOP platinum bracelet.

According to the World Series of Poker, the participant list will become 100% official after the completion of Level 4 of The Big One for One Drop on Sunday. Until then, the list is subject to change.

PokerNews will be providing in-depth updates of The Big One for One Drop on Sunday, as well as the $25,300 Mega Satellite, which will kick off at 1300 PDT on Saturday.

Check out bios on all registered players, provided by WSOP.com.

Follow PokerNews on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.

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Bios for registered players provided by WSOP.com

Bobby Baldwin — Chief Design & Construction Officer, MGM Resorts Intl

Bobby Baldwin is a 62-year-old resident of Las Vegas, Nevada, and a longtime casino industry executive. In 1978, he cemented his standing as a premier poker player by winning the $10,000 WSOP World Championship (The Main Event). In all, Baldwin has nearly $1 million in lifetime tournament winnings and is the owner of four WSOP gold bracelets, a rare distinction among the world’s millions of poker players.
Baldwin, who served for a time as a consultant for the Golden Nugget Casino, was named its president in 1984. He has also headed The Mirage and was named president of the Bellagio in 1998. He served under Steve Wynn as Chief Financial Officer of Mirage Resorts from 1999-2000. He now serves as president and CEO of City Center.

Biggest Win: 5/1978, 1978 WSOP Main Event Championship — $210,000

Frederic Banjout — CEO, Eden Shoes

Frederic Banjout is 42-years-old and lives in France. He serves as the Chief Executive Officer of French-based shoe retailer, Eden Shoes. He is making his WSOP debut in The Big One for One Drop.

Biggest Cash: No known notable cashes.

Bob Bright — CEO, Bright Trading, LLC

Bob Bright is 72 years old and resides in Las Vegas, Nevada. Bright began playing cards in high school, and his passion served him well during his days serving in the Army. It is said that he earned many times his monthly salary by playing cards during that time. Additionally, Bright received perfect scores on his standardized math tests (both in high school and for the Army). He now serves as CEO for Bright Trading, LLC. Bright Trading, a Las-Vegas-based company, is recognized as one of the largest professional proprietary stock trading firms in the United States.

Biggest Cash: 7/21/2006, 3rd-place finish in 2006 WSOP $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em — $261,170

Ilya Bulychev — Businessman

Ilya Bulychev is a 34-year-old businessman and poker player from Moscow, Russia. He has earned three WSOP cashes, including a 15th place finish in the 2010 $50,000 buy-in Poker Players Championship. He is no stranger to high stakes poker tournaments. Bulychev is one of two Russian-born players in the field.

Biggest Cash: 5/28/2010, 15th-place finish in 2010 WSOP Poker Players Championship — $98,330

Roland De Wolfe — Professional Poker Player

Roland De Wolfe is a 33-year-old, London-based professional poker player. He has 17 WSOP cashes and earned a bracelet in 2009’s $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better event.

Biggest Cash: 2006, 3rd-place finish in WPT $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em Championship — $1,025,205

Tom Dwan — Professional Poker Player

Known as one of the toughest professional poker players in the world, Tom Dwan currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada. At only 25 years of age, Dwan has participated in some of the highest buy-in tournaments and cash games in the world. Most commonly known in the poker community by his online handle “durrrr,” Dwan attended Boston University before deciding to pursue poker professionally. Since then, he has played numerous live poker tournaments and cash games, including the Million Dollar Cash Game and the National Heads-Up Poker Championship. With tournament earnings exceeding $2,000,000, Dwan has proven he is one to be reckoned with at the poker table.

Biggest Cash: 2010, 2nd-place finish in WSOP $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Event — $381,885

Jonathan Duhamel — Professional Poker Player

Jonathan Duhamel, 24, is a professional poker player from Montreal, Canada. In 2010, Duhamel became the 41st Annual WSOP No-Limit Hold ‘Em Main Event Champion at the age of 22. Although he is a poker player now, Duhamel originally went to college to pursue a career in finance. Since his 2010 WSOP Main Event victory, Duhamel has been busy traveling the worldwide tournament circuit, performing quite admirably and continually serving as one of the game’s great ambassadors.

