Six players are coming back today to play for a first prize of $7,114,500 and to try to avoid the biggest bubble of the year. Each of the six has dropped $1 million to enter the 2023 Big One for One Drop. Two will go home with nothing.
Dan Smith leads the way after a rollercoaster Day 2, and a win would see him catapult ahead of Triton-crusher Jason Koon into third on the all-time money list. The sick thing is that the top prize wouldn't be his biggest cash. That was for third place in the Triton Million for Charity tournament held in London back in 2019. That attracted 54 runners compared to the 17 that bought in at Wynn Las Vegas.
Rollercoaster Day 2
Dan Smith was also leading the 14 players back at the start of Day 2. Chris Brewer was the first eliminated yesterday, losing a flip to Fedor Holz for his last 10 big blinds. But it was the second elimination that left the tournament area quieter and arguably less fun for everyone, bar the remaining high rollers.
Martin Kabrhel had bought in with a duffel bag full of cash and proceeded to tilt the other players with his antics. It was Smith who clashed the most with Kabrhel, and he'll have been pleased to see the Czech player running his queens into Koon's kings in the first level of play.
Stephen Chidwick was next out before Ike Haxton eliminated Fedor Holz. Haxton has had an incredible year, winning seven major events with the spoils including a WSOP bracelet in a $25k high roller and a huge $2,760,000 win in the $300k Super High Roller Bowl. He had pushed into a dominating chip lead after the first two levels of play.
Koon lost a race with Nick Petrangelo for his remaining chips, and his elimination led to a redraw for the unofficial final table. Haxton still held a slim chip lead, just ahead of Petrangelo and Smith. Santhosh Survana was more than holding his own.
Seat 1: Santhosh Suvarna - 2,415,000 (81bb)
Seat 2: Dan Smith - 2,700,000 (90bb)
Seat 3: Nick Petrangelo - 3,010,000 (100bb)
Seat 4: Rick Salomon - 345,000 (12bb)
Seat 5: Mikita Badziakouski - 1,215,000 (41bb)
Seat 6: Isaac Haxton - 3,175,000 (106bb)
Seat 7: Matthias Eibinger - 790,000 (26bb)
Seat 8: Mario Mosboeck - 1,745,000 (58bb)
Seat 9: Adrian Mateos - 840,000 (28bb)
Six of the best
The award for unluckiest bust of the day went to Matthias Eibinger, who ran his king-high flush into Adrian Mateos' nut flush, before Rick Salomon found his nines wanting against Mikita Badziakouski's jacks. That put the players on the bubble for the TV final table.
And it was Smith who ended the day with a flourish. He three-bet Adrian Mateos from late position, and then called his all-in. It was a straight flip for a huge three million pot.
Mateos: K♠Q♠
Smith: J♠J♣
Board: 5♣2♦️️2♣A♦️️T❤️
That saw Smith hit the top with a dominating chip lead as the whistle went on Day 2. We were there to see the players bagging for Day 3.
Smith will have 61 big blinds when the field returns to play out on the TV set at 4pm. You can watch the live stream on a 30-minute delay, when we'll find out who is set for one of the most painful bubbles in poker. Petrangelo is the short stack, with Santhosh Suvarna also in need of help.
Seat 1: Santhosh Suvarna - 1,845,000 (23 bb)
Seat 2: Dan Smith - 4,865,000 (61 bb)
Seat 3: Nick Petrangelo - 1,445,000 (18 bb)
Seat 4: Mikita Badziakouski - 2,935,000 (37 bb)
Seat 5: Isaac Haxton - 2,570,000 (32 bb)
Seat 6: Mario Mosboeck - 3,340,000 (42 bb)
2023 Big One for One Drop payouts
1st Place. $7,114,500
2nd Place. $4,663,950
3rd Place. $2,806,750
4th Place. $1,224,800
Additional images courtesy of WPT
