It’s High Roller Time at WPT World Championship: $25k Kicks Off, Big One for One Drop Coming Up
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Last Updated: January 25, 2024
The WPT World Championship festival at the Wynn is entering its critical phases, with the WPT Championship event field shrinking with every passing level, and a number of high roller events on the calendar for the next couple of days.
The first of the high rollers, the WPT World Championship $25k High Roller, has already started in the main poker room of the Encore casino, while both the $1 Million Big One for One Drop and the $50k Alpha8 event will be kicking off within the next couple of days.
With the biggest events now ahead of us, and the most notable of the high rollers arriving to the venue, we are guaranteed to see some epic poker action go down, and millions of dollars change hands.
World Championship $25k High Roller Starts
The WC $25k Championship started earlier today at the Encore, and some of the biggest names in poker were seen in attendance from the earliest of levels.
Among the notables we could see at the tables were one of the most decorated tournament poker players of all time Erik Seidel, high rollers Mikita Badziakouski, Jason Koon, and Fedor Holz, one of the best tournament coaches in the world Faraz Jaka, and many others.
Joining the field in the early hours was also Santosh Suvarna, the Indian businessman who has awoken many imaginations among the poker fans with his wildly aggressive and unpredictable playing style over the course of 2023.
With just a couple of hours past in the event, the field had already grown past 100 players, with more joining every level, swelling the prize pool well into the millions of dollars.
We can expect to see plenty more big names join the field today as the day goes on, with the likes of Phil Ivey and Phil Hellmuth not yet seen in attendance, and plenty of potential $25k players still playing in the WPT World Championship event and possibly jumping in to play the high roller if they don’t survive through the day.
Big One for One Drop Starts Tomorrow
WPT World Championship was advertised all year as the biggest guaranteed poker tournament of all time, so it is also fitting that the biggest buy-in event of the year be played right alongside it.
The return of Big One for One Drop to the tournament circuit was long-awaited by many, and the event will finally be kicking off at 2:00 pm on Monday, December 18.
The massive million dollar event has typically appealed to both the high rollers among the poker pros, and some of the wealthiest and most successful poker-playing businessmen in the world.
A number of players have already confirmed their participation in the Big One, with the likes of Phil Ivey, Jason Koon, and Santosh Suvarna all committing to play in the event, along with about a dozen others, while quite a few pros were seen looking to sell some action and contemplating their buy-ins.
The million dollar price tag is certainly a disqualifying factor for quite a few players out there, but the interest of the poker community for the Big One for One Drop is huge.
It’s quite likely that we will see several players make a last-minute decision to risk a million for a chance to win one of the most coveted trophies in all of poker.
The Big One for One Drop is also being played for a good cause, as a percentage of each buy-in will go toward Guy Laliberte’s One Drop Foundation, which seeks to help bring access to fresh water to millions of people in the developing nations around the world.
Big Days Ahead at WPT World Championship
WPT World Championship 2023 has been one of the most successful and well-run poker festivals in the history of the game, and despite the Championship event coming just short of meeting the $40 million guaranteed prize pool, both the players and the organizers seem to be more than content with the outcome.
With fewer players remaining in the WPT World Championship event by the day, and the big buyin events coming up, the number of players roaming the hallways of the Encore is dwindling, but the money being played for is only getting bigger.
The $25k High Roller, Big One for One Drop, and Alpha8 events are destined to create some big stories, as the very best in the game clash head to head with millions of dollars on the line.
Stay tuned over the coming days for more updates from the WPT World Championship, and keep your head up to find out whose names will be etched into poker history in the dying days of 2023!
