Players Chat About the One Drop and Bellande's Announcement
"I'll lay anyone 2-1 that JRB doesn't play the million," was the statement that came out of Justin Smith's mouth as we walked by his table.
Paul Volpe was seated right next to me and the statement caught his attention. "Really?" said Volpe.
"I'll lay 2-1 also," chimed in Dan Shak.
The conversation then carried over to discussing whether or not Jean-Robert Bellande would actually be playing the $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop tournament coming up. Bellande announced yesterday on Twitter that he was going to play the event.
Shak and Smith questioned Joe Cassidy to see if he knew what the story behind Bellande's tweet was, but Cassidy couldn't really give them and answer. From there, the three speculated a bit about the event, Bellande playing and also the possibility of Bellande putting his $50,000 deposit down in order to say he is playing and get some extra publicity. The latter seemed quite interesting.
PokerNews checked with a World Series of Poker staff member and the $50,000 deposit is refundable, which means someone could put the deposit down in order to say they are playing and have proof they've signed up. The player could then back out, but gain some publicity from all the hype surrounding them playing the event. It's an interesting scenario and one we'll see if we can pick up anymore news about.
The Big One for One Drop that boasts a massive $1,000,000 buy-in will take place starting on July 1 and run through July 3. First place should be over $15 million, which is eye-popping. According to a WSOP staff member, as of yesterday 46 players were signed up for the event.