The BIG ONE for ONE DROP $1,000,000 event, the largest buy-in tournament in poker history, has been in the works for over a year, and now the day has finally arrived where 48 players will take to the felt and battle for the $18,346,673 first-place prize, also the largest in poker history.
Out of each $1-million entry fee, $111,111 will be set aside for OneDrop, which was created by Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté and is “a charitable organization that develops integrated, innovative projects with an international scope, in which water plays a central role as a creative force in generating positive, sustainable effects for local and foreign populations and in the fight against poverty.”
With over $5 million going to a great charity, a prize pool of $42,666,672 will be up for grabs, which will be distributed to the final table of nine. The 48 players, who are comprised of an eclectic mix of poker professionals and philanthropic businessmen, will battle at six eight-handed tables, including one at the ESPN Main Stage, over the course of three days.
The other five tables in play will be in the Amazon Room Blue Section, which has undergone a dramatic transformation including new spectator seating, a flop camera plasma feed for each table for media and spectators to see community cards and “all in and calls.”
The tournament will be streamed live on WSOP.com and televised on ESPN, while the final day of the charity tournament will be broadcast live on ESPN 2 at 4:00 PM EDT and then on ESPN at 8:00 PM EDT until its conclusion. In regard to the live stream, David Tuchman will anchor and will be joined by Olivier Busquet and Justin Bonomo on Day 1, while Jason Somerville, Greg Mueller and Joe Hachem will provide commentary on Day 2.
Things will kick off as ESPN will tape a special intro featuring Cirque du Soleil drummers and the like. Meanwhile, the participants will arrive around Noon for interviews, a group photo, and to get acquainted with what is sure to become one of the summer’s most memorable spectacles.
The stage is set and the players are here, let's take a look at the 48:
| Player | Occupation | Residence |
|---|
| Bobby Baldwin | Chief Design and Construction Officer, MGM Resorts Intl. | Las Vegas, NV |
| Frederic Banjout | CEO, Eden Shoes | Paris, France |
| Bob Bright | CEO, Bright Trading, LLC | Las Vegas, NV |
| Ilya Bulchev | Businessman | Moscow, Russia |
| Roland De Wolfe | Professional Poker Player | London, England |
| Tom Dwan | Professional Poker Player | Edison, NJ |
| Jonathan Duhamel | Professional Poker Player | Montreal, QC, Canada |
| David Einhorn | U.S. Hedge Fund Manager | Rye, New York |
| Antonio Esfandiari | Professional Poker Player | Las Vegas, NV |
| Phil Galfond | Professional Poker Player | Potomac, MD |
| Bertrand Grospellier | Professional Poker Player | Paris, France |
| Philipp Gruissem | Professional Poker Player | Germany |
| Giovanni Guarascio | Businessman | Montreal, Canada |
| Phil Ivey | Professional Poker Player | Las Vegas, NV |
| Eugene Katchalov | Professional Poker Player | New York, NY |
| Cary Katz | CEO, College Loan Corporation | Las Vegas, NV |
| Jens Kyllönen | Professional Poker Player | Finland |
| Guy Laliberté | Founder, Cirque de Soleil | Montreal, QC, Canada |
| Ben Lamb | Professional Poker Player | Las Vegas, NV |
| Tom Marchese | Professional Poker Player | Parsippanny, NJ |
| Jason Mercier | Professional Poker Player | Davie, FL |
| Michael Mizrachi | Professional Poker Player | Miami, FL |
| John Morgan | CEO, Winmark Corporation | Minneapolis, MN |
| Daniel Negreanu | Professional Poker Player | Las Vegas, NV |
| Paul Newey | Chairman, New Wave Ventures | Dorset, United Kingdom |
| Chamath Palihapitiya | Venture Capitalist | Burlingame, CA |
| Bill Perkins | Owner, Small Ventures (Private Equity) | Houston, TX |
| Paul Phua | Asian Businessman | Miri, Malaysia |
| Brian Rast | Professional Poker Player | Las Vegas, NV |
| Vivek Rajkumar | Professional Poker Player | Las Vegas, NV |
| Tobias Reinkemeier | Professional Poker Player | Brighton, Germany |
| Andrew Robl | Professional Poker Player | Las Vegas, NV |
| Phil Ruffin | Owner, Treasure Island Resort | Las Vegas, NV |
| Rick Salomon | Film Producer | Los Angeles, CA |
| Nick Schulman | Professional Poker Player | New York, NY |
| Noah Schwartz | Professional Poker Player | Miami, FL |
| Erik Seidel | Professional Poker Player | Las Vegas, NV |
| Mike Sexton | Professional Poker Player/Commentator | Las Vegas, NV |
| Dan Shak | Commodities Trader | Las Vegas, NV |
| Talal Shakerchi | European Hedge Fund Manager | Surrey, England |
| Mikhail Smirnov | Businessman/Poker Player | Moscow, Russia |
| Justin Smith | Professional Poker Player | Los Angeles, CA |
| Brandon Steven | Businessman/Car Dealer Owner | Wichita, KS |
| Sam Trickett | Professional Poker Player | East Retford, England |
| Haralabos Voulgaris | Professional Sports Handicapper | Winnipeg, Canada (Lotto seat) |
| Richard Yong | Asian Businessman | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
| Gus Hansen | $25,300 Mega Satellite – June 30 at Rio | Copenhagen, Denmark |
| Phil Hellmuth | Professional Poker Player - June 30 | Madison, WI |
The BIG ONE for ONE DROP is set to get underway at 1:11 PM PST when Laliberté gives the traditional “Shuffle Up and Deal” tableside at ESPN stage, so join us then as PokerNews brings you all the exciting action and eliminations as history is made at the 2012 World Series of Poker!
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