A Little on the BIG ONE for ONE DROP
The BIG ONE for ONE DROP™ is back at the World Series of Poker (WSOP). Granted, it’s not the $1,111,111 buy-in feature last year—which raised $5.6 million for ONE DROP—but today's Event #47: $111,111 One Drop High Rollers No-Limit Hold'em is still the biggest buy-in event of the summer. This year’s three-day incarnation boasts a $111,111 buy-in, of which 3% will go to the ONE DROP charity and $107,777 towards the prize pool.
“ONE DROP is doing important and impactful work and we intend to continue to help their efforts,” said Mitch Garber, CEO, Caesars Interactive Entertainment, Inc. “We were wildly successful out the gate in 2012, but we can’t slow down. Access to clean water is a worldwide issue that needs our continued attention and Caesars, the WSOP and the poker community will continue to go All In for ONE DROP.”
ONE DROP chairperson Guy Laliberté, who finished fifth in last year’s event, added: “It’s amazing what you can achieve when you dream. We took a concept and turned it into the most successful poker initiative ever held. As a result, ONE DROP has transformed 150,000 lives. Projects in Honduras, El Salvador and Burkina Faso have already put the money to use. With these type of initiatives, we can continue to impact the lives of those in need, while at the same time raising awareness of the impact water has on our planet.”
Among those in today's field are WSOP bracelet winner Owais Ahmed, who won a seat yesterday in WSOP.com’s summer-long giveaway; nine-time bracelet winner Phil Ivey; South African Jarred Solomon; former EPT Grand Final champ Mohsin Charania; David "Doc" Sands, who recently talked to PokerNews about his excitement; the always-aggressive Faraz Jaka; and good friends Phil Laak, Jeff Gross and Antonio Esfandiari, just to name a few.
Interestingly, Esfandiari, who actually one last year’s tournament for $18 million, recently traveled to Honduras and El Salvador with Gross and Laak to visit ONE DROP’s projects.
“ONE DROP’s initiatives are not just about giving access to water, they are about giving hope for a brighter future,” said Esfandiari. “The money we raise for ONE DROP goes a long way and it changes lives forever.”