Biggest Win: 11/7/2010, 2010 WSOP Main Event Championship — $8,944,310

David Einhorn — Hedge Fund Manager

David Einhorn is a 43-year-old hedge fund manager from Rye, New York. He is the Founder and President of Greenlight Capital. Greenlight Capital is a "long-short value-oriented hedge fund." Started in 1996 with $900,000, Greenlight’s annualized return for investors is about 22 percent. When not running his successful business, Einhorn has been known to play cards, and play them well. In the 2006 WSOP Main Event — the largest poker tournament in history with 8,773 entrants — Einhorn finished in 18th place and went on to donate his $659,000 in winnings to the Michael J. Fox Foundation. An active philanthropist, Einhorn has stated his intent to donate to the City Year Foundation for this event. City Year is an education-focused non-profit that partners with high-need public schools to provide full-time targeted student interventions.

Biggest Cash: 7/28/2006, 18th-place finish in 2006 WSOP Main Event — $659,730

Antonio Esfandiari — Professional Poker Player

Antonio Esfandiari is a 33-year-old professional poker player. Known to the poker community as “The Magician,” the Las Vegas resident is a former magician turned poker player. With nearly $5 million in lifetime earnings, including one WSOP gold bracelet and two other titles, Esfandiari is one of the game’s most recognized and entertaining personalities. In fact, if he fails to make this final table, you will hear him commenting the event as part of ESPN’s live television coverage.

Biggest Win: 2/21/2004, Won 2004 WPT LA Poker Classic — $1,399,135

Phil Galfond — Professional Poker Player

Online poker phenom Phil Galfond has cashed six times at the WSOP and amassed nearly $1 million in WSOP winnings. In 2008, Galfond won a $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha tournament to capture a gold bracelet. The Potomac, Maryland, resident has two additional Top 20 WSOP finishes.

Biggest Win: 6/14/2008, Won 2008 WSOP $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha — $817,781

Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier — Professional Poker Player

Bertrand Grospellier, who won a gold bracelet at last year’s World Series of Poker, is one of the biggest poker personalities in all of Europe and also one of the most feared no-limit hold’em players in the game today. The 31-year-old hails from Paris, France, and is better known as “ElkY.” He has lifetime poker earnings of more than $10 million, good for 16th on the all-time list. He has also captured the poker triple crown, winning a WSOP, EPT and WPT event already.

Biggest Win: 1/5/2008, Won 2008 EPT Caribbean Adventure — $2,000,000

Philipp Gruissem — Professional Poker Player

At the young age of 25, Philipp Gruissem has had some terrific success in European poker tournaments and hopes that continues in this event. The native of Brighton in Germany hopes to follow fellow countryman Pius Heinz in bringing another giant victory and title from the World Series of Poker back to his home country. With three six-figure scores in the last year, including two first place finishes and two third-place finishes in European tournaments, Gruissem now has more than $2 million in lifetime earnings in less than three years on the tournament circuit.

Biggest Win: 10/4/2011, Won High Roller event at EPT London — $703,657

Giovanni “Malibu” Guarascio — Poker Player

Giovanni “Malibu” Guarascio is a 55-year-old professional poker player from Montreal, Canada.

Biggest Cash: No known notable cashes.

Phil Ivey — Professional Poker Player

A well-known and established professional poker player, Phil Ivey currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada. At 35-years of age, Ivey is an eight-time WSOP gold bracelet winner, good for fifth all-time. Known in the poker community as one of the best all-around players in the world, Ivey is adept at both tournament and cash game poker. Born in Riverside, California, Ivey’s family moved to New Jersey when he was a young child. Ivey started to play poker with co-workers in New Jersey and has since accumulated more than $16 million in lifetime tournament winnings. He is the youngest player to attain eight WSOP gold bracelets, all of which were in events other than no-limit hold’em. Ivey plays in the world’s highest stakes cash games and has a room named after him at the Aria Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. This year, Ivey has made five WSOP final tables to push his WSOP career earnings to $6,249,783.

Biggest Win: 1/27/2012: Won 2012 Aussie Millions High Roller Challenge — $2,058,948

Eugene Katchalov — Professional Poker Player

Born in Kiev, Ukraine, Eugene Katchalov is a 31-year-old professional poker player who has been residing in Brooklyn, New York, since he moved there with his family at the age of 10. Katchalov graduated from New York University with a degree in business and has been playing poker professionally since 2003. He is a very successful tournament poker player, with lifetime career earnings of more than $7 million. Katchalov is the winner of the largest payout (up to the start of the 2010-11 season) for a non-championship event in the World Poker Tour (WPT), earning $2,482,605 with a win of the 2007 Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic. He’s cashed at the World Series of Poker 25 times, including a third-place finish in a 2010 $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. event for $248,831, four more final table appearances and a Top 40 finish in the 2009 Main Event. In 2011 he took it to the next level, earning a World Series winner’s bracelet when he took down a $1,500 Seven Card Stud event for $122,909.

