The World Series of Poker $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop event, the largest buy-in tournament in poker history, is down to its final table. A charitable group of 48 players put up the $1,000,000 buy-in, $111,111 of which was set aside for One Drop.
Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté, the Chair, describes One Drop as “a charitable organization that develops integrated, innovative projects with an international scope, in which water plays a central role as a creative force in generating positive, sustainable effects for local and foreign populations and in the fight against poverty.”
Laliberté is among the final eight players, each looking to capture the largest first-place prize in tournament poker history, $18,346,673, as well as the platinum WSOP diamond bracelet. He sits in third place to start the day while Antonio Esfandiari tops the bunch. Twelve-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth has also made it and will be on the hunt for lucky number 13.
Here are the seating assignments and chip counts for the final table:
Seat
Player
Country
Age
Chip Count
1
Guy Laliberté
Canada
52
21,700,000
2
Brian Rast
USA
30
11,350,000
3
Phil Hellmuth
USA
47
10,925,000
4
Antonio Esfandiari
USA
33
39,925,000
5
Bobby Baldwin
USA
62
7,150,000
6
Sam Trickett
UK
26
37,000,000
7
Richard Yong
China
54
7,475,000
8
David Einhorn
USA
43
8,375,000
The cards are expected to be in the air at 12:45 PM local time. PokerNews will have bios for each player up shortly.
Poker history is going to be made today and PokerNews is proud to have the privilege of providing you hand-for-hand coverage of the action.
Hand #22: On the first hand back from the break, David Einhorn kicked things off on the button. From the hijack seat, Sam Trickett raised to one million and won the pot.
Hand #23: Guy Laliberté had the button and action folded to Richard Yong. He raised all in from the hijack seat for 3.3 million and play folded to Brian Rast in the small blind. Rast reraised all in for 8.925 million and Phil Hellmuth folded from the big blind.
Rast held the and Yong the . Yong was the player at risk in the hand.
The flop came down and Yong stayed in front with two more cards to come. The turn brought the and Rast was down to the river to try and bust Yong.
After a pause, Shaun "Shaun the Dealer" Harris dealt the on the river and an explosion of cheers came from Rast's cheering section. Rast stood from his chair, arms held high above his head and celebrated his moment. Yong was all smiles was he shook the hands of everyone before leaving the stage.
Hand #41: Bobby Baldwin held the button on the first hand back from the break. From under the gun, Guy Laliberté raised to one million. Play folded to Baldwin and he put in a reraise to five million even. Laliberté moved all in and Baldwin called.
Laliberté rolled over the and was ahead of the for Baldwin. Baldwin had the least amount of chips and was the player at risk. He was all in for 10.2 million total.
The flop rolled out and Baldwin picked up a pair, although it wasn't the one he needed to take the lead. The turn brought the and the river the . Baldwin had missed and was eliminated in seventh place.
Hand #51: Brian Rast had the button, and Sam Trickett opened to 1.2 million from under the gun. Rast called, and Antonio Esfandiari called from the big blind. The flop fell , Esfandiari checked, and Trickett fired 1.8 million. Rast called, Esfandiari folded, and the turn brought the . Trickett tanked, then led out for 3.8 million. Rast called.
The completed the board, and Trickett tanked before moving all in for effectively 8.275 million. Rast snapped it off, tabling for a flopped flush, but Trickett turned over for quad threes!
In a stunning turn of events, Rast was eliminated in sixth place, earning him $1,621,333. Trickett is now our chip leader with 51 million chips.
Hand #56: Guy Laliberté was on the button to start this hand. From the cutoff seat, David Einhorn raised all in for 12.1 million. Everyone folded and Einhorn won the pot.
Hand #57: Phil Hellmuth started the hand with the button. Action moved to Guy Laliberté in the cutoff seat and he made it 1.2 million to go. From the small blind, Antonio Esfandiari reraised to 2.775 million. Sam Trickett took plenty of time to think about things in the big blind before he reraised to 4.3 million. Laliberté folded and then Esfandiari tanked. After two minutes or so, Esfandiari called.
