On July 15, 2018, "the WSOP and One Drop announce the return of The BIG ONE for One Drop, a $1 million buy-in tournament capped at a maximum of 48 players and the most significant charity initiative in poker history.
For the fourth time, this tournament will harness the ability of poker to bring together people from all over the globe to raise awareness and funds for the cause of water. This innovative event is back at the Rio in Las Vegas during the WSOP 2018. Once again, the WSOP will be waiving their rake fee and that portion of the pot will go to fund One Drop's sustainable safe water access projects in communities in need", according to the WSOP.com website.
First added in 2012, it became the highest buy-in poker tournament in history as well as it has the biggest single payout offered. The charitable proceeds will be donated to the One Drop Foundation, an international non-profit organization created by Guy Laliberte, the founder of Cirque du Soleil. The organization focuses on water initiatives, seeking unconditional access to safe drinking water in crisis areas.
So far, there are 30 players who have confirmed that they will play at this year's WSOP $1 million buy-in tournament, having paid the $50K deposit:
1. Daniel Negreanu
2. Antonio Esfandiari
3. Christoph Vogelsang
4. Bryn Kenney
5. Nick Petrangelo
6. Rainer Kempe
7. Dominik Nitsche
8. Steffen Sontheimer
9. Jason Koon
10. Phil Ivey
11. Adrian Mateos
12. Phil Hellmuth
13. Rick Salomon
14. Talal Shakerchi
15. Leon Tsoukernik
As for the other 15, it seems like they would like to remain anonymous for now.
This year, 8% of the total buy-in goes to the One Drop Foundation (it's smallest since it was launched), thereby creating a record prize pool of $44,160,000, should the 48-player cap be hit.
Previous winners of The Big One for One Drop tournament:
2012 - Antonio Esfandiari defeats 48 entrants to win $18,346,673
2014 - Daniel Colman defeats 42 entrants to win $15,306,668
2016 - Elton Tsang defeats 28 entrants to win $12,248,912
Source:
https://calvinayre.com/2018/06/20/poker/30-players-confirmed-one-drop-brunsons-retirement-premature/
https://www.wsop.com/2017/bigone/Big%20One%20for%20One%20Drop%202018.pdf
