World Series Of Poker 2012: $1 Million Buy-In Tournament Will Generate Richest Poker Prize

A player sorts his chips at the final table at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) on November 7, 2009.

LAS VEGAS — A never-before-seen $1 million buy-in tournament at the World Series of Poker this year will generate the richest top prize in poker history at more than $12 million – and potentially more if additional players get in.

Series officials planned to announce Thursday that 30 players are committed to participate in the Big One for One Drop starting July 1 in Las Vegas.

That number puts the top prize at $12.3 million, which is more than the $12 million Jamie Gold won in 2006 for beating over 8,700 players at no-limit Texas Hold `em in the $10,000 buy-in main event.

The final table will air live on ESPN, series spokesman Seth Palansky told The Associated Press. The winner will also earn a specially designed platinum bracelet.

Eight-time gold bracelet winner Erik Seidel has joined the field, along with the chief executives of a private college lender and a stock trading firm.

The field is a mix of high-stakes poker sharks known for their tremendous skills and wealthy businessmen for whom $1 million isn't much to spend. Of the 30 players in the field so far, only 10 are professional poker players.

Players such as Johnny Chan, Tom Dwan and Daniel Negreanu are salivating at the chance to match up against lesser players, but billionaires like casino owner Phil Ruffin, and tournament organizer and Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte say they won't be as nervous with seven figures at stake.

The 30 confirmed players have already put up their buy-ins, and series officials expect to reach a cap of 48 entries. With that many players, the top prize would be $18.3 million.

The $1 million buy-in tournament includes a roughly 11 percent cut for charity but doesn't include the normal fees charged by the series for holding the tournament.

Laliberte organized the tournament with WSOP officials to raise money for One Drop, a non-governmental organization he founded that pushes for access to water in poor countries.

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Oskar Garcia can be reached on Twitter at . http://twitter.com/oskargarcia

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Online:

http://www.wsop.com/2012/thebigone

Earlier on HuffPost:

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Comments

[IndependentAndProud]

05:02 AM on 04/16/2012

What's this doing in Sports news. Are gamblers now considered athletes??

[I AM THAT]

02:14 PM on 04/13/2012

13 to 1 is not a good payout...even when there are only 48 players. It's a publicity game.

[Arnold Handelman]

02:01 PM on 04/13/2012

I'd be surprised if some of the pro poker players aren't being backed by stakers who will get a piece of any winnings. It's one thing to grind out nice money in cash games, and it's also good to win in smaller tournaments. But a monster like this one makes it a little scary to take the risks necessary to win, and to bluff with a good poker face. It is more sensible to spread the risk using stakers. Regardless of the source of the buy-in money, it will be one heck of an exciting tournament to watch!

[kmcloonjr]

01:33 PM on 04/12/2012

Can someone lend me a mill to play? I'll give you 65% of the pot when I win.......

[P51MUSTANG]

11:29 AM on 04/12/2012

11% for charity. That's quite admirable. Name any other professional sport where ALL the players give that much.

[Jethro Doo Doo Stains]

03:03 PM on 04/12/2012

ALL of the professional poker players are not playing. So your comment makes no sense at all. The PGA Tour gives a ton of money to charity, as do most other sports. This event is two thirds wealthy buisnessmen and one third pro poker players. The players are really just looking for an easy payday so in essence they are not being charitable at all. Good hustle on your part though, i guess. Oh yeah, is poker a sport?

[Bruce Forbes]

11:23 PM on 04/12/2012

there are at least a few hundred professional poker players, so i'm not what your point is. And I've never watched a PGA tour event where all the players knew ahead of time that their winnings would be reduced by 11% for charity. Poker's not a sport, but it sure takes skill. You've obviously never played, or never played much.

[Ratbert310]

10:48 AM on 04/12/2012

Assuming these guys are in the 1%, I wonder how many jobs they are creating...

[eddy515]

02:29 PM on 04/12/2012

what have you done to create a job? how big is your payroll each month? how much money do you pay in tax from the operation of your business that you started?

[Ratbert310]

03:16 PM on 04/12/2012

Similarly, I am not crying poormouth and expecting a tax break..Not everyone is an employer--Some of us are worker bees, Which category are you in??

[colorstar69]

10:32 AM on 04/12/2012

Count me in. Obama will save me if I lose. Poker bailout.

[sjannese]

10:48 AM on 04/12/2012

i bet there are many republican$ entering.........esp. with all the BIG tax-breaks they've gotten !........thankyu ''W'' !

[kmcloonjr]

01:32 PM on 04/12/2012

Oh please. Just in recent times, Dems had control of both the house and senate for bush's last two years, and Obama's first two years. What changes did they propose? None. You and colorstar69 should keep the political dribble to those stories, and let me have a break from political hatred by reading mindless poker stories.