Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

WSOP:

Daniel Negreanu, Rick Salomon make final table in $1 million buy-in tourney

Mix of professionals and amateurs out for $15.3 million first-place prize

Big One for One Drop Starts at WSOP

Steve Marcus

Daniel Negreanu waits for the start of the Big One for One Drop, a $1,000,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em charity poker tournament, at the Rio Sunday, June 26, 2014. The $1 million buy-in is the largest ever for a poker event. Proceeds support One Drop projects in countries experiencing serious difficulties caused by inadequate access to water.

Big One for One Drop Starts at WSOP

Poker players poses for a photo during opening ceremonies before the start of the Big One for One Drop, a $1,000,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em charity poker tournament, at the Rio Sunday, June 26, 2014. The $1 million buy-in is the largest ever for a poker event. Proceeds support One Drop projects in countries experiencing serious difficulties caused by inadequate access to water. Launch slideshow »

Big One For One Drop Payouts

  • 1st: $15,306,668
  • 2nd: $8,288,001
  • 3rd: $4,480,001
  • 4th: $2,800,000
  • 5th: $2,053,334
  • 6th: $1,680,000
  • 7th: $1,418,667
  • 8th: $1,306,607

Note: Full chip counts and information available at the bottom of the page.

Some of the most iconic moments of consummate poker professional Daniel Negreanu’s career have come when he combines evidence from a hand with an innate sense to divulge an opponent’s exact cards.

The second winningest player in the history of tournament poker knows all the game’s strategies and mathematics, but he’s always been renowned for the way he uses his feel. And coming into the $1 million buy-in Big One For One Drop at the World Series of Poker, Negreanu felt remarkable.

He spoke of experiencing incomparable vibes, a sensation that made him believe something special was in store. Negreanu was right again.

Negreanu advanced to the Big One For One Drop final table early Tuesday morning at the Rio, one of nine players still alive in chasing the second-biggest payout, $15.3 million, in poker history. The 2013 WSOP Player of the Year sits in fourth place with 20.7 million chips going into the final day of the tournament, which begins at 3 this afternoon.

One player will be left out of the money with the other eight guaranteed a payout of at least $1.3 million. No one can dispute they’ve earned that much after enduring a day-two session that took 16 hours to eliminate 22 players. The tournament began with 42 entrants on Sunday.

The starting mix of top professionals and wealthy businessmen remains stirred at the final table. The chip leader is Rick Salomon, husband of Pamela Anderson who rose to fame after releasing the Paris Hilton sex tape.

Salomon has 23.5 million chips, more than the other three businessmen remaining have combined. They are student-loan mogul Cary Katz, Hong Kong gaming entrepreneur Tom Hall and finance tycoon Paul Newey.

Right behind Salomon are Tobias Reinkemeier and Daniel Colman, a pair of young professionals who initially made millions through online poker.

Local Scott Seiver, the No. 4 ranked tournament player in the world according to Global Poker Index, holds more than 8 million chips. Global Poker Index rates Negreanu at No. 3.

The 2012 Big One For One Drop champion Antonio Esfandiari captured the lead for a portion of the night, but lost most of his chips in an encounter with Reinkemeier before busting in 10th.

The plan called for the field to get down to eight, but tournament officials decided to halt the action around 4:15 a.m.

Check below for chip counts and information on the final nine players.

Rick Salomon (23,575,000 chips)

From: Los Angeles

Career earnings: $287,077

Tobias Reinkemeier (22,825,000 chips)

From: Hamburg, Germany

Career earnings: $7,565,154

Daniel Colman (22,625,000 chips)

From: Boston

Career earnings: $2,894,174

Daniel Negreanu (20,700,000 chips)

From: Las Vegas

Career earnings: $21,508,379 (6 WSOP bracelets)

Cary Katz (9,125,000 chips)

From: Las Vegas

Career earnings: $2,121,019

Scott Seiver (8,250,000 chips)

From: Las Vegas

Career earnings: $10,927,349 (1 WSOP bracelet)

Tom Hall (7,775,000 chips)

From: Hong Kong

Career earnings: $233,837

Christoph Vogelsang (7,075,000 chips)

From: Sassenburg, Germany

Career earnings: $672,095

Paul Newey (4,050,000 chips)

From: Birmingham, England

Career earnings: $129,064

Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.

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