Las Vegas, June 15, 2018 – The 4th edition of the Big One for One Drop, the world’s only $1 million buy-in poker tournament, has 30 confirmed players with one month to go before the event kicks off.
Scheduled as the culminating tournament of this year’s 49th Annual World Series of Poker (WSOP), the largest buy-in poker tournament will be televised by ESPN2, and live streamed to viewers on PokerGo. The winner of this event forever etches their name in the poker history books.
The event is a charitable initiative of the One Drop organization in concert with the World Series of Poker to help raise awareness and funds for www.OneDrop.org and all their worldwide relief efforts.
The charitable contribution from each buy-in has been reduced by nearly a third to what it was previously, now at only 8%. This means more for the prize pool -- $920,000 of each buy in -- without sacrificing on the main goal of the Big One for One Drop: Raising funds for a dire worldwide cause – access to safe water. The tournament will continue to be operated without a rake so players have a chance to win what likely may be the largest prize pool the Big One for One Drop has seen in its four editions – $44,160,000 – should the 48-player cap be reached.
Two weeks into the WSOP and just 30 days before the event start, non-refundable deposits are on the rise and the event is on pace to reach capacity. This tournament is reserved on a first-come first-serve basis, with those providing a deposit guaranteeing their seat until July 10th, 2018.
Poker pros as well as amateur players are well represented. Among the 22 pros are players Daniel Negreanu, Antonio Esfandiari, Christoph Vogelsang, Bryn Kenney, Nick Petrangelo, Rainer Kempe, Dominik Nitsche, Steffen Sontheimer, Jason Koon, Phil Ivey, Adrian Mateos, and Phil Hellmuth.
If the event was to start today, eight seats would be occupied by philanthropic businessmen such as Rick Solomon, Talal Shakerchi, and Leon Tsoukernik. Others have wished to remain anonymous.
This includes a seat in the Big One for One Drop taken by the winner of the MGMRI Big 3 Poker Invitational that has been organized by MGM Resorts International. Additionally, the World Series of Poker Satellites at the Rio for the Big One will take place on July 14 at 12noon and 6pm, with a $10,300 buy-in option mega satellite at noon, feeding the $100,500 mega satellite in an effort to award a seat, giving interested players the opportunity to win their seat via one of these lower buy-in options.
“That a charitable poker tournament could have such an impact is simply astonishing. “ said Jack Effel, tournament director at the WSOP, “Since 2012, through 15 tournaments and player donations, over 12,000 individuals have contributed to raising over $20 million for the cause of access to safe water. This has had an incredible impact on the lives of over 170,000 people in need. Both from the poker and humanitarian aspects, the whole poker community and us at WSOP are lucky to be a part of this.”
ESPN2 announced it will telecast action from the event on July 16th and 17th, with planned coverage of the final table live beginning at 9pm ET until its conclusion while PokerGO subscribers will ensure their viewers can watch the event shortly after it unfolds live when ESPN2 isn’t on air.
The tournament is the creation of One Drop and Cirque du Soleil® founder Guy Laliberté in partnership with WSOP. Since 2012, each edition of the Big One has brought together poker players, philanthropists, celebrities and businessmen from across the globe in a unique way to raise awareness of water-related issues among the poker community. Today, with a variety of charitable tournaments such as the Little One for One Drop and the High Rollers for One Drop, as well as the contribution from all players alike making donations, WSOP and the poker community have had a major impact in allowing One Drop to pursue its crucial mission.
For those playing the Big One for One Drop, final funds are due five days prior to the event to secure their reserved seats. Subject to the rules of the tournament, anyone age 21 or older is eligible as long as they have the $1 million entry fee.
Additional characteristics of this year’s tournament are mentioned here in the brochure and structure sheet.
ABOUT ONE DROP
One Drop is an international foundation created in 2007 by Cirque du Soleil’s founder Guy Laliberté. At the core of our mission is access to water, sanitation and hygiene as a transformative force to improve the living conditions of some of the world’s most vulnerable communities. With the objective of delivering long-term impact and sustainability, One Drop brings into all of its projects a unique Social Art for Behavior Change approach that aims at engaging communities in taking ownership and embracing adequate behaviors towards water, sanitation and hygiene. This year, One Drop is celebrating 10 years of bringing sustainable access to safe water to people around the world with projects in 11 countries that will reached over 1 million beneficiaries.
ABOUT THE WSOP
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is the largest, richest and most prestigious gaming event in the world awarding millions of dollars in prize money and the prestigious gold bracelet, globally recognized as the sport's top prize. Featuring a comprehensive slate of tournaments in every major poker variation, the WSOP is poker's longest running tournament in the world, dating back to 1970. In 2017, the event attracted 120,995 entrants from 111 different countries to the Rio in Las Vegas and awarded over $231 million in prize money. In addition, the WSOP has formed groundbreaking alliances in broadcasting, digital media and corporate sponsorships, while successfully expanding the brand internationally with the advent in 2007 of the World Series of Poker Europe. For more information on the World Series of Poker, please visit www.WSOP.com.