The flop came down with just over 10 million chips in the pot between these two big stacks. Esfandiari checked to Trickett and he fired 3.2 million. Esfandiari called.
The fell on the turn and Esfandiari passed the action to Trickett again. After a minute, Trickett bet 4.4 million. Esfandiari called and the pot swelled some more before heading to the river.
Shaun "Shaun the Dealer" Harris snapped the on the river and a subtle "aaahhhh" came from the crowd as a third heart hit the felt. Esfandiari checked and Trickett checked behind after tanking for a little bit.
Trickett showed the for a pair of eights, but Esfandiari's was the better of the two hands and he raked in the pot to take the chip lead.
Hand #59: On the first hand of the next level, David Einhorn had the button. Actin folded to him and he raised to 1.6 million. Phil Hellmuth made the call from the big blind and the flop came down . Hellmuth checked, Einhorn bet two million and Hellmuth folded.
Hand #60: Guy Laliberté had the button. Sam Trickett raised to 1.6 million from under the gun and Laliberté three-bet to five million. Antonio Esfandiari reraised from the big blind to 12.3 million and Trickett folded. Laliberté moved all in for over 25 million quickly and Esfandiari called to put a pot over 50 million up for grabs.
Laliberté:
Esfandiari:
The flop came down and Laliberté stayed in front with his queens. The two stood hugging in the middle of the stage and looked to be having a blast, despite flipping for tons and tons of chips.
The turn card was the and Laliberté fell behind as Esfandiari smashed a king to make a higher pair. The river was delivered with the and that was it. Esfandiari had won the pot and eliminated Laliberté in fifth place.
Laliberté was sent off with a standing ovation from everyone in the rooms. Hundreds clapped and cheered before chants of, "Guy! Guy! Guy! Guy! Guy!" rang through the Amazon Room. He received hugs from all the players and gave them back, before exiting the same way he came in, through the back tunnel of the ESPN Main Stage.
Hand #61: Phil Hellmuth had the button, and the action folded to him. He folded as well, and Antonio Esfandiari raised. Sam Trickett released, and Esfandiari took down the pot.
Hand #62: Antonio Esfandiari had the button, and Phil Hellmuth was first to act. He opened to 2.8 million, Esfandiari released, and Sam Trickett three-bet jammed for 33.575 million. David Einhorn folded from the big blind, and Hellmuth quickly called all in for 8.025 million.
Hellmuth tabled , and he was trailing Trickett's .
There was a pause for effect, then the dealer rapped the table, burned a card, and spread . The entire mothership erupted. The flop gave Hellmuth aces and tens, but Trickett had ace-high flush draw, and any queen would give him a better two pair.
The crowd hushed as the dealer burned a second card, and delivered the on the turn. The crowd erupted once more. Now, Trickett could make the best hand with any heart, any king, any jack, or any queen.
The mothership went silent as the dealer rapped the table one final time. He burned a card, then spiked the on the river. A chorus of cheers and "ooohhhs" filled the air as Trickett stood to shake Hellmuth's hand. A fourth-place finish has to be bittersweet for the twelve-time WSOP bracelet winner, but this is the biggest score of his career, and a top-notch accomplishment.
Hand #69: Antonio Esfandiari had the button, and raised to 1.6 million. Sam Trickett folded from the big blind, and David Einhorn moved all in for 15.025 million from the big. Esfandiari called, tabling , which dominated Einhorn's .
The flop fell , and it tricked some spectators because they saw the first. The kept Esfandiari in the lead, however. The on the turn was a brick, and so too was the on the river, eliminating Einhorn in third place.
Einhorn received a rousing round of applause from his rail, which is well-deserved - he plans to donate the entire $4,352,000 he's earned to City Year, an education-focused nonprofit organization.
Hand #71: Antonio Esfandiari had the button, and raised to 1.8 million. Sam Trickett folded, and Esfandiari won the pot.
