Cary Katz's raise from the cutoff was three-bet to 350,000 by Isaac Haxton on the button and Katz called to see a flop of . Katz checked and called a bet of 165,000 before doing so again on the turn for 800,000. Katz then checked the on the river and Haxton used one time bank before betting 3,500,000.
Katz let his own initial 30 second shot clock run down and then asked how much the bet was, before calling.
"You win," Haxton announced and rolled over the for a bluff. Katz had that beat with for trip aces and scored the double. He was about to rake in the pot before the dealer reminded him that the bet of Haxton covered his remaining stack.
"Oh, in that case, I would have folded. Just kidding, I wouldn't," Katz added, and his double-up was counted to be for 3,020,000.
While dragging in the pot, Katz noted, "Good investment of a time bank."
Daniel Negreanu raised to 150,000 from middle position, Matthew Siegal three-bet to 400,000 from the button and Negreanu called.
They checked to the turn of a board where Siegal bet 300,000. Negreanu check-called, the river completed the board and Negreanu checked. Siegal bet 700,000 and Negreanu mulled it over for a bit before he folded.
Fedor Holz raised to 140,000 first to act and Justin Bonomo called on the button, as did Cary Katz in the small blind. Isaac Haxton three-bet all in for 1,475,000 and Holz quickly released his cards into the muck. Bonomo asked for Katz's stack size, who replied, "Around 4.7 million," before electing to fold. Katz quickly verified the all-in amount with the dealer and called right after.
Isaac Haxton:
Cary Katz:
Both had clashed with the same cards and near identical suits not long ago, which resulted in a double for Katz, and he ended up on top of this confrontation as well, as the board ran out to provide no help for Haxton.
"Alright, good luck guys," Haxton said before grabbing his belongings and heading out of the tournament area.
Phil Ivey opened to 135,000 from the hijack and Daniel Negreanu called on the button. The flop came and Ivey led out for 100,000 which Negreanu called.
The turn was the and Ivey checked this time. Negreanu tossed in a bet of 400,000 and Ivey stuck around to see the on the river. Ivey checked again and Negreanu threw in a casual bet of 1,500,000. Ivey wasted little time before calling only to see Negreanu turn over for quad fours.
Daniel Negreanu opened to 200,000 from middle position, Bryn Kenney called from the hijack, Matthew Siegal called from the button, and Phil Ivey called from the big blind.
The flop came down and action checked to Kenney who bet 470,000. Siegal called, Ivey called, and Negreanu folded.
The turn was the , Ivey checked, and Kenney shoved for roughly 2,500,000. Siegal folded and Ivey called instantly with for a queen-high straight, leading Kenney's for a pair of tens with a flush draw.
The river was the , no help to Kenney, securing the elimination for Ivey.
"What was the action?" Steffen Sontheimer and Daniel Negreanu asked just after Jake Schindler had been eliminated, his cards still visible, while the pot was shipped over to Phil Ivey. Apparently, Ivey had limped the small blind and Schindler got it in from the big blind with the to get called by Ivey with the .
The board came and both players hit a pair, but Ivey's hand ended up best to send Schindler to the rail.
Nick Petrangelo raised to 180,000 from the cutoff, Dominik Nitsche called from the button and Justin Bonomo three-bet shoved for 2,285,000 from the big blind. Petrangelo gave Bonomo action while Nitsche folded.
Petrangelo tabled , leading Bonomo's .
The board came down , giving Bonomo a pair of tens to double through Petrangelo.
The final event of the 2018 World Series of Poker has attracted some of the biggest names in poker, which comes as no surprise with a price tag of $1,000,000 for The Big One for One Drop. A total of 24 players ponied up the seven-figure buy-in and 19 of them bagged up chips after 10 levels of one hour each.
Rick Salomon ended up at the top of the counts with a stack of 11,445,000, and the American already has two final table appearances in this very event to his name. In 2014, Salomon finished fourth for $2,800,000 right here in Las Vegas, and followed that up with a third-place finish for €3,000,000 in The Monte-Carlo One Drop Extravaganza in 2016.
Poker superstar and 10-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Ivey follows in second place with 10,365,000 and all-time money leader Daniel Negreanu bagged up the third-most chips with 8,100,000.
In a field filled with the who's who of poker, other notables such as Dan Smith (7,735,000), Erik Seidel (6,835,000), Talal Shakerchi (6,745,000), Dominik Nitsche (6,550,000), Jason Koon (6,540,000), Christoph Vogelsang (5,680,000), Nick Petrangelo (5,300,000), Justin Bonomo (4,715,000), Stephen Chidwick (4,550,000), Fedor Holz (3,220,000), and Adrian Mateos (3,100,000) all advanced to Day 2.
The registration remains open until the cards get back in the air on Monday, July 16, 2018, at noon local time, and the action recommences with blinds of 50,000/100,000 and a big blind ante of 100,000. All new additions to the field will receive 50 big blinds and the penultimate day is scheduled to play 10 levels or down to the final six, whichever comes first.
Big One for One Drop Winners
Year
Place
Winner
Country
Prize
Entries
Prize Pool
2012
Las Vegas
Antonio Esfandiari
United States
$18,346,673
48
$42,666,672
2014
Las Vegas
Dan Colman
United States
$15,306,668
42
$37,333,338
2016
Monte Carlo
Elton Tsang
Hong Kong
€11,111,111
28
€24,888,892
Action of Day 1
The cards were barely underway when a four-million-chip pot emerged and the early action continued to provide plenty of entertainment for the nearby rail in the Rio All Suite & Casino. Daniel Negreanu won a big pot off 2014 Big One for One Drop champion Antonio Esfandiari and David Peters became the first elimination of the day after his flopped top two pair ended up second-best to the turned flush of Adrian Mateos.
In the fifth level of the day, Esfandiari got his stack in with ace-king and Jason Koon had him dominated with pocket kings. The six-high board provided no help for Esfandiari and he joined the rail without anything to show for the day.
After the dinner break, Isaac Haxton clashed twice with Cary Katz and ended up second-best with king-queen against the ace-queen of Katz to become the third casualty of the tournament. Phil Ivey then switched gears and sent Bryn Kenney and Jake Schindler to the rail in quick succession to jump over 11 million in chips.
One table over, Justin Bonomo was involved in plenty of big pots and his stack took a roller coaster ride after doubling Erik Seidel. In the final level of the night, Bonomo ended up all in and at risk with queen-ten suited against the ace-king of Nick Petrangelo and a ten in the window kept Bonomo in the running.
Adrian Mateos also avoided an upset just before bagging and tagging. The Spaniard was the first to double up his stack, but the early rungood soon turned into a nightmare and the youngest-ever three-time WSOP bracelet winner was suddenly among the shortest stacks. Mateos ended up all in with king-queen against the ace-jack of Talal Shakerchi and spiked a straight on the river.
The remaining 19 players will return at noon local time and some other big names are expected to join the action before the cards get back in the air. Make sure to tune back in as the PokerNews live reporting team will be on the floor to provide all you need to know in the most-expensive poker tournament of the year.