Big One for One Drop tournament receives bracelet status

Yesterday it was reported that the proposed $1 million buy-in tournament that will take place at the 2012 World Series of Poker -dubbed The Big One for One Drop-has reached the 22 player threshold set by WSOP officials and will now be held as a full-fledged bracelet event. The bracelet awarded will be a specially crafted Platinum Championship Bracelet, the first of its kind at the WSOP.

The tournament is the brainchild of Cirque de Soleil founder, poker enthusiast, and philanthropist Guy Laliberte (One Drop is a charitable organization created by Laliberte to provide fresh drinking water around the world) and will be the first WSOP tournament that sees a sizable amount of each buy-in, $111,111, designated for the charity. It’s also likely that many, if not all, of the players will designate a percentage of their winnings for One Drop.

15 of the 22 players who have registered for the tournament allowed their names to be released by the WSOP on Monday (there is a $50,000 non-refundable deposit required to play in the event and the entire buy-in must be in the hands of the WSOP at least two-weeks prior to the event):

• Guy Laliberté
• Bobby Baldwin
• Phil Ruffin
• Andy Beal
• Patrik Antonius
• Gus Hansen
• Daniel Negreanu
• Johnny Chan
• Tom Dwan
• Tony Guoga
• Jonathan Duhamel
• Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier
• Sean O’Donnell
• Dan Shak

With the tournament reaching its first goal of 22 players, and therefore becoming a bracelet event, nearly a year before the tournament is scheduled, my suspicion is that the player cap of 48 entrants may be reached when all is said and done. Especially considering the ultra-high-buy-in has attracted a number of non-professional poker players – giving top tournament pros some very good equity even with 10% of the prize-pool designated for charity.

Laliberte has teamed up with fellow Canadian and 2010 WSOP Champion Jonathan Duhamel as spokesmen for the tournament and for One Drop, saying, “The poker community is very generous and it is not only about the one million dollar buy-in event, there are other ways that poker players can make a difference.”

Duhamel had this to say about his affiliation with the charity and the Big One for One Drop tournament, “I am absolutely thrilled to participate in the biggest poker event ever organized,” said Duhamel. “One million dollars is a lot of money but my participation comes naturally, being a spokesperson for ONE DROP and because of my attachment to such a great cause. Life starts with water and because of its uneven distribution, a person dies every 20 seconds. As for me, I personally commit to give 5 percent of my winnings from this tournament to ONE DROP.”