Big One for One Drop

Big One for One Drop

Sport	Poker, Texas Hold 'em
Founded	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States (2012)
Owner(s)	One Drop Foundation (2012–present)
Most recent champion(s)	Mikita Badziakouski
Official website	Official website

The Big One for One Drop is a $1,000,000 buy-in No Limit Texas Hold 'em poker tournament hosted first in 2012, and for its first four editions, with the World Series of Poker (WSOP). It became the highest buy-in poker tournament in history as well as the largest single payout offered. The event was hosted again in 2014, 2016 and 2018. The Big One returned in December 2023 and was hosted by the World Poker Tour (WPT) during the WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas.

The event is well known for its charitable contributions, with a percentage of each player's buy-in donated to the One Drop Foundation. The One Drop Foundation is an international non-profit organization, created by Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté, that works to ensure unconditional access to safe water and sanitation in regions facing the most extreme barriers worldwide^{[ [1] ]}.

History

Canadian entrepreneur Guy Laliberté started the Big One for One Drop in 2012 ^[2] as a No-Limit Hold 'em event hosted at the World Series of Poker. The event was hosted again by WSOP in 2014, 2016, and 2018, and was hosted by the WPT at Wynn Las Vegas in 2023.  Big One for One Drop buy-ins are $1,000,000 or €1,000,000.

In 2012, Antonio Esfandiari won the first Big One for One Drop defeating Sam Trickett heads-up and earned $18,346,673. ^{[3] [4]}

In 2014, the final table consisted of professional players such as Dan Colman, Daniel Negreanu, Christoph Vogelsang, Tobias Reinkemeier and Scott Seiver as well as recreational players Paul Newey, Cary Katz and Rick Salomon. Colman won the tournament defeating Negreanu heads up and earned $15,306,668. ^[5]

In 2016, the Big One for One Drop Extravaganza was held in Monte Carlo. The €1,000,000 buy-in tournament was open only to recreational players. Chinese Canadian businessman Elton Tsang won the event for €11,111,111, defeating Anatoliy Gurtovoy of Russia heads up. ^{[6] [7]}

In 2018, the Big One returned to the World Series of Poker. ^[8] in Las Vegas. 27 players entered for a total prizepool of $24,840,000. $80,000 from each buy-in was donated to the One Drop Foundation for a total donation of $2,160,000.

In 2023, One Drop entered an agreement with the World Poker Tour to host a series of events, including the Big One for One Drop. In December 2023, the fifth edition of the Big One for One Drop was held at the WPT® World Championship at the Wynn Las Vegas. Mikita Badziakouski defeated 16 opponents to win $7,114,500 and become champion of the first-ever WPT® Big One for One Drop. ^[9] Runner-up, Mario Mosböck, took home $4,663,950. ^[9] Mikita Badziakouski commented after his win: “The tournament itself is the biggest title I’ve ever had. I just got lucky in a couple big coolers.”

A smaller event, known during the WSOP partnership as the "High Roller for One Drop," (2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017), and known during the WPT partnership as "Alpha8 for One Drop" (2023), had a buy in of $111,111, of which $11,111 per player was donated to One Drop Foundation charity. ^[10]

In 2013, Anthony Gregg won the $111,111 buy-in High Roller event, defeating Chris Klodnicki heads up and earning $4,830,619. ^[11] Jonathan Duhamel (2015), Fedor Holz (2016) and Doug Polk (2017) were the subsequent winners of the High Roller for One Drop tournaments. ^{[12] [13] [14]}

In 2023, two Alpha8 for One Drop tournaments were held. Jonathan Jaffe won the first Alpha8 Las Vegas 45-player event winning $1,537,600. ^[15] Steve O’Dwyer won the Alpha8 18-player tournament in Jeju, South Korea, taking home $1,009,520. ^[16]

Results

Year	Event name	Entrants	Winner	Prize (US$)	Runner-up
2012	$1,000,000 Big One for One Drop	48	Antonio Esfandiari	$18,346,673	Sam Trickett
2013	$100,000 High Roller for One Drop	166	Anthony Gregg	$4,830,619	Chris Klodnicki
2014	$1,000,000 Big One for One Drop	42	Dan Colman	$15,306,668	Daniel Negreanu
2015	$100,000 High Roller for One Drop	135	Jonathan Duhamel	$3,989,985	Bill Klein
2016	$100,000 High Roller for One Drop	183	Fedor Holz	$4,981,775	Dan Smith
2016 *	€1,000,000 Monte-Carlo One Drop Extravaganza *	28	Elton Tsang	$12,248,912	Anatoly Gurtovy
2017	$100,000 High Roller for One Drop	130	Doug Polk	$3,686,865	Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier
2018	$1,000,000 Big One for One Drop	27	Justin Bonomo	$10,000,000	Fedor Holz
2019 - 2022	not held
2023	$111,000 Alpha8 for One Drop, Las Vegas	45	Jonathan Jaffe	$1,537,600	Taylor von Kriegenbergh
2023	$111,000 Alpha8 for One Drop, South Korea	18	Steve O'Dwyer	$1,009,520	Quan Zhou
2023	$1,000,000 Big One for One Drop	17	Mikita Badziakouski	$7,114,500	Mario Mösbock