Biggest Win: 12/12/2007, Won 2007 Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic — $2,482,605

Cary Katz — CEO, College Loan Corporation

Currently residing in Las Vegas, Nevada, Cary Katz is the Chief Executive Officer of the seventh-largest student loan company in the United States, the College Loan Corporation (CLC). In 1999, Katz founded the CLC and has helped more than 800,000 students providing them with over $19 billion in college loans. This 41-year-old is the acting chairman of a Stop Child Predators, nonprofit organization founded to help protect children and hold their victimizers accountable. Katz has a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from the University of Georgia and currently lives with his wife and six children. Katz is also a successful poker player. He made his first appearance in the winner’s circle on the tournament trail in 2004. Since then he has cashed 41 times, made 21 final tables, won two titles and racked up $681,203 in career earnings.

Biggest Cash: 6/2/2011, 12th-place finish in 2011 WSOP $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em — $51,713

Jens Kyllönen — Professional Poker Player

Jens Kyllönen is a 22-year-old professional poker player from Finland. Kyllönen's poker tournament results and statistics include one first-place finish, two final table appearances, and six in-the-money finishes for $1,393,300 in total poker tournament event earnings over the years. A well-established online player who is known as a pot-limit Omaha specialist, Kyllönen's resume includes a first-place finish on the European Poker Tour, where he earned over $1,100,000 at the age of 19.

Biggest Win: 2/17/2009, Won 2009 EPT Scandinavian Open — $1,120,815

Guy Laliberté - Founder, Cirque de Soleil/OneDrop.org Canada Founder

Guy Laliberté is the 52-year-old founder and chief executive officer of Canada’s famous Cirque du Soleil circus troupe. Originally a street performer, Laliberté currently owns 95 percent of the company. According to Forbes Magazine, his net worth is $1.5 billion (U.S.), making him the 654th richest man in the world. His most notable tournament success came in the form of a fourth-place finish in a 2007 World Poker Tour event. He became Canada’s first private explorer in space and the first to engage in a Poetic Social Mission in space. He is also the founder of the One Drop Foundation, a philanthropic foundation to fight poverty in the world by giving everyone access to water and of course the beneficiary in this great event.

Biggest Cash: 4/21/2007, 4th-place finish in 2007 WPT Five Star World Poker Classic — $696,220

Ben Lamb — Professional Poker Player

Currently a resident of Las Vegas, Nevada, Ben Lamb is 27-year-old professional poker player. Lamb attended Jenks High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma, before graduating in 2004. He went on to college at the Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. Before turning to poker professionally, Lamb worked as a dealer at Tulsa’s Cherokee Casino. His best year in poker came in 2011, when he was named the CardPlayer Player of the Year and also the WSOP Player of the Year. Lamb was also a part of the WSOP November Nine and finished in third place. He captured his first WSOP gold bracelet in 2011 and has more than $6,000,000 in WSOP winnings already.

Biggest Cash: 7/7/2011, 3rd-place finish in 2011 WSOP Main Event — $4,021,138

Tom Marchese — Professional Poker Player

Tom Marchese is from Parsippany, New Jersey. While he is just 24 years old, the professional poker player was given the impressive title of CardPlayer Player of the Year in 2010. Marchese is primarily an online pro playing under the name "Kingsofcards" but also has earned more than $3,800,000 in live tournaments.

Biggest Win: 5/23/2012, Won 2012 WPT World Championship Super High Roller — $1,308,405

Jason Mercier — Professional Poker Player

Jason Mercier is a 25-year-old professional poker player residing in Davie, Florida. Mercier has accumulated numerous tournament wins, which include two victories at the WSOP. Mercier is one of the few players coming into this event that has more than one World Series of Poker bracelet to his name. Both of Mercier’s bracelets are in pot-limit Omaha events. Mercier has earned nearly $1 million in WSOP events and has amassed more than $7,700,000 in worldwide earnings.

