One Drop High Roller WSOP Event Sets High Hopes
WSOP One Drop Events Set to Deliver Much More Funding than Hoped For
The One Drop High Roller Event #47 is one of the most talked about tournaments in the World Series of Poker, and certainly carries the highest buy-in across all 62 events of the 2013 WSOP. The One Drop tournament was designed as a charity event to raise money for its namesake foundation, One Drop, and hopes to raise at least $1.1 million for the organization. As the action got underway at noon on Wednesday, it became obvious that player interest has increased dramatically, despite the massive $111,111 buy-in.
When the WSOP team announced “Shuffle up and deal” on the first hand of the One Drop High Roller event, the registry revealed a field of 166 poker players posting the substantial buy-in. The One Drop Foundation receives 3% of all buy-ins. Let’s do some simple math here – and by simple, I mean let me pull out my trusty calculator. The buy-in of $111,111 x 166 registered players comes to a total of $18,444,426. We divide that sum by 3%, and the charitable organization can expect to receive a check for $553,332.78; more than half a million dollars, but not nearly as high as the directors of the tournament were hoping to raise overall. However, the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, which is responsible for the donation, is encouraging all participants who finish in the money to bequeath a small portion of their winnings to One Drop. It is, of course, not a requirement, but the expectation is that, when all is said and done, there will be at least $1.1 million – twice that of the obligatory funds raised, and the exact amount organizers hoped to generate – signed over to the foundation.
In addition to that, this year’s One Drop charity series has been split into two events, hence the name “One Drop High Roller”. A second One Drop tournament, slated for July 3 and 4 as Event #58A and #58B, The Little One for One Drop, carries a much more affordable buy-in for most poker players, $1,111. Event #58A offers “unlimited re-entry” at the first four levels, and any player who busts out in #58A will be able to buy-in to Event #58B the following day, which also carries unlimited re-entry at the first four levels.
Again, 3% of all buy-ins for The Little One for One Drop will go to the One Drop Foundation. Considering the participation level in this more economical event should be significantly higher, and the re-entry structure of the duplicitous 3-day events, the One Drop Foundation stands to receive a lot more funding than organizers had originally hoped for, although it’s doubtful it will match to fund raising efforts of the 2012 WSOP.
Last year’s World Series of Poker debut of the “Big One for One Drop” was immensely successful, but carried a much different structure. The individual buy-in per player was a massive $1,000,000, and the seats were capped at 48; a number that few expected to reach, but all were surprised to see filled quickly upon the opening of registration. The event raised more than $5.3 million from buy-ins alone. Add to that a $111,111 contribution from Mitch Garber, the CEO of Caesar’s Entertainment, who was unable to participate due to his affiliation with the company, along with the $1,834,666 donation of Guy Laliberte’s entire 5th place winnings, and a grand total of $7.28 million was raised for the One Drop Foundation. Celebrated poker pro Antonio Esfandiari walked away with the 1st place prize of $18.3 million of the overall $42.6 million prize pool.
The One Drop Foundation is an initiative of Guy Laliberte, a high rolling poker player and the founder of Cirque du Soliel. The foundation’s goal is to provide clean water to everyone all over the world, while raising awareness of the fact that, while most of us view clean water as a customary convenience, to others, it is an absolute rarity. Since One Drop was founded in 2007, the non-government organization based out of Montreal, Canada has raised $41 million, giving an estimated 25,000 people access to clean drinking water worldwide.