Mikita Badziakouski became $7,114,500 richer on Wednesday by winning a thrilling World Poker Tour (WPT) Big One for One Drop final table, defeating Mario Mosboeck heads-up to close it out.
Six players returned to Wynn Las Vegas for one final session — Day 3 — but only four would go home with money. Two others left the casino with nothing but memories of the $1 million they spent to enter the tournament.
Final Table Action
The bubble in this type of event is far more stressful than any other tournament as the player who bubbled left down $1 million, and everyone who cashed was guaranteed at least a $224,800 profit.
Santhosh Suvarna, a high-stakes regular who owns a casino in India, busted first at the final table when he lost a race to Mosboeck. Nick Petrangelo then finished on the stone bubble in the 17-player super high roller.
The pressure of reaching the money and avoiding a seven-figure loss was gone for the remaining four players. But there was still plenty of business to take care of given the jump from fourth to first place was nearly $6 million.
Haxton held the chip lead at the time, but barely over Mosboeck. Badziakouski also wasn’t too far behind, and Smith, who finished Day 1 and Day 2 with the chip lead, had become the short stack.
Mosboeck made his big move on Haxton in a 3.2 million chip pot that ended in a Haxton river fold. For quite some time, the match remained four-handed with the same chip leader. Smith began to fade below the 10-big blind threshold. Haxton, with 2,600,000, went all in with A♥Q♥ against the 8♣8♥ Badziakouski had been dealt.
The board ran out 4♦2♥5♠10♥J♦ and Haxton was out in fourth place, good for $1,224,800.
Three-Handed Play Begins
At the start of three-handed play, it appeared Mosboeck and Badziakouski were destined to soon battle heads-up given Smith was down to just seven big blinds. Would he go on to spin it up? The answer is no.
Smith, who now has over $52 million in cashes on The Hendon Mob, quickly moved all in with A♥4♣ against Mosboeck’s K♣7♣. The board came 10♥7♦Q♣5♠K♦, and that was ballgame for the man with the cowboy hat. Third place paid the future Poker Hall of Famer $2,806,750.
At the start of heads-up play, Mosboeck was up nearly 2-1 in chips, but ran into a bad break with A♦5♠ on a board of A♥7♦9♠5♥K♠ because his opponent, who earned a full double-up on the hand, had 8♣6♣ for the stone-cold nuts.
Mosboeck, however, who inevitably fell into a deep hole, would find a doulbe up, but was still down approximately 3-1 in chips. Badziakouski, who now has over $50 million in live tournament cashes, would finish off the tournament with with A♦9♠ against K♣J♦ when the best hand preflop held up through the river on the 8♣10♦10♣8♥4♥ board.
Had Mosboeck won the hand, he would have nearly tied up the match. As a consolation prize, Mosboeck took home $4,663,950, which should lessen the sting of not winning the tournament.
WPT Big One for One Drop Final Table Results
| Rank | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mikita Badziakouski | $7,114,500 |
| 2 | Mario Mosboeck | $4,663,950 |
| 3 | Dan Smith | $2,806,750 |
| 4 | Isaac Haxton | $1,224,800 |
$1 Million One Drop Tournament History
The $1 million buy-in Big One for One Drop was started in 2012 by recreational poker player Guy Laliberte, the founder of Cirque du Soleil and the One Drop clean water initiative charity. Laliberte, who was a prominent figure at the time, brought the seven-figure charity event to the World Series of Poker (WSOP) that year.
Antonio Esfandiari won the inaugural event, originally slated to be hosted every other year at the WSOP, for $18,346,673, a live poker tournament record at the time. The “Magician” outlasted a field of 48 players to capture his career-defining victory in a bracelet event televised on ESPN.
Two years later, again on ESPN, Dan Colman won the 42-player tournament at the WSOP for $15,306,668, beating Daniel Negreanu heads-up for the title. Attendance in the event has declined each time, starting in 2016 in Monte Carlo where Elton Tsang beat a 28-player field for $12,246,912.
The event then returned to the Rio in Las Vegas in 2018 for the last time with Justin Bonomo defeating 27 players for a $10,000,000 score.
| Year | Host | Entries | Winner | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | WSOP | 48 | Antonio Esfandiari | $18,346,673 |
| 2014 | WSOP | 42 | Dan Colman | $15,306,668 |
| 2016 | WSOP Monte Carlo | 28 | Elton Tsang | $12,246,912 |
| 2018 | WSOP | 27 | Justin Bonomo | $10,000,000 |
| 2023 | WPT | 17 | Mikita Badziakouski | $7,114,500 |
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*Image courtesy of World Poker Tour.
