The first dealt hand is more than three months away, but there are already 23 confirmed players for the second running of the historic $1 million buy-in Big One For One Drop charity poker tournament being held as part of the 2014 World Series of Poker.

The first running of the event in 2012 sold out, reaching the predetermined cap of 48 players. In the end, poker pro Antonio Esfandiari emerged victorious, earning $18,346,673 and a platinum WSOP bracelet for the win while more than $5.3 million was raised for the One Drop charitable organization.

This year the event will run from from June 29 to July 1 with the cap on the field raised to 56 entrants, or seven eight-handed tables.

2012 Big One Champ Antonio Esfandiari
With the new field cap the first-place prize has the potential to reach $20,000,000 if every seat is filled. The winner this year will again earn a special edition WSOP platinum bracelet created by luxury watchmaker and jeweler Richard Mille. Seats in the event are first-come first-serve, with those providing a deposit guaranteeing their seat.

“I was thrilled when I got the call from the WSOP saying that with the commitments of the 2012 players alone, enough seats had been filled that the BIG ONE is a platinum bracelet event once again,” said Mille. “We are hard at work creating a unique new bracelet. It’s a wonderful event with the added benefit of giving back, something we strongly believe in.”

“I can’t wait to defend my title,” said 2012 champ Antonio Esfandiari. “The event was life-changing, but so was my trip to El Salvador after it with the ONE DROP organization to see first hand what a difference the money raised from this event can do for those in dire need of help.”

The $1 million buy-in for this event remains the largest ever in poker history. The event is rake free, with $111,111 of each buy-in taken out as a charitable donation to ONE DROP and $888,889 going directly into the prize pool.

“The inaugural event made history and I look forward to another historic moment again this June,” said event co-founder, ONE DROP Founder, and inaugural participant, Guy Laliberté. “The support from the poker community continues to be just incredible.”

“Amazingly I lost a million dollars in this event in 2012 but still had a great time,” said investor Bill Perkins. “Little do the others know, but that was all part of a plan to set them up for this year. I’m calling my shot now. I will win the 2014 BIG ONE for ONE DROP.”

Here is a look at the list of players who have committed to play the event so far:

1. Antonio Esfandiari
2. Guy Laliberté
3. Bobby Baldwin
4. David Einhorn
5. Phil Galfond
6. Philipp Gruissem
7. Phil Ivey
8. Jason Mercier
9. Paul Newey
10. Bill Perkins
11. Vivek Rajkumar
12. Brian Rast
13. Andrew Robl
14. Erik Seidel
15. Brandon Steven
16. Sam Trickett
17. Noah Schwartz
18. Anonymous Businessman
19. Anonymous Businessman
20. Anonymous Businessman
21. Aria Resort Satellite Seat
22. Bellagio Resort Satellite Seat
23. World Series of Poker Satellite Seat

Those interested in signing up are encouraged to contact Alexandre Meunier at ONE DROP (alexandre.meunier@onedrop.org) or Ty Stewart at the WSOP (tystewart@caesars.com). The 56-seat cap will be enforced, and those first to register will be guaranteed seats.

got a feeling phil ivey could win this from his winning form with only 1 buy in at the aus tournament

Need to ship the Euromillions for 100M€+ and i insta reg.

Seriously if i had 100M€ networth i would do it.

You can certainly add Gus, Durrrr, Antonius, Negreanu, Hellmouth to that list.

Surely Ragen will play too?

Maybe Jungle now he has more $'s?

WCG with some backing?

Ike?

Ben T if he keeps winning and can sell some?

Ben Lamb got the cash?

ISILDUR if he runs it up in the weeks before?

Chino if he can scam a mega between now & then?

E-Dog if he can cross some more wires & borrow another meg from FT?

Okay, the last two are a joke but the others not.

Interesting.

P.S. Where does Robl get the $$'s for this one and the last? Macau?

lol yeah....a vehicle mechanic won the euro millions

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/cele...l-Trotter.html

anyway the buy in is the cost of a lamborghini aventador locally

there will always be someone way richer

perhaps some china businessmen could take part....so long as they produce 1 million usd to the tournament organisers.....

anyway poker pros are mainly from the west....

I will probably be playing, have to decide how much i hate myself between now and then though

did we really need ANOTHER thread for this?

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/29...-back-1381641/

I was thinking if you were recently willing to put up 750k in Aus that then this would be an even better option. I would love to see a guy like you or Isildur or Ike ship it for the innernet brigade.

Man, imagine the ACTION on FT if Viktor got into this & took it down.

more dynamic and easier to understand title lol

well this malaysian guy could take part....however hes a baccarat player

which brings me to conclude....money is everywhere from the east to the west....lol

Galfond, WCG, Ike, Ben T, Ragen should all pool together, 200k each to get Viktor into this for a % of himself. Not only would he have a great chance of taking it down, but any winnings % for himself would then likely be dispersed back to the above names anyway. That if he doesn't drop it all at OFC that same night!

#1) Who is that chubby Kim Jong-il look alike in that pic?

#2) How much $ in USD is on that table

#3) That pic is begging for a photoshop. Might i recommend putting Annette Os face there and having the table be a giant cake?

details on this?

Who wants to lay me 100-1 on Anonymous Businessman?

I want to see Ivey @ the final table.

that is just some guy selling a baccarat system



this briton is better

107932603.20 euros

enough to buy in the one for drop 100 times

1 euro = 1.38 US Dollar

It s not € but £... like 170 buy in

I want Viktor Blom to win and Daniel Cates to come second. Or maybe Hellmuth. I'd like to see Hellmuth vs Blom HU.

What has Vivek been up to? He hardly plays but shows up for a million buyin

That's 8,975,009,765,776 in malaysian currency worth $55 US dollars.

why is this event capped at 56 player ?

fair question.

imo, its because scarcity usually creates demand.

probably true in this case where creating artificial scarcity in one drop seats

added benefit of getting high profile players to commit now. good PR leading up to event and WSOP.

cant wait for the live stream with commentary.