One Drop

With the popularity poker has achieved it is not too uncommon to hear of tournaments where people can win a million dollars or more but last week the WSOP announced something truly astounding - that next year they will be having a tournament where it costs a million dollars to enter. Here I will pause while you try to figure out if you read that correctly. A million dollars just to get a seat in the tournament.

The idea comes from Cirque Du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte, who also started the One Drop Foundation; a group that promotes awareness of water issues as well as assisting African villages to access water. 11.11% of the money that would normally be included in the prize pool will go to One Drop.

Brilliant.

So who is going to pony up a cool million just to play poker? Laliberte himself says he will play and already several famous poker pros have said they are in, including: Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, Patrik Antonius, Gus Hansen, Tony G. and Daniel Negreanu. Others who have apparently committed to play include:

• Bobby Baldwin - C.E.O. of Mirage Resorts and winner of the 1978 WSOP main event.



• Phil Ruffin - Owner of Treasure Island hotel and Casino.



• Andy Beal - The owner of Beal Bank who very nearly beat a team of top Vegas pros in what are very likely the highest stakes poker games that have ever been played. These legendary games are chronicled in Michael Craig's 2005 book The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King.



• And apparently a "well known American business man" has also committed. (What is a million dollars to Bill Gates when a charity is involved?)

In fact so far sixteen people have said that they will play. One Vegas pro has said that he predicts a total of fifty one players will compete. I think it will be more than one hundred. Hell, if I had a million dollars...