Sam Trickett Dominates Day 1
On Sunday, Day 1 of the second-ever $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop came to a close. A grand total of 42 players put up the $1,000,000 entry fee to compete in what will be the largest buy-in poker tournament of the year. At the end of nine levels it was 2012 Big One for One Drop runner-up Sam Trickett who bagged up the biggest stack with 13.4 million in chips.
Trickett's day began with an exciting start as he scored the first elimination of the tournament just one level into the day. Trickett clashed with David Einhorn in a hand where the former turned the nut straight against the latter's flopped set of jacks. Einhorn was eliminated from play and Trickett suddenly held double starting stack. From there, it seemed that Trickett could not be stopped as he continued to score eliminations. Trickett rivered a straight to crack Igor Kurganov's pocket queens in a four-bet pot to eliminate Kurganov roughly halfway through the day. Shortley thereafter, Trickett and Selbst played an eight-million chip pot where the three-time WSOP bracelet winner six-bet shoved with ace-king. Trickett called with pocket kings and the two endured a roller coaster of a run out. Trickett finished on top and the first-ever woman to participate in the Big One for One Drop was eliminated from play.
While Trickett finished with the largest stack in the room, others thrived throughout the day as well. Tom Hall's stack seemingly consistently trended upward and he bagged up the second largest stack with 9.125 million. Rounding out the top three is recent 10-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Ivey with 7.675 million in chips.
Also returning for Day 2 is reigning Big One for One Drop champion Antonio Esfandiari. Roughly halfway through the day, Esfandiari found a key double up through Dan Smith. From there on, Esfandiari continued to build his stack and earned a good chunk of chips in a more than two-million chip pot with Erik Seidel. Esfandiari bagged up 6.725 million in chips which is good for fifth in chips overall. Interestingly enough, Esfandiari bagged up fourth in chips in this event two years ago. Day 1 chip leader and last year's runner-up Trickett, on the other hand bagged up sixth in chips two years ago. These two are seated next to one another to start Day 2.
The starting field of 42 players was reduced to just 31 by the end of the night. Those to fall throughout the day include Stanley Choi, Max Altergott, Brian Rast, Philipp Gruissem, Jason Mercier, Niklas Heinecker, Smith, and Rono Lo who fell on the last hand of the night.
Play resumes on Monday at 1 p.m. when the final 31 players will return to play a full 10 levels. As always, PokerNews will be on hand to provide the latest updates from this exciting event!