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30 Players Confirmed For $1 Million Buy-In Big One Tournament For One Drop

Event To Award Largest First Prize In Tournament Poker History

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Guy Laliberté and Jonathan DuhamelOn 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.