One Drop Champions Clash and Colman Comes Out On Top
Antonio Esfandiari and Dan Colman share something in common, as they each won the $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop at the World Series of Poker. Esfandiari won the inaugural event in 2012, and Colman was the second installment in 2014.
On this hand, the two battled in a pot that would see Esfandiari crippled by Colman.
Colman opened to 24,000 from early position before action folded to Esfandiari in the small blind. The man known to many as "The Magician" reraised and made it 75,000 to go. Play got back to Colman, and he called to see the flop come down 
. After Colman checked, Esfandiari bet 54,000. Colman made the call to see the turn.
The 
landed on fourth street, and Colman checked again. Esfandiari slide forward 104,000. Colman stood his ground and made the call.
The river was the 
to complete the board, and Colman passed the action over to Esfandiari one last time with a check. Esfandiari announced that he was all in, a bet worth nearly all of his stack. Colman had 213,000 left and that's what Esfandiari's shove was for, but Esfandiari only had 9,000 more than Colman.
Colman studied for a bit of time, then tossed in a time extension plaque for some more thought. Eventually, he called.
"Ahhh!" yelled Esfandiari right away when Colman called. "Ace high."
Esfandiari turned up the 
for exactly that, ace high. Colman tabled the 
for a pair of nines, and that would be the winning hand to give Colman the double.
"You don't give up, huh?" asked Esfandiari to Colman.
Colman began stacking his chips and talking along the lines of how it's hard to make a decision without a ton of time. He said that he basically just crossed his fingers and called given the time he had. Esfandiari had some gripes of his own with the hand, saying that he has aces or kings there "90 percent of the time." Either way, Colman picked off his fellow One Drop winner and left Esfandiari with 9,000 in chips.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
910,000
335,000
|
335,000 |
|
9,000
-491,000
|
-491,000 |
|
||