Biggest Win: 4/1/2008, Won 2008 EPT San Remo — $1,372,893

Michael Mizrachi — Professional Poker Player

Michael Mizrachi is 31 years old and resides in Miami, Florida. “The Grinder” is the proud owner of three WSOP bracelets, after having recently taken down the 2012 WSOP Poker Players’ Championship. Mizrachi also won the Poker Players’ Championship in 2010. Mizrachi started playing in tournaments in 2004 and has accumulated more than $14 million in career earnings. He was named CardPlayer Magazine’s Player of the Year in 2006, and has two WPT titles.

Biggest Cash: 7/5/2010, 5th-place finish in 2010 WSOP Main Event — $2,332,992

John Morgan - CEO, Winmark Corporation

From Minneapolis, Minnesota, 71-year-old John L. Morgan serves as the chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Winmark Corporation. In addition, he currently serves as chairman and chief executive officer of Tomsten, Inc. Morgan doesn't often travel for poker, but he frequently plays in Heartland Poker Tour events when they're held in Shakopee, a city located near his home. He has one WSOP cash.

Biggest Cash: 10/10/2010, 3rd-place finish in $1,000 No Limit Hold'em Main Event at the Midwest Poker Classic — $26,888

More bios on players registered for The Big One for One Drop after the jump.
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Bios for registered players provided by WSOP.com

Daniel Negreanu — Professional Poker Player

Daniel Negreanu is a well-known professional poker player who currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada. Nicknamed“KidPoker,” this 37-year-old has been a prominent face of the poker industry and has appeared in various movies and television shows. Originally from Toronto, Canada, Negreanu is currently ranked third on the all-time career earnings list, with just over $16 million in worldwide earnings. Since 2006, Negreanu, a Toronto Maple Leafs fanatic, has lived a vegan lifestyle. In his spare time, Negreanu dedicates time to help numerous charities and to get in a game or two of golf. An avid tweeter, Negreanu can be found greeting his many fans and playing in the highest cash games and tournaments around the world.

Biggest Win: 12/14/2004, Won 2004 WPT Championship Five Diamond World Poker Classic — $1,770,218

Paul Newey — Chairman, New Wave Ventures

Paul Newey, 43, is one of Britain’s most successful and wealthy entrepreneurs. He led Ocean Finance from its foundation in 1991 up to its sale in 2007 and stood down as chief executive officer in 2009. He currently serves as the co-founder of New Wave Ventures, an investment company based in London.

Biggest Cash: No known cashes.

Chamath Palihapitiya — Venture Capitalist

Chamath Palihapitiya is a 35-year-old venture capitalist and poker player. He is the former Vice President of Growth, Mobile and International at Facebook. Additionally, he has held multiple high-ranking jobs with companies such as AOL and the Silicon Valley venture capital firm, The Mayfield Fund. Palihapitiya has recently started his own venture fund, Social+Capital Partnership. Chamath also owns a minority stake in the NBA’s Golden State Warriors.

Biggest Cash: 2011, 101st-place finish in 2011 WSOP Main Event — $54,851

Bill Perkins — Owner, Small Ventures USA (Private Equity)

Bill Perkins is a 43-year-old businessman and amateur poker player. He runs Small Ventures USA (SMV), a private equity and venture capital company in Texas, with a wide portfolio of business interests and investments. He also has a passion for making films, and acts as a producer on various titles made by his own company. Perkins has produced a number of films under his production company, Lleju Productions and Films, including After.Life, The Chameleon, and Road Kill. Perkins received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Iowa, where he also played for the Hawkeye’s football team. He is an active participant in the Save the Children charitable organization.

Biggest Cash: 2012, 15th-place finish in $25,000 NLHE 8-Max High Roller at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure — $58,020

Paul Phua — Businessman

Paul Phua is a 48-year-old businessman from Asia who currently resides in Malaysia. Phua travels around the world and has competed in some of the highest buy-in tournaments and cash games. Phua was a part of the Million Dollar Cash came in Melbourne, Australia.

Biggest Cash: No Known Cashes

Vivek Rajkumar — Professional Poker Player

Vivek Rajkumar, aka "Psyduck," is a native of Seattle, Washington. The 26-year-old began playing poker after the “Moneymaker Boom.” Rajkumar has now amassed more than $4 million in total tournament earnings and has cashed at the WSOP 11 times.

