We're still six months out from the €111k Big One for One Drop at this year's WSOP Europe and players from around the world are already clamouring to get in.
So much so, in fact, the player list is already half full.
The WSOPE and King's Casino announced today that 50+ players have already put down their €11k deposit to secure a seat.
Among them are a few dozen of the biggest names in poker -- and a couple of very intriguing surprises.
Who's In?
In February King's Casino CEO Leon Tsoukernik announced that the High Roller for One Drop would come to his home turf on the Czech-German border for the first time.
The event is scheduled for November 3, 2017, with a buy-in of €111,111 and a guarantee of €10,000,000. The player field is capped at 111 players.
The One Drop will run as part of a resurgent WSOP Europe which now has a multi-year contract with King’s. If the player list for the High Roller is an indication, it might set a few new WSOPE records.
Among the huge stars already booked for the One Drop event are Phil Ivey, Dan "Jungleman" Cates, the semi-retired Fedor Holz and both the winner – Antonio Esfandiari – and runner-up – Sam Trickett – of the first-ever $1m buy-in One Drop in 2012.
Patrik Antonius is in. Phil Hellmuth is in. So are young European superstars Charlie Carrel and Adrian Mateos.
Given its Central European location, though, there are a number of intriguing and lesser-known names on the list as well including local King's regs Martin Kabrhel, Scott Hanna and Tsoukernik himself.
Also surprisingly on the docket? Former tennis pro and PokerStars ambassador Boris Becker. Check the list of pro players who have made deposits as of March 28 below:
| Name | GPI Rank | National Rank | Tournament Winnings | Selected Titles |
| Martin Kabrhel | 803 | 4 | $2,109,968 | Winner WSOPC Rozvadov SHR 2016 |
| Ilya Bulychev | 70,942 | 337 | $227,132 | - |
| Andrew Pantling | 157,085 | 1974 | $3,771,633 | Winner Monte Carlo One Drop Heads-up event 2016 |
| Antonio Esfandiari | 301 | 153 | $27,353,450 | Winner BIG ONE for ONE DROP 2012 |
| Paul Newey | 134 | 10 | $4,565,444 | - |
| Andreas Eiler | 7418 | 154 | $843,744 | Winner King’s Casino €25k HR Event 2012 |
| Fedor Holz | 18 | 2 | $20,840,631 | Winner EPT Barcelona €50k SHR 2016 |
| Patrik Antonius | 107,607 | 208 | $6,788,791 | Winner EPT Baden 2005 |
| Bertrand Grospellier | 2924 | 105 | $11,006,981 | Winner PCA 2008 |
| Dan Cates | 3203 | 1559 | $4,839,670 | Runner-up EPT Grand Final €100k SHR |
| Sam Trickett | 13,473 | 1750 | $20,591,180 | Runner-up BIG ONE for ONE DROP 2012 |
| Phil Ivey | 29,691 | 8978 | $23,856,034 | Winner $250k Challenge Aussie Millions 2015 |
| Quirin Zech | 34,907 | 507 | $225,157 | - |
| Pierre Neuville | 71 | 2 | $4,186,637 | November Nine 2015 |
| Rainer Kempe | 6 | 1 | $9,237,009 | Winner 888 SHR Bowl 2016 |
| Steffen Sontheimer | 367 | 27 | $516,206 | - |
| Julian Thomas | 5676 | 128 | $722,740 | - |
| Koray Aldemir | 19 | 3 | $4,776,653 | |
| Claas Segebrecht | 453 | 25 | $1,019,863 | Winner WSOPC Berlin HR event 2016 |
| Stefan Schillhabel | 47 | 5 | $2,292,573 | Winner EPT Prague €10k HR |
| Christian Christner | 449 | 24 | $614,613 | - |
| Nick Petrangelo | 2 | 2 | $7,502,155 | Winner $100k Challenge Aussie Millions 2017 |
| Christoph Vogelsang | 392 | 21 | $7,356,217 | 3rd BIG ONE 2014 |
| Adrian Mateos | 7 | 1 | $6,672,291 | Winner EPT Grand Final 2015 |
| Sergio Aido | 16 | 2 | $4,829,786 | Winner Macau Poker Cup HR event 2017 |
| Charlie Carrel | 33 | 5 | $5,208,051 | Winner EPT Dublin HR event 2016 |
| Igor Kurganov | 163 | 5 | $12,042,540 | Winner Aria HR event no 44, 2016 |
| Jan Schwippert | 70 | 7 | $2,795,371 | Winner WPT Five Diamond HR event 2016 |
| Eugene Katchalov | 346 | 4 | $8,961,541 | Winner PCA $100k SHR event 2011 |
| Vladimir Troyanovskiy | 48 | 1 | $4,741,185 | Winner APPT 2015 Asia Championship of Poker |
| David Yan | 24 | 1 | $3,668,271 | Winner EPT Malta 2016 HR event |
| Phil Hellmuth | 972 | 504 | $21,014,737 | 14 WSOP bracelets |
More Confirmed Players
- Scott Hanna
- Martin Burda
- Antanas “Tony G.” Guoga
- Teodor Lejsek
- Leon Tsoukernik
- Rob Yong
- Jan Barta
- Bill “Streamboat” Perkins
- Talal Shakerchi
- Tomi Brouk
- Gleb Larionov
At least seven other players have registered but have yet to send the deposit so don't have their names revealed.
The ONE DROP poker tournaments go back to the inventive mind of the charity’s founder and Cirque du Soleil impressario Guy Laliberté.
Over $18.5 million has been raised by poker initiatives for universal and sustainable access to water, sanitation and hygiene for nearly 200,000 people in India, West Africa and Latin America so far.
There will also be a Little One for One Drop tournament at the 2017 WSOPE, set up as a €1,100 event on Nov. 1-2 with €500,000 guaranteed. Check the full schedule for the 2017 WSOP Europe right here.
