December 05 2011, Brett Collson

On Monday, Caesars Interactive Entertainment announced that 22 players have already committed to the Big One for One Drop, the $1 million buy-in tournament taking place at the 2012 World Series of Poker. The event will run from July 1 through 3, 2012, at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, and will award the first-ever platinum WSOP bracelet to the winner.

The Big One for One Drop will boast the largest buy-in poker has ever seen. The no-limit hold’em tournament was introduced in June by ONE DROP chair and Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté, whose focus with the historic event is to support access to clean water worldwide. Of the $1 million buy-in, $111,111 will be donated to ONE DROP with a goal of raising enough money for a legacy project that will see a needy country receiving access to clean water.

“Every gesture is important,” said Laliberté. “The poker community is very generous and it is not only about the one million dollar buy-in event, there are other ways that poker players can make a difference.”

Here’s a list of the players who have committed to the event so far:

• Guy Laliberté
• Bobby Baldwin
• Phil Ruffin
• Andy Beal
• Patrik Antonius
• Gus Hansen
• Daniel Negreanu
• Johnny Chan
• Tom Dwan
• Tony Guoga
• Jonathan Duhamel
• Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier
• Sean O’Donnell
• Dan Shak

Several others have confirmed their participation in the event but wish to remain anonymous. Additional names are expected to be added in the coming months, according to Caesars.

“I am absolutely thrilled to participate in the biggest poker event ever organized,” said 2010 WSOP Main Event champ Jonathan Duhamel. “One million dollars is a lot of money but my participation comes naturally, being a spokesperson for ONE DROP and because of my attachment to such a great cause. Life starts with water and because of its uneven distribution, a person dies every 20 seconds. As for me, I personally commit to give 5 percent of my winnings from this tournament to ONE DROP.”

Players will begin the tournament with three million in starting chips (following the standard triple-the-buy-in stack at the WSOP), playing 60-minute levels, with a registration cap of 48 players. Should the event reach the cap, the prize pool would be more than $40 million. The tournament is expected to pay out 20 percent of the field – double the typical poker tournament payout structure.

For those players interested in playing, a $50,000 deposit is required to reserve a spot at the table. Final funds are expected to be due 14 days before the event begins on July 1, 2012. Anyone who is 21 or older and has enough to cover the $1 million buy-in is invited to play.

One Drop’s mission is to fight poverty by providing access to clean water sources around the world. To learn more about their values on water as a human right, sharing the wealth, creativity, and transparency and integrity check them out at www.onedrop.org.

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December 04 2011, Chad Holloway

The 2011 World Poker Tour Prague continued on Saturday with Day 2 action from the largest European WPT event in history. The original field of 571 players, which created a “1,753,200 prize pool and surpassed the WPT Vienna from Season IX as the largest event ever, had been reduced to 124 players on Day 2. Casey Kastle began the day with the lead with 356,800 in chips. After an intense day of action, that field had been reduced to 62 players, with Martins Adeniya best positioned to capture the “450,000 first-place prize with 849,000 in chips.

Adeniya got off to a quick start on Day 2 as he eliminated a resilient foe in just the second level of the day. In that hand, Adeniya raised and was met with a three-bet by Michael Tureniec. Adeniya then four-bet, Tureniec moved all-in for 80,000, and Adeniya called with . Tureniec was way behind with and failed to improve. Just like that, Adeniya was up to 310,000 and never looked back.

Obviously action was fierce at the Kings Casino in the Corinthian Hotel in Prague as the remaining field looked to make the top 63 and guarantee a payday. It didn’t take long for the eliminations to mount, with a laundry list of notables joining Tureniec on the rail including Martin Staszko, John Eames, James Akenhead, Bryn Kenney, Lukas Berglund, Toby Lewis, Eoghan O’Dea, and Steve O’Dwyer.

O’Dwyer pushed with big slick and resulted in a former WPT Champ, Mike Watson, taking over the chip lead. According to the WPT Live Reporting Team, Watson raised to 11,000 under the gun and O’Dwyer called from the hijack. Michael “Timex” McDonald was next to act in the cutoff and three-bet to 31,000, which prompted Watson to four-bet to 51,000. O’Dwyer responded by moving all-in for 250,500, McDonald folded, and Watson made the call for his tournament life.

Showdown
Watson:
O’Dwyer:

O’Dwyer held a quality hand, but he was in desperate need of an ace. Unfortunately, the board ran out and Watson took over the chip lead with 578,000. O’Dwyer was left with just 75,000 and was eliminated a few hands later after his was cracked by Watson’s , when the board ran out .

It was a quick fall for O’Dwyer, made all the more painful by the proximity of the money bubble, which burst a short time later. Action folded to Thomas Frandsen in the small blind and he shoved all-in for 113,000. Yury Gulyy was in the big blind and called off his shorter stack of 90,000.

Showdown
Frandsen:
Gulyy:

Gulyy was in a dominating position and primed to double, but that all changed when the flop came down . Neither the turn nor river helped Gulyy and he became the official bubble boy, assuring the remaining 63 players a payday of at least “6,400.

Those who’ve made the money and advance to Day 3 include Grayson Ramage (83,000), Casey Kastle (120,000), Eugene Katchalov (120,000), Moritz Kranich (139,200), Jamie Rosen (383,000), and Karen Sarkisyan (743,000).

Day 3 will commence on Sunday at 1400 CET (0500 PST) as the remaining 62 players look to make the WPT final table. Be sure to return to PokerNews for the daily recap of the action

*Photo courtesy of the World Poker Tour.

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Follow Chad Holloway on Twitter – @ChadAHolloway