Big One for One Drop Tournament Filling Up

The first $1 million buy-in tournament was held in 2012 at the World Series of Poker. Antonio Esfandiari won it for more than $18 million, the largest payout in poker history.

This year, the WSOP is bringing the tournament back, and it will begin on June 29 at the Rio in Las Vegas. The Big One for One Drop requires a $1 million buy-in, of which a portion of the buy-in goes to the One Drop organization, which offers assistance to communities around the world that don’t have access to water. Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté founded the charity and will play in the tournament.

When the tournament was announced several months ago, a number of high-roller poker players immediately stepped up to commit to play it. As of this week, players like Daniel Cates, Tom Hall, Isaac Haxton, Greg Merson, Daniel Negreanu, and Scott Seiver also agreed to play.

Big names in poker already on the list include Erik Seidel, Vanessa Selbst, Phil Galfond, Jean-Robert Bellande, Jason Mercier, Sam Trickett, Phil Ivey, and reigning champion Esfandiari. Several anonymous businessmen have also committed to paying the $1 million buy-in.

There will be one seat that a player can win for as little as $200. They can play small satellites to win a seat in the big $25,300 satellite, which will award a $1 million seat to the tournament.

Only 15 seats remain for the Big One for One Drop, which has a 56-player cap on the field.

The big winner will be the One Drop charity, which will collect $111,111 of each buy-in. The WSOP will also take no rake or house fees for operating the tournament, so $888,889 of each buy-in goes to the prize pool.