Tuesday afternoon and evening Las Vegas time should see the completion of one of the major events in this year’s World Series of Poker – the million-dollar buy-in Big One for One Drop charity which starts Day 3 with the following around the last table, all of whom should cash for at least $1.3 million:
Leading the chip counts is film producer, actor, entrepreneur, celebrity and professional poker player Rick Salomon on 23,575,000 chips, closely pursued by German poker pro Tobias Reinkemeier 22,825,000 and North American aces Daniel Colman and Daniel Negreanu on 22,625,000 and 20,700,000 respectively.
Somewhat further back in the field are Cary Katz (9,125,000); Scott Seiver (8,250,000); Tom Hall (7,775,000); Christoph Vogelsang (7,075,000) and Paul Newey (4,050,000).
Day 2 was an exhausting endurance test, ending at 4 am the following morning, and with only eight of the survivors making the money, the fight to stay alive is likely to be a tough experience when play recommences.
The ultimate winner can look forward to a payday of $15.3 million – about $3 million lower than last year’s event thanks to the lower 42 player entry field this year.
Last year’s winner, Antonio Esfandiari was sent to the exit early this year, leaving at tenth position despite holding the chip lead earlier in the day. Brit player Sam Trickett, who was runner up to Esfandiari last year, busted out at 15th, again after dominating play at the start of the competition.
Phil Hellmuth left his buy-in raising campaign too late and did not have sufficient funds to meet the buy-in.