WSOP Announces a $1 Million Buy-In Event for 2012

The WSOP has partnered with One Drop, Guy Laliberte's charity, to arrange a $1 million buy-in event at the 2012 World Series. 15 players have already committed to entering, and a percentage of the buy-in will go to One Drop.

A few years ago, tournament circuits started to offer "High Roller" events, and they typically had about a $25,000 entry fee.

Then came the "Super High Roller" events which upped the stakes to 6-figures.

At next year's WSOP, we'll need to come up with a new term for yet another level of buy-in. For the first time in the history of tournament poker, there will be a $1 million buy-in event.

The tournament is called "The Big One for One Drop." The name is due to the tournament's affiliation with One Drop, a charitable organization from Montreal which helps to provide access to clean water in poor countries.

11.1% of every buy-in will be donated to One Drop, and the World Series will not be taking any rake from the event.

The field will be capped at 48 players, and the tournament will be a part of next year's ESPN televised coverage of the World Series.

Guy Laliberte, best known as the founder of Cirque du Soleil, established One Drop and was a driving factor in starting this tournament. Additionally, he has committed to playing- and so have 14 others.

Who's Playing?

Some of the players already committed to entering include Laliberte himself, businessman Andy Beal, Treasure Island Resort owner Phil Ruffin, and City Center Group CEO Bobby Baldwin.

In addition to those businessmen, the poker pros who have committed to playing include Patrik Antonius, Gus Hansen, Daniel Negreanu, Johnny Chan, Tom Dwan, and Tony Guoga.

Although he wasn't mentioned amongst the committed players, I personally can't imagine Erik Seidel missing a high buy-in event. Who else do you think will pony up the $1 million?