With a buy-in fee of €1 million, the 2016 Big One for ONE DROP has turned into the most expensive tournament in poker history. The event is now entering its final stage as its official eight-handed final table is set to be played today. Poker-pro-turned-betting-website-CEO Andrew Pantling leads the final pack into the tournament’s Day 3. Pantling will kick off final-table play with 31,775,000 in chips.
This year’s Big One for ONE DROP attracted 25 unique entries. Day 1 of the event offered unlimited re-entry options and three players took advantage of the opportunity. This brought the overall number of entries to 28. Day 2 began with 24 players and by the time of the first break for the day, there were only 17 of them left. The official eight-handed final table was set shortly after the second break.
Registration for the event closed at the start of Day 2. All 28 entries generated an overall prize pool of €24,888,892. The top 6 finishers will receive a payout. Each of the last 6 survivors will leave Casino de Monte-Carlo with no less than €1.5 million. As for the winner, he will take home the exact amount of €11,111,111.
Here it is important to note that as every other edition of the Big One for ONE DROP, the 2016 one is also focused on raising awareness and funds for the ONE DROP foundation and its activities. Founded by Guy Laliberté, the non-profit organization aims at improving communities’ access to water.
The amount of €111,111 out of every entry’s €1-million buy-in was automatically donated to ONE DROP. With that said, the organization received €3,111,108 out of buy-in contributions.
Day 3 of the tournament will start today at noon local time. As mentioned above, Pantling will be leading the final 8. Apart from his poker career, the Canadian is also known for managing the Matchbook sports betting website. Pantling’s live tournament earnings currently amount to more than $2 million and a victory at Casino de Monte-Carlo will significantly boost his poker bankroll.
American celebrity Rick Salomon will start Day 3 second in chips with 26,900,000. The player is looking to a second Big One for ONE DROP cash after finishing 4th during the event’s 2014 edition.
Here are all eight finalists and their respective chip counts:
Andrew Pantling – 31,775,000
Rick Salomon – 26,900,000
Elton Tsang – 23,550,000
James Bord – 18,125,000
Anatoly Gurtovoy – 16,775,000
Cary Katz – 9,550,000
Brandon Steven – 8,000,000
Haralabos Voulgaris – 5,375,000
