The Big One: High-Stakes Drama at the 2012 WSOP

The 2012 World Series of Poker (WSOP) introduced The Big One, a high-stakes tournament with 48 participants, requiring an additional stage in the Amazon Room. Allen Kessler was annoyed by the construction noise before the tournament.

The tournament kicked off with a dramatic opening featuring a drum roll and other performances. Access to the tables was limited to PokerNews journalists, and photography was allowed only from the stands. This restricted access made it challenging to gather exclusive materials, but the internet in the press zone was not very fast, making it easier for our readers to get current information about the tournament than for journalists in Las Vegas.

Several notable players participated in The Big One. Bill Perkins, the president and founder of Small Ventures USA, LP, was one of the participants. Frederic Banju, a French businessman known for his success in real estate, was also a participant. Andrew Robl, known as good2cu, placed second in a $100,000 super high roller tournament at the WPT Championship in Bellagio. Jens Kilonnen, known as Jeans89, won a tournament at the EPT in Copenhagen and has since focused on high-stakes cash games. Justin Smith, known as BoostedJ, has had notable successes including second place at the WPT Bellagio Cup VI and a win at the WPT London high roller tournament in 2010. Brian Rast, known as tsarrast, won the $50,000 Players Championship and the $1,500 PLH tournament at the previous WSOP. Sam Trickett, a regular in high-stakes games in Macau, won the main event of the Partouche Poker Tour in September 2011. Jonathan Duhamel, the 2010 WSOP Main Event champion, was rumored to have his entry fee covered by Guy Laliberté. Vivek Rajkumar, known as psyduck, won the Borgata Poker Open in 2008 and has earned over $4,000,000 in live tournaments. Tom Markez, known as Kingsofcards, won a high roller tournament at the WPT with a $1,308,405 prize. Antonio Esfandiari, a regular on poker TV shows, has career tournament earnings of $4,658,054. Nick Schulman, known for his versatility, has a career tournament earnings exceeding $5,000,000. Ben Lamb sold stakes in the tournament on Twitter with a coefficient of 1.1. Brandon Steven, a businessman, is the only player at his table with career tournament earnings of less than $1,000,000. Phil Ivey, who had a triumphant return to tournaments after a year-long absence, was a participant. Erik Seidel, who leads the list of players with the most career tournament earnings, won four tournaments with buy-ins over $25,000 in the first six months of 2011. Haralabos Voulgaris, whose main focus is sports betting, bought his spot in the tournament from Carlos Nahas, who won it in a satellite. Ilya Bulychev, known as Torik, is a professional poker player and businessman who has been playing poker for about 10 years.