Exclusive: 48-Player Cap Will Not Be Increased for $1 Million One Drop Event
At the time of writing, 42 players have entered the $1 million buy-in Event #55 at this year's WSOP, the Big One for One Drop. The WSOP have informed PokerStrategy.com that despite the rapidly-filling field, the 48-player cap will not be increased.
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| Guy Laliberté and Jonathan Duhamel |
The past few days have seen a flood of players sign up for the $1 million Big One for One Drop event at the 2012 WSOP, with twelve new players recently confirmed and many big names showing interest.
Ben Lamb, Jean-Robert Bellande, Tobias 'pokernoob' Reinkemeier, Phil Hellmuth, Antonio Esfandiari, Justin Bonomo, Vanessa Selbst, Tom Marchese and Philipp 'philgruissem' Gruissem are all planning to attend the largest-ever poker tournament on July 1.
The massive demand for the event has set some people wondering whether or not the cap will be increased but in an exclusive interview with PokerStrategy.com, WSOP communications manager Seth Palansky has confirmed that this will not be the case.
Many players currently searching for a backer or selling action could be out of luck - if the 48-player cap is hit, there is no chance for extra participants.
"People have been able to register for this event for over a year"
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| Seth Palansky |
"The cap is not increasing", Palansky told PokerStrategy.com. "Players have entered this event under the knowledge that there is a cap. We already have four or five players in the process of completing the registration process with us so if they do, we’ll be very close."
Palansky does not think this news will be met with criticism from the poker community: "People have been able to register for this event since June 1, 2011 – over a year. We have been thoughtful, methodical and consistent with our rules for this event since the beginning."
Upon being asked about the charity aspect that could be an argument for increasing the cap ($111,111 of each buy-in goes to Guy Laliberté's One Drop Foundation), Palansky said that the event "will raise the single most amount of money for a charity poker tournament in the history of poker and more than any other charity poker events held elsewhere combined for the past year."
$25,300 Mega Satellite could increase the field
On June 30, the day before the One Drop event takes place, there will be a $25,300 Mega Satellite and this, Palansky says, is the 48th seat in the event. However, it could lead to an exception where the cap is in fact increased.
"For every 40 entries, we will award a seat into the Big One," explained Palansky. "Therefore, if 80 or more players enter that Mega Satellite, there is a possibility that the cap increases. This is because regulations to run this event require us to award a seat for every 40 entries.
"No one knows what to expect for that Mega Satellite. If 40 players don’t sign up, we are guaranteeing the first seat anyway."