2012 Big One for One Drop

• 3-Day Event: July 1–3 ^[17]
• Buy-in: $1,000,000
• Number of Entries: 48
• Total Prize Pool: $42,666,672
• Number of Payouts: 9
• Winning Hand:7♦ 5♠

Final Table

Place	Name	Prize
1st	Antonio Esfandiari	$18,346,673
2nd	Sam Trickett	$10,112,001
3rd	David Einhorn	$4,352,000
4th	Phil Hellmuth	$2,645,333
5th	Guy Laliberté	$1,834,666
6th	Brian Rast	$1,621,333
7th	Bobby Baldwin	$1,408,000
8th	Richard Yong	$1,237,333

2013 High Roller for One Drop

• 4-Day Event: June 26–29 ^[18]
• Buy-in: $111,111
• Number of Entries: 166
• Total Prize Pool: $17,891,148
• Number of Payouts: 24
• Winning Hand:9♦ 2♥

Final Table

Place	Name	Prize
1st	Anthony Gregg	$4,830,619
2nd	Chris Klodnicki	$2,985,495
3rd	Bill Perkins	$1,965,163
4th	Antonio Esfandiari	$1,433,438
5th	Richard Fullerton	$1,066,491
6th	Martin Jacobson	$807,427
7th	Brandon Steven	$621,180
8th	Nick Schulman	$485,029

2014 Big One for One Drop

• 3-Day Event: June 29–July 1
• Buy-in: $1,000,000
• Number of Entries: 42
• Total Prize Pool: $37,333,338
• Number of Payouts: 8
• Winning Hand:K♦ Q♥

Final Table

Place	Name	Prize
1st	Dan Colman	$15,306,668
2nd	Daniel Negreanu	$8,288,001
3rd	Christoph Vogelsang	$4,480,001
4th	Rick Salomon	$2,800,000
5th	Tobias Reinkemeier	$2,053,334
6th	Scott Seiver	$1,680,000
7th	Paul Newey	$1,418,667
8th	Cary Katz	$1,306,667

2015 High Roller for One Drop

• 2-Day Event: June 28–29
• Buy-in: $111,111
• Number of Entries: 135
• Total Prize Pool: $14,249,925
• Number of Payouts: 16
• Winning Hand:K♣ K♠

Final Table

Place	Name	Prize
1st	Jonathan Duhamel	$3,989,985
2nd	Bill Klein	$2,465,522
3rd	Dan Colman	$1,544,121
4th	Ben Sulsky	$1,118,049
5th	Dan Perper	$873,805
6th	Phil Hellmuth	$696,821
7th	Anthony Zinno	$565,864
8th	Sergey Lebedev	$466,970

2016 High Roller for One Drop

• 3-Day Event: July 8–10
• Buy-in: $111,111
• Number of Entries: 183
• Total Prize Pool: $19,316,565
• Number of Payouts: 28
• Winning Hand:8♣ 7♣

Final Table

Place	Name	Prize
1st	Fedor Holz	$4,981,775
2nd	Dan Smith	$3,078,974
3rd	Koray Aldemir	$2,154,265
4th	Jack Salter	$1,536,666
5th	Brian Green	$1,117,923
6th	Joe McKeehen	$829,792
7th	Nick Petrangelo	$628,679
8th	Niall Farrell	$486,383

2016 Monte-Carlo One Drop Extravaganza

• 3-Day Event: October 14–16
• Buy-in: €1,000,000
• Number of Entries: 28 (2 rebuys)
• Total Prize Pool: $27,437,564
• Number of Payouts: 6
• Winning Hand:6♣ 5♥

Final Table

Place	Name	Prize	Prize in EUR (€)
1st	Elton Tsang	$12,248,912	€11,111,111
2nd	Anatoly Gurtovy	$5,983,597	€5,427,781
3rd	Rick Salomon	$3,307,206	€3,000,000
4th	James Bord	$2,315,044	€2,100,000
5th	Cary Katz	$1,929,203	€1,750,000
6th	Andrew Pantling	$1,653,603	€1,500,000

2017 High Roller for One Drop

• 4-Day Event: June 2–5
• Buy-in: $111,111
• Number of Entries: 130
• Total Prize Pool: $13,722,150
• Number of Payouts: 20
• Winning Hand:Q♠ 5♣

Final Table

Place	Name	Prize
1st	Doug Polk	$3,686,865
2nd	Bertrand Grospellier	$2,278,657
3rd	Dario Sammartino	$1,608,295
4th	Haralabos Voulgaris	$1,158,883
5th	Chris Moore	$852,885
6th	Martin Jacobson	$641,382
7th	Rainer Kempe	$493,089
8th	Andrew Robl	$387,732

