I have Blu Tack stains on my wall.
I should sue.
I used it because its sole purpose, the only reason it exists, is so I can stick things on the wall. So I did. A butterfly, a spider sitting on his cobweb, a dragon circling a volcano mid-spew, and a snake. Mary will be over in an hour to try her best to rob me of my deposit, and here I am squeezing lemon over the oily residue as I know she will do everything in her power to rob me.
Five thousand miles away, 27 people have paid a million bucks to play poker. The contrast is as sharp as Mary’s lizard like tongue. Six remain. There is a $10m prize at stake. And one man, the same man as always, sticks to the top of the chip counts like my stubborn pieces of blue.
I can’t imagine what it would feel like to pay a million bucks, play for two days, get down to the final six players, and still be a million bucks in the hole, but that’s the situation as Day 2 of the Big One for One Drop ends in Las Vegas.
This is what they are playing for.
The Gold
- $10,000,000
- $6,000,000
- $4,000,000
- $2,800,000
- $2,000,000
Here’s the tale of wonder and woe.
The Tale of Wonder and Woe
Level 11: 50,000/100,000/100,000
Brian Rast, Byron Kaverman and Rainer Kempe all believe the Day 2 50 big blind strategy is best.
The first person to bust on Day 2 was Adrian Mateos. The Spaniard got into a spat with Fedor Holz on the turn in an upraised pre-flop pot. The board showed ThTs7d3h when Mateos moved all-in and Holz called. Mateos held KT for trip tens, but Holz showed down pocket sevens for the flopped boat. Mateos was up shit creek without a boat or a paddle.
Phil Ivey moves ominously into the chip lead like an iceberg the size of Australia floating towards 20 penguins cuddled together on a sheet of ice the size of a surfboard.
Rainer Kempe had the shortest One Drop experience of anyone who took part over two days. The German star got it in pre-flop with pocket queens, only for David Einhorn to turn over the rockets. Kempe didn’t last a level.
Non-professional poker players were as rare as homeless guys without a dog, and we lost one in the first level in the shape of Meditor Capital Management Founder, Talal Shakerchi. Once again it was Holz taking the role of playground bully when his AK found an ace on the turn, to beat Shakerchi’s pocket nines in a race to the death after a pre-flop all-in encounter.
Jason Koon doubled through Stephen Chidwick, KK>JJ on a Td4c3d flop, and the Global Poker Index (GPI) #1 put the last of his change in the middle against Matthew Siegal only for pocket aces to swallow pocket sixes like Jonah and the whale.
Level 12: 60,000/120,000/120,000
No eliminations, but Mikita Badziakouski found himself short before doubling through Nick Petrangelo K6o>AJs after flopping a six.
Level 13: 80,000/160,000/160,000
Despite that double up, the Belarusian was the first player of Level 13 to leave his DXRacer chair after running AJs, into the pocket kings of Rick Salomon.
The next to person to go bump in the night was the former Super High Roller Bowl (SHRB) Champion, Brian Last. Last got it in with AK versus the QQ of Petrangelo and the Q77 flop looked like a nuclear warhead. The 6s on the turn drawing a line under Rast’s participation in the event.
Then we lost the 2014 runner-up.
The action folded to Daniel Negreanu in the small blind. The Canadian moved all-in, holding T7s, and Steffen Sontheimer called from the big blind holding A6o. The board offered no solace to Kid Poker who was still steaming after missing the first hand after the break due to a communication issue.
We were down to the final two tables, and Fedor Holz held the chip lead with Rick Salomon, David Einhorn, Erik Seidel and Nick Petrangelo pressing.
David Einhorn takes the lead after winning a decent chunk from Phil Ivey, and then Koon takes those Ivey chips by doubling through the philanthropist JJ>AK.
Koon tried the same trick with Justin Bonomo a few hands later resulting in the opposite effect. Koon moved all-in holding pocket tens, Bonomo called with queens, and the man wearing the Never Die cap, died.
