The €1,000,000 Big One for ONE DROP final table began and ended in style, just as a tournament of this rank requires. The eight finalists returned at Casino de Monte-Carlo at noon on Sunday to determine the champion of what has turned into the world’s highest buy-in poker tournament. Almost all of the players wore their Sunday best and were introduced officially on a specially designed stage before cards were thrown in the air.
Eventually, it was Elton Tsang, originally from Canada but now residing in Hong Kong, who emerged as the big winner. Tsang collected a first-place prize of €11,111,111 and the winner’s bracelet, designed exclusively for the event by jeweler Richard Mille.
Eight-handed play kicked off with Canada’s Andrew Pantling as the chip leader. As for Tsang, he maintained a middle-stack position throughout the first two days of the three-day tournament.
Overall, this year’s Big One for ONE DROP attracted a field of 28 entries. The event was promoted as an invitational one that would feature only recreational players. It turned out, however, that there were several active poker pros among the entries. The generated prize pool of €24,888,892 was distributed to the top 6 finishers.
This meant that two of the eight finalist left the event without a payout. The first elimination for the day occurred quite quickly. Then it took two hours of play before another player left the table. Brandon Steven became the bubble boy, or the last tournament entry to leave without a payout.
It took several more hours of play before the names of the two heads-up opponents became clear. Tsang faced Anatoly Gurtovoy for a final duel that would determine the big champion. When heads-up kicked off, the eventual winner had almost two times more chips than his last remaining opponent.
Gurtovoy never managed to improve his position, despite his efforts. The two players battled it out for 45 hands. Hand #273 was the last one played. Gurtovoy bet 3,200,000 and Tsang called. The board ran out [Qc][3c][4c]. The players checked to see the [2h] coming on the turn. Gurtovoy bet 3,000,000. Tsang asked about his opponent’s stack and then three-bet to 9,000,000. Gurtovoy moved all in after giving it a few moments of thought. Tsang snap-called and showed [6c][5h] against his opponent’s [Ah][5d]. The [Jc] appeared on the river, securing Tsang with a flush, the final pot, and the victory.
As a runner-up, Gurtovoy collected a payout of €5,427,781. Rick Salmon, who cashed in the 2014 Big One for ONE DROP event, took 3rd place in this year’s edition of the tournament for €3,000,000. James Bord finished 4th, good for €2,100,000. Cary Katz scooped the amount of €1,750,000 for his 5th place in the event. Start-of-the-day chip leader Andrew Pantling took 6th place for €1,500,000.
Commenting on his triumph, Tsang said that he was feeling good throughout the tournament. He was happy with his cards and bluffs; he managed to read the table. Prior to his victory last night, Tsang had a total of $504,077 in live tournament earnings and was 3,102nd in the all-time money list. Adding more than $12 million to his bankroll catapulted him among the world’s 25 most profitable players of all-time.
Tsang celebrated his victory with friends of his, among which was Italian poker pro Mustapha Kanit. Here it is important to note that the young Italian coached the Big One for ONE DROP winner in the months prior to the event.
