A 10-figure hollow victory

It has been announced via press release that 12 more players have been confirmed for Event #55, also known as the BIG ONE for ONE DROP.

The historic $1 million buy-in charity event is capped at 48 runners, with a projected prize pool of $35,000 million after charity deductions.The  ONE DROP Chairman, Cirque du Soleil ® founder and high stakes cash game player, Guy Laliberté, announced today the most recent list of player commitments for the most prestigious tournament ever played:

Taking place between July 1^st – July 3^rd, the largest buy-in poker tournament ever will feature rich amateurs, staked tourney pro’s and nose bleed cash game players, all playing for an anticipated 10-figure first place prize.

Glaring omissions from the list of confirmed players from the $1 million buy-in tourney include Phil Ivey, Patrik Antonius, Tom Dwan and Gus Hansen – all players affiliated with Full Tilt poker. Fairly obviously, with the shadow of the Full Tilt player funds issue still hanging over their collective heads, the likes of Phil Ivey and Tom Dwan – who publicly offered to pay back all affected Full Tilt players – can’t be seen to be buying into a tourney with such an extravagant and emotive buy-in amount.

Without the world’s best high stakes players involved, you have to say, it’s a little bit of a hollow victory for whoever goes to win the tournament. Perhaps the following line from the official press release explains why we haven’t yet seen the truly big boys’ names on the list:

Confirmed players have secured their entry to the BIG ONE for ONE DROP via advance deposits. Some players have requested and the World Series of Poker will respect a players right to remain anonymous prior to the tournament , so publicity doesn’t impact their personal and professional matters.

Time will tell…

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