2018 Big One for One Drop

• 3-Day Event: July 15–17
• Buy-in: $1,000,000
• Number of Entries: 27
• Total Prize Pool: $24,840,000
• Number of Payouts: 5
• Winning Hand:A♠ J♦

Final Table

Place	Name	Prize
1st	Justin Bonomo	$10,000,000
2nd	Fedor Holz	$6,000,000
3rd	Dan Smith	$4,000,000
4th	Rick Salomon	$2,840,000
5th	Byron Kaverman	$2,000,000

2023 WPT Alpha8 for One Drop (Las Vegas)

• 3-Day Event: July 14-16
• Buy-in: $111,000
• Number of Entries: 45
• Total Prize Pool: $4,612,500
• Number of Payouts: 7
• Winning Hand:10♥ 10♦

Final Table

Place	Name	Prize
1st	Jonathan Jaffe	$1,537,600
2nd	Taylor von Kriegenbergh	$1,042,100
3rd	Dan Smith	$701,700
4th	Aleksejs Ponakovs	$485,200
5th	Michael Lim	$350,100
6th	Iaron Lightbourne	$273,200
7th	Isaac Haxton	$222,600

2023 WPT Alpha8 for One Drop (Jeju, South Korea)

• 2-Day Event: July 21-22
• Buy-in: $111,000
• Number of Entries: 18
• Total Prize Pool: $2,219,89
• Number of Payouts: 4

Final Table

Place	Name	Prize
1st	Steve O'Dwyer	$1,009,520
2nd	Quan Zhou	$560,009
3rd	Chenxu Zhang	$390,218
4th	Anonymous	$260,146

2023 WPT Big One for One Drop

• 3-Day Event: December 18-20
• Buy-in: $1,000,000
• Number of Entries: 17
• Total Prize Pool: $15,810,000
• Number of Payouts: 4
• Winning Hand:A♦ 9♠

Final Table

Place	Name	Prize
1st	Mikita Badziakouski	$7,114,500
2nd	Mario Mösbock	$4,663,950
3rd	Dan Smith	$2,806,750
4th	Isaac Haxton	$1,224,800

References

1. "One Drop Foundation Mission". One Drop Foundation Mission. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
2. Peckaitis, Tadas (2022-01-02). "What Ever Happened To Guy Laliberté?". Casino.org Blog. Retrieved 2024-11-12.
3. Wise, Gary (2012-07-04). "Antonio Esfandiari wins One Drop, $18.3M". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2018-03-09.
4. Geller, Shari (2012-07-03). "Antonio Esfandiari Wins $18 Million at WSOP Big One for One Drop $1M Buy-in Poker Tournament". PokerNews. Retrieved 2018-03-09.
5. Tuley, Dave (2014-07-02). "Daniel Colman wins One Drop for $15 million". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2018-03-09.
6. Kirschen, Robert (16 October 2016). "WSOP NEWS: ELTON TSANG WINS 2016 BIG ONE FOR ONE DROP". WSOP. Retrieved 2018-03-09.
7. Wright, Nick (2016-10-16). "Elton Tsang Wins the Big One For One Drop Extravaganza for €11,111,111!". PokerNews. Retrieved 2018-03-09.
8. Cross, Valerie (2017-11-06). "$1 Million Big One for One Drop Returning to 2018 World Series of Poker". PokerNews. Retrieved 2018-03-09.
9. "Mikita Badziakouski Wins $7.1 Million in the WPT® Big One for One Drop". World Poker Tour official website. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
10. Rodriguez, Julio (2013-06-29). "World Series of Poker -- Bill Perkins Leads One Drop High Roller Final Table". Card Player. Retrieved 2018-03-09.
11. Pempus, Brian (2013-08-07). "Anthony Gregg Wins $4.8 Million In 'One Drop' High Roller Event At World Series Of Poker". Card Player. Retrieved 2018-03-09.
12. Holloway, Chad (2015-06-30). "Jonathan Duhamel Wins $111,111 High Roller for ONE DROP for $3,989,985". PokerNews. Retrieved 2018-03-09.
13. Fast, Erik (2016-07-10). "Fedor Holz Wins 2016 World Series of Poker $111,111 High Roller For One Drop". Card Player. Retrieved 2018-03-09.
14. Fiorvanti, Tim (2017-06-06). "Doug Polk wins $3.69MM in WSOP One Drop High Roller". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2018-03-09.
15. "Jonathan Jaffe wins WPT Alpha8 for One Drop". World Poker Tour official website. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
16. Fiorvanti, Tim (2023-08-07). "Away from WSOP, Steve O'Dwyer Spent Summer Amidst Asian Poker Boom". World Poker Tour official website. Retrieved 2024-01-26.
17. "Event #55: $1,000,000 The Big One for One Drop". WSOP.com. Caesars Interactive Entertainment, Inc. July 4, 2012. Retrieved 2012-07-04.
18. "Event #47: $111,111 One Drop High Rollers No Limit Hold'em". WSOP.com. Caesars Interactive Entertainment, Inc. June 29, 2013. Retrieved 2013-06-29.

External links

• Official website