Biggest Win: 2008, Won 2008 WPT Borgata Poker Open — $1,424,500

Brian Rast — Professional Poker Player

Brian Rast is one of the top young high-stakes cash game players. Rast has accumulated more than $2.8 million in worldwide tournament earnings. The 30-year-old poker pro found success playing a limited tournament schedule in 2011 when he won two World Series of Poker bracelets, including the $50,000 Poker Players Championship. Rast was born in Denver, Colorado, where he was the valedictorian of his high school class.

Biggest Win: 2011, Won 2011 WSOP $50,000 Poker Player’s Championship — $1,720,328

Tobias Reinkemeier — Professional Poker Player

Tobias Reinkemeier was born in the North Sea town of Cuxhaven, Germany. The 24-year-old took up the game of poker in January of 2006 and decided to invest $50 into an online poker account in order to try his skills at the real money tables. He began by building his skills through playing cash games and sit-and-go’s, and eventually moved up to higher buy-in multi-table tournaments. In early 2007, Reinkemeier’s passion for live-action play led him to the European Poker Tour stop in Dortmund, where he would surprise many by taking first place in the €500 Hohensyburg Open, cashing for €30,500. Since then, he has gone on to earn more than $3.7 million in career earnings in tournaments and is now regarded by many as Germany’s number one tournament player.

Biggest Cash: 2012, 2nd-place finish in 2012 NLHE 8-Max Super High Roller Monte Carlo®Casino EPT Grand Final — $1,404,750

Andrew Robl — Professional Poker Player

Andrew Robl is a professional poker player who currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada. At 25 years of age, Robl has accumulated more than $2.4 million in worldwide earnings. He attended Michigan State University. Today, Robl can be seen playing in some of the highest buy-in tournaments around the world.

Biggest Cash: 2012, 2nd-place finish in 2012 WPT World Championships $100,000 No-Limit Super High Roller — $822,375

Phil Ruffin — Owner, Treasure Island Resort, Las Vegas

Consistently occupying a spot on the Forbes 400 list of the United States richest people, Phil Ruffin is currently making himself very well known in Las Vegas. As current owner of Treasure Island Resort, Ruffin has built up a very large empire since dropping out of college. His main agenda is to attract mid-level customers to the resort. By turning $20 million into $1 billion, the 76-year-old made this possible by slight tweaks he made to Treasure Island. Ruffin has an estimated net worth of $2.4 billion.

Biggest Cash: No Known Cashes

Rick Salomon — Film Producer

Rick Salomon is a 44-year-old film producer from Los Angeles, California. He has produced films such as Who’s Your Caddy (2007) and appeared in Alpha Dog (2006) and My Sister’s Keeper (2009).

Biggest Win: 2006, Won 2006 Bellagio Cup II $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em — $125,715

Nick Schulman — Professional Poker Player

Nick Schulman is a 27-year-old professional poker player from Manhattan, New York. Schulman’s WSOP earnings exceed $1 million, and his worldwide earnings are more than $5.1 million. He won a gold bracelet in 2009’s $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball Championship. In 2010, Schulman appeared on the MTV series, World of Jenks. This documentary-style show followed Schulman as he traveled the world in search of his next big score.

Biggest Win: 2005, Won 2005 WPT $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em World Poker Finals — $2,167,500

Noah Schwartz — Professional Poker Player

Noah Schwartz is a 28-year-old professional poker player who hails from Miami, Florida. With more than $2,500,000 in worldwide earnings, Schwartz is currently No. 44 on the 2012 All Time Money List, according to the Hendon Mob. Nicknamed “McLovin,” Schwartz can be found playing in various high buy-in tournaments around the globe.

Biggest Cash: 2010, 3rd-place finish in 2010 WPT Festa al Lago $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Championship — $344,968

Erik Seidel — Professional Poker Player

Erik Seidel is an eight-time WSOP gold bracelet champion, placing him in a tie for fifth all-time with Phil Ivey. Seidel’s WSOP earnings exceed $4.5 million and his worldwide earnings are more than $16.9 million. His heads-up battle and eventual second-place finish to Johnny Chan in the 1988 WSOP World Championship was profiled in the 1998 film Rounders, starring Matt Damon and Edward Norton. Seidel is 52 years old and resides in Las Vegas, Nevada. He was elected into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2010.

