Antonio Esfandiari Wins The largest Prize In Poker History; Over $18.3 Million!
It has been reported that Esfandiari's dream is to open up a restaurant. Now he has the available funds to make that dream become a reality. Congratulations to Esfandiari the Big One for One Drop champion.
Antonio "The Magician" Esfandiari has pulled off his greatest trick yet by taking down the Big One for One Drop tournament in Las Vegas for an almost unbelievable $18,346,673 pay day!
Esfandiari started the final table with a slender chip lead over Sam Trickett in second place but had 18,000,000 more chips than any other competitor but is was far from a done deal for the live pro thanks to some excellent players joining him on the eight-handed final table.
Big One For One Drop Final Table Seat Draw
Seat 1: Guy Laliberte - 21,700,000 chips
Seat 2: Brian Rast - 11,350,000
Seat 3: Phil Hellmuth - 10,925,000
Seat 4: Antonio Esfandiari - 39,925,000
Seat 5: Bobby Baldwin - 7,150,000
Seat 6: Sam Trickett - 37,000,000
Seat 7: Richard Yong - 7,475,000
Seat 8: David Einhorn - 8,375,000
It took 23 hands before the first of the eight final tablists were eliminated, that dubious honour going to Richard Yong. The action folded around to Yong in the hijack seat and he raised all-in for 3,300,000. The action then passed to Brian Rast in the small blind and he three-bet all-in for 8,925,000 in an attempt to isolate Yong. Phil Hellmuth folded his big blind and the cards were revealed; Ks-Jh for Rast and Ac-2h for Yong. The 7d-5c-3c flop was almost as good as it gets for ace-deuce and the 2s on the turn kept the Chinese businessman in front. That was until the Kd landed on the river to improve Rast to the best hand and send Yong to the rail.
Eighteen hands later and Bobby Baldwin followed Yong to the rail. One Drop founder Guy Laliberte opened to 1,000,000 from under the gun and the action folded around to Baldwin. He peeled back his cards, liked what he saw and three-bet to 5,000,000. Laliberte moved all-in on him and Baldwin called off the rest of his stack with Ac-10s to find himself up against a pair of jacks. Baldwin paired his ten on the 10h-8c-7s flop but that is all he could muster. Laliberte's jacks held and the tournament was down to six players.
Six became five just 10 hands after Baldwin's demise when Rast was eliminated in spectacular fashion. Trickett was the player who opened the betting by making it 1,200,000 to play from under the gun. Rast made the call and Esfandiari tossed in the extra chips from the big blind. The trio shared the all-heart 4h-3h-8h flop, a flop that Esfandiari checked, Trickett continued with a 1,800,000 sized bet and only Rast called. The turn brought the 10s into play and after pausing for a minute or so Trickett decided a 3,800,000 bet was in order but it was not enough to shake off Rast. The 3s on the river completed the board and Trickett moved all-in for an effective 8,275,000 chips. Rast insta-called and showed Ah-Jh for the nut flush but Trickett was sat there having rivered quad threes to send the dangerous Rast to the rail in sixth place.
Fifth place was decided shortly afterwards on the 60th hand of the final table, and it was another large pot. A preflop raising war broke out that saw more than 50,000,000 chips end up in the middle of the felt and Lalibetre all-in and at risk of elimination at the hands of Esfandiari. Laliberte showed a pair of red queens whilst Esfandiari turned over As-Kd for the all too familiar coinflip scenario. The Jc-7d-2c flop kept Laliberte's ladies in front but the Ks on the turn completely changed the course of the hand and catapulted Esfandiari into the lead. The 4c on the river sealed Laliberte's fate and he exited down the tunnel of the ESPN Main Stage to a standing ovation.
Almost immediately after Laliberte's exit Hellmuth was busted out too. Again the money went in preflop this time with Hellmuth holding As-10s to Trickett's dominating Ah-Qh . The dealer fanned out the Ac-10h-5h flop, hitting both players but putting Hellmuth into the lead. The turn was the Kd which gave Trickett some more outs to the straight and one such out appeared in the shape of the Jc on the river and a very disappointed Hellmuth exited the tournament area and headed to the cashier's cage to pick up a career-best score of $2,645,333.
Next to go was David Einhorn, the man who promised to donate all of his winnings to charity. This means $4,352,000 will be heading straight from The Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino and into a welcoming charities coffers. Einhorn's hopes of winning over $18,300,000 came to an abrupt end on the 69th hand of the final table when he committed his stack with Ks-9c and found himself in a bad spot against the Kc-10s of Esfandiari. Einhorn did spike a nine as the door card was the 9d but it was followed onto the flop by the 10h and 6h. The 3h turn was no help to Einhorn and neither was the Qs river and with his exit heads-up was set.
Going into the heads-up battle Esfandiari held a substantial 102,475,000 to 41,500,000 chip advantage over Trickett and despite Trickett managing to claw back around 9,000,000 chips the ball was always firmly in Esfandiari's court. The final hand of this epic tournament was the 85th of the final table and it was Esfandiari who opened the betting with a raise to 1,800,000 from the button. Trickett called and it was off to the Jd-5d-5c flop. Trickett initiall checked, Esfandiari continued only to see Trickett check-raise to 5,400,000. Esfandiari, who it turned out held 7d-5s, made it 10,000,000 to play but Trickett was not done because he clicked it back to 15,000,000! Esfandiari then moved all-in and Trickett called off his remaining chips before revealing Qd-6d. Trickett was probably hoping his queen along with his diamonds was a live card but it was not. He needed to catch a diamond only to stay in the tournament. The turn was red but the three was a heart, as was the deuce that fell on the river and with that Esfandiari was swarmed by his friends and family whilst Trickett was consoled by his; though we are sure the $10,112,001 he picked up for finishing second will also aid that consolation!
Along with the biggest prize ever awarded in poker, which puts Esfandiari well clear at the top of the all-time money listings, "The Magician" also received a custom made platinum bracelet valued at over $350,000. It has been reported that Esfandiari's dream is to open up a restaurant. Now he has the available funds to make that dream become a reality. Congratulations to Esfandiari the Big One for One Drop champion.
The Big One for One Drop Final Table Payouts
1st: Antonio Esfandiari - $18,346,673
2nd: Sam Trickett - $10,112,001
3rd: David Einhorn - $4,352,000
4th: Phil Hellmuth - $2,645,333
5th: Guy Laliberte - $1,834,666
6th: Brian Rast - $1,621,333
7th: Bobby Baldwin - $1,408,000
8th: Richard Yong - $1,237,333
Prices quoted in copy are correct at time of publication but liable to change.
