Rakerace.com

The WSOP $1,000,000 BIG ONE for ONE DROP will be held 1-3 July, 2012; the charity event will support the ONE DROP Foundation, an initiative of Cirque Du Soleil owner Guy Laliberté, transferring 11.11% of the total buy-ins to them. ONE DROP aims to “fight poverty worldwide by supporting access to water and raising individual and community awareness of the need to mobilize so that safe water is accessible to all, in sufficient quantity, today and tomorrow.”


In order for the ONE DROP to be an official event of WSOP 2012, the registration of a minimum of 22 players is required. According to WSOP, this number has been reached. This means that the prize pool is already around $20 million, so the future winner is likely to grab the single biggest first prize in the history of WSOP. The current holder of this record is Jamie Gold with $12 million for winning the WSOP 2006 Main Event.

The top 20% will be rewarded in the ONE DROP event, that is, the first 6 finishers in case of 30 participants, for instance. The maximum number of entrants is set to 48. Event management has not yet released a full list of those registered as some of them wish to remain incognito. The following players have, however, been confirmed to enter the event:

Guy Laliberté
Bobby Baldwin (four times WSOP champion, CEO of MGM-Mirage Resort)
Phil Ruffin (owner of Treasure Island Resort, Las Vegas)
Andy Beal
Patrik Antonius
Gus Hansen
Daniel Negreanu
Johnny Chan
Tom ‘durrrr’ Dwan
Tony G
Jonathan Duhamel
Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier
Sean O’Donnell (representing Montreal Group)
Daniel Shak

“I am absolutely thrilled to participate in the biggest poker event ever organized. One million dollars is a lot of money but my participation comes naturally, being a spokesperson for ONE DROP and because of my attachment to such a great cause.  Life starts with water and because of its uneven distribution, a person dies every 20 seconds. The Big One for One Drop will raise $111,111 per participant, which will definitely prove the poker community attachment to ONE DROP. As for me, I personally commit to give 5% of my winnings from this tournament to ONE DROP,” 2010 World Champion Jonathan Duhamel said.


ESPN plans to broadcast the event, in which players start with 3 million in chips and the blinds increase hourly.