30 Players Confirmed For $1 Million Buy-In Big One Tournament For One DropEvent To Award Largest First Prize In Tournament Poker History |
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On Thursday, Cirque du Soleil founder, high-stakes poker player and founder of the One Drop charity Guy Laliberté announced that 30 players have now committed to participate in the $1,000,000 buy-in Big One for One Drop at the 2012 World Series of Poker. The event is set to take place from July 1st – 3rd at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas and will be televised on ESPN.
The 30 confirmed participants have secured their participation with advance deposits, and with the latest numbers the prize pool is already expected to exceed $26,000,000. According to the WSOP’s payouts, this would mean that the winner will walk away with estimated $12,266,668 – the biggest first place prize in poker tournament history. With roughly 80 days until the event begins, the organizers are still optimistic about the event reaching its 48-player cap.
The new players to confirm their involvement are:
Player | Occupation |
Bob Bright | CEO, Bright Trading |
Cary Katz | CEO, College Loan Corporation |
Arnaud Mimran | French businessman |
Paul Newey | Co-founder, New Wave Ventures, LLP. (UK) |
Paul Phua | Asian businessman |
Erik Seidel | U.S. poker professional |
Justin Smith | U.S. poker professional |
Richard Yong | Asian businessman |
Some players have requested to remain anonymous prior to the start of tournament, and the World Series of Poker has respected their wishes, but has provided information regarding each of their occupation.
Here is the complete list of players who have committed to playing:
1 | Guy Laliberté |
2 | Phil Ruffin |
3 | Andy Beal |
4 | Montreal private citizen group (Sean O’Donnell) |
5 | Loto-Québec/Casino Montreal (Lottery scratch-off/live satellite) |
6 | Cary Katz |
7 | Paul Newey |
8 | Richard Yong |
9 | Erik Seidel |
10 | Anonymous – U.S. Venture Capitalist |
11 | Anonymous – European Hedge Fund Manager |
12 | Anonymous – U.S. Hedge Fund Manager |
13 | Anonymous – French businessman |
14 | Caesars Entertainment seat |
15 | Caesars Entertainment via June 30 $25,300 satellite at Rio |
16 | MGM Mirage Satellite seat |
17 | Bobby Baldwin |
18 | Patrik Antonius |
19 | Gus Hansen |
20 | Daniel Negreanu |
21 | Johnny Chan |
22 | Tom Dwan |
23 | Tony Guoga |
24 | Jonathan Duhamel |
25 | Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier |
26 | Daniel Shak |
27 | Justin Smith |
28 | Bob Bright |
29 | Arnaud Mimran |
30 | Paul Phua |
The game will be no-limit hold’em, and the event is currently expected to pay out 20% of the field. From each entry fee, $111,111 will be donated to the One Drop charity with a goal of raising enough money for a legacy project that will help a country with access to clean water. With the commitment from 30 players already, more than $3.33 million is already marked for the charity.