World Series of Poker $1 Million Buy-in Announced
The newly announced World Series of Poker $1 million buy-in already has 15 committed attendees
The World Series of Poker is doing all it can to minimize the damage caused by the April 15 indictments of three online poker rooms, leaving many players waiting for payments and only a nominal amount of available online satellite entries.
The event, which will benefit world hunger through the charitable organization of ONE DROP, is slated to take place on July 1. Millions of dollars will be awarded to the winner of the tournament.
The 15 confirmed attendees are Guy Laliberté, Chair of ONE DROP and Founder of Cirque du Soleil; Bobby Baldwin, four-time WSOP gold bracelet winner and President & CEO City Center Group; Phil Ruffin, Owner, Treasure Island Resort, Las Vegas; poker professionals Patrik Antonius, Gus Hansen, Daniel Negreanu, Johnny Chan, Tom Dwan and Tony Guoga. Quebec’s Casinos and a European group intends to offer satellites as well, plus a prominent businessmen will also join, in addition to Andy Beal.
Caesars also intends to offer two additional entries. One will go to the winner of a Mega Satellite, while the other will come from a yet to be determined promotion.
"We are proud to align the planet's premiere poker event with the foundation created by one of our generation's most creative entrepreneurs, Guy Laliberté, to help make the world a healthier place," said Gary Loveman, Caesars Entertainment Corporation's chairman, president and chief executive officer.
“We agree with ONE DROP that water is one of the most important issues of this century and this tournament was created to take advantage of our infrastructure and resources to help ONE DROP fulfill its important mandate,” said Mitch Garber, CEO of Caesars Interactive Entertainment. “With The BIG ONE for ONE DROP, we hope to attract public figures and recognized business community leaders, who will join our efforts and participate in a historic event while supporting ONE DROP’s activities.”
“Since giving back to the community is a key part of Quebec’s Casinos’ philosophy of social commitment, we couldn’t miss out on the opportunity of partnering with ONE DROP for this grand charity event. We often organize benefit tournaments, but this tournament definitely stands out. Our team is ‘all in’, without hesitation,” said Claude Poisson, President of Quebec’s Casinos. “I'm very happy to participate in this event. As a partner and friend to Guy, I have always admired his commitment to ONE DROP,” said Phil Ruffin, Owner, Treasure Island Resort, Las Vegas.
“A million dollar buy-in seems crazy, and well, it is, but when you factor in a great cause like ONE DROP getting a percentage of the prize pool, all of a sudden it seems like a fantastic idea, and a great way to raise money for charity,” said Canadian poker pro Daniel Negreanu. “Count me in.”
“I'm very excited to play this tournament because I think ONE DROP is a great charity organization and this will be the biggest tournament with part of the prize pool used for a good purpose,” added professional poker player Patrik Antonius. “It will be a lot of fun!”
“ONE DROP is an extremely intelligent, important charity organization and I'm honored to play a part in giving back,” said businessman and poker pro Tony Guoga. “This is a perfect partnership for the WSOP and for poker in general.
“I am buying in,” exclaimed young poker professional Tom Dwan. “$1 million has a nice ring to it. It’s so sick, and for such a good cause, now I just gotta win.”
“Supporting Chris Ferguson’s charity I spent 4 weeks in Africa last year, and I came to realize what a precious resource water is—therefore it is a pleasure to enter the biggest poker tournament ever and at the same time support the ONE DROP organization,” said recent WSOP gold bracelet winner Gus Hansen.
- Ace King, Gambling911.com
