Only 18 Spots Open Month Away from $1 Million Big One for One Drop

June 15, 2018 Chad Holloway

The Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino third-ever $1,000,000 buy-in Big One for ONE DROP is just a month out and right now just 18 seats remain. That means 30 players have committed to playing including 22 professional poker players and eight businessmen.

This year, the world’s biggest buy-in tournament, which is rake free and spans three days, is scheduled to begin July 15, which marks the last day of the 2018 World Series of Poker. Not only will it be televised by ESPN2 on July 16th and 17th, it’ll be live streamed on PokerGo.

Of the $1 million buy-in, 8% will go to the One Drop Foundation, which provides access to safe water to people around the world. That means $920,000 will go directly to the prize pool, which will be $44,160,000 if it hits the 48-player cap. The tournament will also utilize big blind antes and a shot clock.

Among those confirmed are a slew of first timers including Bryn Kenney, Nick Petrangelo, Rainer Kempe, Dominik Nitsche, Steffen “Goose” Sontheimer, Jason Koon and Adrian Mateos.

Brian Rast: "I hope the tournament does well, but I don’t know whether or not I’m going to play from a poker business perspective.”

Those who can’t fork over the seven-figure buy-in will have a chance to win their way in via satellites at the WSOP on July 14. At Noon, there will be a $10,300 mega satellite that’ll feed into a $100,500 satellite at 6 p.m.

“That a charitable poker tournament could have such an impact is simply astonishing,” said Jack Effel, tournament director at the WSOP. “Since 2012, through15 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.”

Some players noticeably absent from the confirmations but who played the first two Big One for ONE DROPS in Vegas are Erik Seidel, Jason Mercier, Brian Rast and John Morgan. However, not all 30 names have been publicly revealed, so it's possible they are registered.

Dan Cates, who played in 2014 but not in the inaugural event, said he wasn’t sure if he’ll fire this year or not.

“I’m not sure, we’ll have to see,” was all he offered during a break from the $50,0000 Poker Players Championship. Another player who has fired in the past but is unsure if he’ll play this year is Brian Rast.

“I haven’t decided yet. It’s late in the series so I’m going to wait and see,” Rast said. “I’ve been playing big cash games so I’m going to see whether or not I’m burned out. I might play it, I might not.”

He continued: “It’s great the tournament was set up to raise money for charity, I can respect and appreciate that. The first time it was a big success with a ton of non-professional players. Everyone was really happy with it. The second time ran with fewer amateur players and it didn’t even sell out. The Europe one was invite only. Now they’re doing it again and it looks like the tournament isn’t getting a great turnout. Frankly, I don’t think it’s something people are just still excited for from a poker perspective. It’s a big ask. I hope the tournament does well, but I don’t know whether or not I’m going to play from a poker business perspective.”

Here’s a look at players who’re publicly known to have secured a spot in the Big One for ONE DROP and how they’ve fared in the previous two Vegas events.

Player Years Played Cashes Results Prize Money Antonio Esfandiari 2 1 1st in 2012 $18,346,673 Daniel Negreanu 2 1 2nd in 2014 $8,288,001 Christoph Vogelsang 1 1 3rd in 2014 $4,480,001 Rick Solomon 2 1 4th in 2014 $2,800,000 Phil Hellmuth 2 1 4th in 2012 $2,645,333 Phil Ivey 2 0 None $0 Talal Shakerchi 2 0 None $0 Bryn Kenney 0 0 None $0 Nick Petrangelo 0 0 None $0 Rainer Kempe 0 0 None $0 Dominik Nitsche 0 0 None $0 Steffen Sontheimer 0 0 None $0 Jason Koon 0 0 None $0 Adrian Mateos 0 0 None $0 Leon Tsoukernik 0 0 None $0

The Big One for ONE DROP tournament is reserved on a first-come, first-serve basis, with those providing a deposit guaranteeing their seat until July 10th, 2018. If you’re going to play, don’t wait to lock up your spot.