Biggest Cash: 2011, Won 2011 Aussie Millions $250,000 Super High Roller — $2,472,555

Mike Sexton — Professional Poker Player

Mike Sexton is a 64-year-old professional poker player from Las Vegas, Nevada. Sexton is most recognized for his position as commentator and analyst for the World Poker Tour. He lays claim to a single WSOP gold bracelet (1989, $1,500 Limit Seven Card Stud Hi-Low) and also took down the WSOP Tournament of Champions title (a non-bracelet event) in 2006. In 2009 Sexton was the elected as the 38th member to the Poker Hall of Fame. He has more than $4.2 million in worldwide earnings and is the ambassador of PartyPoker.

Biggest Cash: 2006, Won 2006 Tournament of Champions — $1,000,000

Dan Shak — Commodities Trader

At the age of 53, Dan Shak has experienced both the business world and the poker world. Shak is known as a commodities trader and hedge fund manager. Originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Shak now resides in Las Vegas, Nevada. Specializing in gold trading, Shak spends a lot of his time on the poker scene. Shak has made more than $3.7 million in worldwide earnings. Shak is recognized for his philanthropic endeavors, including agreeing to donate 100 percent of his winnings from the 2010 Ante Up For Africa tournament, another charity tournament that previously was held at the WSOP.

Biggest Win: 2010, Won 2010 Aussie Millions Poker Championship — $1,107,553

Talal Shakerchi — European Hedge Fund Manager

From Surrey, England, Talal Shakerchi is a notable European hedge fund manager. Although he has played in World Series of Poker events in the past and garnered more than $700,000 in career earnings, this One Drop event will be Shakerchi’s biggest tournament buy-in by a wide margin. The 48-year-old is a director of the London hedge fund Meditor Capital Management.

Biggest Win: 2012, Won 2012 Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT Grand Final 6-Max Turbo High Roller Event — $294,417

Mikhail Smirnov — Businessman

At 39, Mikhail Smirnov is a Russian businessman who enjoys indulging in poker games. As a part time poker player, has earned more than $850,000 in poker winnings since he began playing in tournaments.

Biggest Cash: 2012, 2nd-place finish in 2012 Aussie Millions $100,000 Challenge — $634,156

Justin Smith — Professional Poker Player

Justin “Boosted J” Smith began playing online poker and eventually built a bankroll that would allow him to venture into the stratosphere of the highest limits offered in online poker. The 24-year-old professional poker player now resides in Los Angeles. He has more than $2.1 million in poker earnings.

Biggest Cash: 2010, 2nd-place finish in 2010 WPT Bellagio Cup VI $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Championship — $594,755

Brandon Steven — Businessman/Car Dealership Owner

Brandon Steven is a 38-year-old businessman and Subaru dealership owner from Wichita, Kansas. His poker résumé includes $690,000 in career WSOP earnings. In 2010, he was the November Nine bubble boy, finishing in 10th place for $635,011.

Biggest Cash: 2010, 10th-place finish in 2012 WSOP Main Event — $635,011

Sam Trickett — Professional Poker Player

Sam Trickett is a 25-year-old professional poker player from East Retford, England. Trickett began playing poker in 2005 after a knee injury ended his career with the professional football club Hartlepool United. Trickett has amassed $6,359,096 in worldwide earnings. He has $1,068,931 in WSOP earnings.

Biggest Win: 01/27/2011, Won 2011 Aussie Millions Poker Championship — $1,508,258

Haralobos Voulgaris — Professional Sports Handicapper

Born in Winnipeg, Canada, Haralabos Voulgaris is 37-year-old professional gambler and poker player who has accumulated more than $3 million in poker earnings. Voulgaris attended the University of Manitoba, where he received a degree in philosophy. He is known as one of the most successful professional sports bettors, particularly in NBA basketball. Voulgaris currently resides in Los Angeles, California.

Biggest Cash: 2005, 2nd-place finish in 2005 WPT L.A. Poker Classic — $904,122

Richard Yong — Businessman

Richard Yong is a 54-year-old businessman from Asia who currently resides in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He has many businesses worldwide, his main ones being data mining and IT-related companies. Yong has participated in the highest buy-in cash games and tournaments around the world, including the Million Dollar Cash came in Melbourne, Australia.

Biggest Cash: 4/20/12, 4th-place finish in 2012 APT Manila Super High Roller — $463,454

PokerNews will be providing in-depth updates of The Big One for One Drop on Sunday, as well as the $25,300 Mega Satellite, which will kick off at 1300 PDT on Saturday.

Check out bios on all registered players, provided by WSOP.com.

Follow PokerNews on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.

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