Doug Polk, a US poker pro who has demonstrated proficiency on multiple occasions, was the player to take down the $111,111 High Roller for ONE DROP, or the highest buy-in event on the schedule of the 2017 WSOP festival.
Polk added $3,686,865 to his poker bankroll and his career’s third gold bracelet. The player won his first piece in 2014 for beating the field of a $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em Turbo event. His second gold bracelet came last summer, when the player participated in the $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em Tag Team event alongside Ryan Fee.
It is also important to note that Polk is no stranger to high roller poker action. The player has appeared at the tables of multiple such events and has even won some of them. His largest cash, prior to the ONE DROP High Roller one was the amount of $1,648,350 the poker professional collected for his first place in an Aria $100,000 Super High Roller back in the summer of 2014.
Looking back at this year’s High Roller for ONE DROP, it first should be mentioned that, among other things, the tournament also contributed funds to the ONE DROP Foundation. The non-profit organization was founded back in 2007 by Cirque du Soleil’s Guy Laliberté with the aim to secure underdeveloped regions around the world with access to water.
As every year, the ONE DROP High Roller event drew a powerful field of some of the world’s best and most popular poker pros. The tournament’s final day was played on Monday at Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, with nine players sitting around a final table, each of them eyeing the top prize and the gold.
Final table play began with Frenchman Bertrand Grospellier holding a hefty chip lead over his opponents. Although poker fans are probably better used to hear about Grospellier’s online poker endeavors, it can be said that the player is equally proficient on the felt.
The Frenchman retained his advantage for some time and even at the times when he lost his lead over the course of final table play, he was still among the top stacks.
The event’s star-packed final table included the likes of 2014 WSOP Main Event Champion Martin Jacobson, Italian high roller regular Dario Sammartino, and 2016 Super High Roller Bowl winner Rainer Kempe. The start-of-the-day nine-person field was eventually reduced to just Polk and Grospellier, the former holding the chip lead.
The eventual champion only extended his advantage over the course of two-handed play, giving his opponent little chance to improve. The winner was determined in six short hands, the final one securing Polk with a winning two pair that sent Grospellier to the rail. The French player received $2,278,657 for his efforts.
Aside from the prize money and the gold bracelet, there was something else at stake. The two heads-up opponents had made side bet that required the runner-up to take on the winner’s hairstyle. And both players have quite distinct hairstyle for sure.