Then we lost the 2017 Poker Masters Champion.
Sontheimer opened from the button, Dan Smith moved all-in from the small blind, and the man with the purple jacket made the call against the man wearing a blue one. It was AQ for Sontheimer, pocket sevens for Smith, and the pair held.
Level 14: 100,000/200,000/200,000
The first man to leave the contest in Level 14 was Matthew Siegal. It was a three-bet pot, with Siegel the aggressor, and Justin Bonomo playing ball. The flop came down QdTh3h and Siegal moved all-in. Bonomo made the call holding KJs for the open-ended straight draw, and Siegal held AKo for the Broadway straight draw, and ace high. The turn was the ace, giving Bonomo his straight, and Siegal was out. Bonomo was the new chip leader.
Bonomo was like a bloodsucking leech by this point, the next person to be drained of life was Dominik Nitsche. The pair got it in with the German holding AQ, and Bonomo showing the dominating AK, and five cards later the SHRB Champ moved over the 30 million chip mark.
From one SHRB Champ to another and Christoph Vogelsang found a fortunate double up against his compatriot Fedor Holz. Vogelsang’s K3s finding a three on the flop when all-in against AK.
Then Ivey doubled through Bonomo.
In an upraised pre-flop pot, Bonomo put Ivey all-in on the turn with the board showing 7d3d3hQc, and the legend called with AA. Bonomo showed AQ for a less significant two pairs.
Level 15: 120,000/240,000/240,000
Ivey’s topsy-turvy period continued when he lost a race against Einhorn TT<AK to double up the savvy businessman. And then Erik Seidel eliminated Vogelsang in a cooler.
Seidel made it 550k from the cutoff, and the German defended the big blind. The flop was Js4d3c, Seidel bet 1.5m, Vogelsang shoved for around a million more and the New Yorker made the call. Vogelsang showed J4o for top two pair, and Seidel turned over pocket fives. The ace on the turn opened up wheel possibilities for Seidel, and the 2d on the river turned those possibilities into a hard fact which Siedel used to bludgeon Vogelsang over the head with until he was no more.
Then we lost the Poker Central creator.
Cary Katz moved all-in holding A6o from late position, and Dan Smith mad the call from the big blind holding 87o, and flopped a seven to send Katz to the rail.
We had our unofficial final table.
Here were the chip counts.
- Justin Bonomo – 25,400,000
- Nick Petrangelo – 18,880,000
- Erik Seidel – 15,980,000
- Fedor Holz – 15,455,000
- Rick Salomon – 14,425,000
- Dan Smith – 14,085,000
- David Einhorn – 12,930,000
- Byron Kaverman – 12,135,000
- Phil Ivey – 5,710,000
The last action of the level saw Einhorn find another double up, this time AA versus the K5o of Bonomo.
Level 16: 150,000/300,000/300,000
Byron Kaverman doubled through Seidel, AK>QQ, after a turn landed on the turn. And then the Poker Gods handed Seidel a cooler when he got it in holding the nuts on Td9h8d (Quo), facing off against the flush draw of Einhorn (Q9dd), and the 4d landed on the river to send the experienced Seidel to the rail.
The final seven players were happy to see the back of Phil Ivey. The one time greatest player in the world got it in holding AJ, but Bonomo woke up with kings, and Ivey was out in eighth place.
Level 17: 200,000/400,000/400,000
No action to speak of.
Level 18: 250,000/500,000/500,000
Seeking an unprecedented third final table, Salomon doubled through Smith when his ATo beat the KQo of his ten gallon hat wearing opponent, and then we had our final table, when Bonomo eliminated Petrangelo 99>A8o.
Final Table
- Justin Bonomo – 48,950,000
- Fedor Holz – 22,125,000
- Dan Smith – 21,450,000
- Rick Salomon – 19,650,000
- David Einhorn – 12,300,000
- Byron Kaverman – 10,525,000