The Biggest Ever Buy-In Event Starts Today; €1,000,000 to Enter!
In three hours time, at 2pm local time, the most exclusive of all poker events in the history of the game kicks off. The Monte-Carlo One Drop Extravaganza has a buy-in of €1,000,000 and players will be able to reenter the entire first day of play. Make no mistake; this is the biggest ever buy-in event and might just reshape poker's all-time money list.
The tournament is for recreational players and invitational only. That means the top pros are out, but rich businessmen and women, and young entrepreneurs who don't rely on poker for their income, are in.
No player list has been released yet, but we still can guess who might be in. First and foremost, Guy Laliberté is in. The Cirque du Soleil founder started this event and set the rules, and he has a great coach on his side with Daniel Negreanu. On top of Laliberte himself, we know Dan Shak is going to participate as he was vocal about it on twitter. Besides Laliberte and Shak, we've seen the likes of Paul Newey, Talal Shakerchi, Haralabos Voulgaris and Andrew Pantling walk around in Monaco already.
Players will start off with a 5,000,000 stack. Levels will be 45 minutes long for the first two days, increasing to 60-minute long levels for the final table on Sunday. A total of 10 levels are on the schedule for today with play starting with level 6,000/12,000 and a 1,000-ante.
While the event is being taped, there will be no live stream available. PokerNews has you covered, though, with a dedicated team on the ground who's job it is to bring you updates of all the big pots, giant coolers and the inside scoop on who's playing and who's reentering. Besides the €1,000,000 Main Event, there's a slate of side events here this week and PokerNews, in collaboration with WSOP.com, will bring you sporadic updates from those events as well.
| Level | Duration | Small Blind | Big Blind | Ante |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 45 minutes | 6,000 | 12,000 | 1,000 |
| 2 | 45 minutes | 8,000 | 16,000 | 2,000 |
| 3 | 45 minutes | 10,000 | 20,000 | 3,000 |
| 4 | 45 minutes | 12,000 | 24,000 | 4,000 |
| 5 | 45 minutes | 15,000 | 30,000 | 5,000 |
| 6 | 45 minutes | 20,000 | 40,000 | 5,000 |
| 7 | 45 minutes | 25,000 | 50,000 | 5,000 |
| 8 | 45 minutes | 30,000 | 60,000 | 10,000 |
| 9 | 45 minutes | 40,000 | 80,000 | 10,000 |
| 10 | 45 minutes | 50,000 | 100,000 | 15,000 |
![[user265690]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
flop, and Gurtovoy continued for 75,000. Laliberté called.
came on the turn, and Laliberté checked again. Gurtovoy bet for 125,000, and Laliberté called.
, and Laliberté checked a third time. Gurtovoy bet another 125,000. Laliberté then raised to 425,000. Gurtovoy thought for only a few moments, then put out the chips to call.
and Laliberté checked again. Madden bet again, this time for 350,000. Laliberté called.
completed the board on the river and Laliberté led out for 650,000. Madden raised to 1,800,000, and Laliberté quickly called.
), turn (
was a very interesting river card as it completed a broadway straight on the board. Again Garand played it passively, checking the action to Steven. He emptied the clip, firing a third barrel of 470,000 to further swell the pot. This gave Garand pause for thought, he quickly cut out the required calling chips and went to call but then thought better of it.
on the turn and the 
and Einhorn mucked after doubled checking his cards.