Hand #72: Sam Trickett started the hand with the button, and limped. Antonio Esfandiari checked, and the flop fell . Esfandiari checked, and Trickett tossed out 1 million. Esfandiari folded, and Trickett won the pot.
Hand #73: Antonio Esfandiari had the button, and raised to 1.8 million. Sam Trickett folded.
Hand #74: Sam Trickett held the button, and limped. Antonio Esfandiari checked his option, and the dealer fanned . Esfandiari checked, Trickett slid out 1 million, and Esfandiari folded.
Hand #75: Antonio Esfandiari was on the button, and raised to 1.8 million. Sam Trickett three-bet to 4.7 million, and Esfandiari asked for a count before four-betting to 10 million. Trickett tanked, moved all in, and Esfandiari immediately folded.
Hand #82: Sam Trickett began this hand on the button and gave Antonio Esfandiari a walk.
Hand #83: Antonio Esfandiari had the button and gave Sam Trickett a walk.
Hand #84: Sam Trickett was on the button and gave Antonio Esfandiari a walk.
Hand #85: Antonio Esfandiari had the button and raised to 1.8 million. Sam Trickett called and the flop came down .
On the flop, Trickett checked and Esfandiari bet an unknown amount. Trickett came back with a check-raise to 5.4 million and then Esfandiari fired with a reraise to 10 million. After a minute or two, Trickett reraised to 15 million. Esfandiari raised all in and Trickett made the call.
Trickett turned over the for a flush draw and Esfandiari held trip fives with the . Trickett was the player at risk with his 36 million on the line.
The turn was the and Esfandiari stayed in front. There was a long pause as everyone silently awaited the river card, no one more so that Trickett and Esfandiari as they stood in the middle of the stage awaiting fifth street. This river card would either swing the match in Trickett's favor or be the one that ended the tournament.
The dealer burned and turned what ended up being the most expensive card in poker history, the . Esfandiari's hands hit his head as he pulled his hair and ran in circles on the stage, not believing what had just happened. He was mobbed by his fans who burst onto the stage and jumped up and down with him. Trickett was off with his rail, but no celebration was going on over there. Esfandiari's friends hoisted him high above their heads and roared in triumph.
For his finish, Trickett earned $10,112,001 and the largest score of his career by far. Esfandiari, on the other hand, took down poker's largest prize ever for $18,346,673 and his second World Series of Poker gold bracelet.
and Yong the 
. Yong was the player at risk in the hand.
and Yong stayed in front with two more cards to come. The turn brought the 
and Rast was down to the river to try and bust Yong.
on the river and an explosion of cheers came from Rast's cheering section. Rast stood from his chair, arms held high above his head and celebrated his moment. Yong was all smiles was he shook the hands of everyone before leaving the stage.
and was ahead of the 
for Baldwin. Baldwin had the least amount of chips and was the player at risk. He was all in for 10.2 million total.
and Baldwin picked up a pair, although it wasn't the one he needed to take the lead. The turn brought the 
and the river the 
. Baldwin had missed and was eliminated in seventh place.![[user101598]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
, Esfandiari checked, and Trickett fired 1.8 million. Rast called, Esfandiari folded, and the turn brought the 
completed the board, and Trickett tanked before moving all in for effectively 8.275 million. Rast snapped it off, tabling 
fell on the turn and Esfandiari passed the action to Trickett again. After a minute, Trickett bet 4.4 million. Esfandiari called and the pot swelled some more before heading to the river.
for a pair of eights, but Esfandiari's 
and Laliberté stayed in front with his queens. The two stood hugging in the middle of the stage and looked to be having a blast, despite flipping for tons and tons of chips.
and that was it. Esfandiari had won the pot and eliminated Laliberté in fifth place.
. The entire mothership erupted. The flop gave Hellmuth aces and tens, but Trickett had ace-high flush draw, and any queen would give him a better two pair.
.
, and it tricked some spectators because they saw the 
on the river, eliminating Einhorn in third place.
.
. Trickett was the player at risk with his 36 million on the line.