Everyone is pretty much of the opinion that the Big One for One Drop is likely to hit its 56 player cap and award the largest first-place prize, but is this enough to make the 2014 as big a success as the 2012 version?
Before I get into the problems the Big One for One Drop will have to overcome this year let me be clear that I think the 2014 Big One for One Drop will be a rousing success and will provide plenty of interesting storylines and moments.
However…
The novelty has worn off
You know that feeling of excitement when a new reality show starts up and everything is new; every cliffhanger when they cut to commercial is a little bit of an unknown, and the characters are being developed in real time?
But then in Season 2 those same cliffhangers are ho-hum, and you can see where the producers are taking each character early on: This is how I feel about the 2014 One Drop.
When the 2012 One Drop started the entire poker world pretty much stopped everything it was doing and focused on the $1,000,000 buy-in event. Everyone was interested in what was going on starting with the prize-pool and number of entrants to the skill level of the participants and if the money involved would have an effect on the play.
Unfortunately, that unknown can only happen once.
The 2014 Big One for One Drop will be anticipated for sure, but like the second season of a reality show we already have a good idea of how the storylines will play out, unlike in year one where everything that happened was brand new.
Remember in the lead up to the 2012 One Drop when the Aria “whales” gave their seat to Phil Hellmuth and Gus Hansen and Shaun Deeb chopped up a seat and $1,000,000 cash the night before the tournament began?
Remember how nobody even knew what was going on with that Aria seat?
Remember in 2012 when we weren’t certain if the tournament would even reach its cap? Hell, we weren’t even sure that the tournament wouldn’t bed a total flop and fail miserably.
Remember in 2012 when we had no idea how the early stages of the tournament would go or if some “whale” would go berserk and play wild?
Remember in 2012 when we wondered if they would turn away a player with $1,000,000 in hand if they hit the cap?
Well, none of that is going to happen this time around. In 2014 we have a fairly good understanding of how everything will play out, starting with the early registration process right up to how tight the players will be early on. The only thing we don’t know is how the actual tournament itself will play out.
Additionally…
The Super High Roller crowd is no longer a mystery
Another aspect of the original Big One for One Drop tournament that was really exciting back in 2012 was the roster itself, and watching it develop.
In 2012 we had the very last minute entry of Phil Hellmuth, all of the “will he or won’t he play” talk.
In 2012 everyone was gossiping about who was going to play, what percentage of themselves they had, and would tournament grinders find enough backing to put together the $1 million buy-in because the tournament was loaded up with weak players.
In 2014 we have a pretty good idea who will be registering for the tournament.
Of the 26 known players registered for the 2014 One Drop tournament per WSOP.com, 18 participated in the 2012 One Drop, and there are no real surprises among the other eight entrants, as most are SHR regulars:
- Antonio Esfandiari
- Guy Laliberté
- Bobby Baldwin
- David Einhorn
- Phil Galfond
- Philipp Gruissem
- Phil Ivey
- Jason Mercier
- Paul Newey
- Bill Perkins
- Vivek Rajkumar
- Brian Rast
- Andrew Robl
- Erik Seidel
- Brandon Steven
- Sam Trickett
- Noah Schwartz
- Tobias Reinkemeier
- Vanessa Selbst
- Jean-Robert Bellande
- Fabian Quoss
- Max Altergott
- Anthony Gregg
- Igor Kurganov
- Christoph Vogelsang
- Niklas Heinecker
- Anonymous Asian Businessman
- Anonymous Businessman
- Anonymous Businessman
- Anonymous Businessman
- Aria Resort Satellite Seat
- Bellagio Resort Satellite Seat
- World Series of Poker Satellite Seat
From the looks of the list (and the names that are still missing *ahem, Daniel Negreanu, ahem*) the 2014 version of One Drop looks like it will be a carbon copy of the 2012 running of the event, with the addition of the German Super-High-Roller contingent that has been dominant in the six-figure buy-in tournaments over the past few years.
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