Today’s WSOP 3-Bet looks at three sides of the impending Big One, including Phil Hellmuth’s last minute entrance, Brandon Steven’s ongoing philanthropic efforts plus a photo gallery from the $25k Big One satellite that’s playing out at the Rio tonight.
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Phil Hellmuth Takes $1m MGM Big One Satellite Seat
The first ever $1 million buy-in poker tournament begins today at the World Series of Poker and thanks to getting his hands on the satellite seat put up by MGM Resorts, Phil Helmuth will be playing.
Details are unclear right now whether Hellmuth won the seat straight up or came to some sort of a deal to buy it.
Hellmuth had previously tweeted that he’d secured $600k in stakes to buy into the Big One directly, but when the official list of players came out earlier today his name was conspicuously absent.
ESPN poker writer Gary Wise tweeted earlier:
“Reports coming in that Phil may not have actually won the satellite, but that he has the seat. I'm in the dark on this one folks.”
Later reports say Hellmuth "bought" the seat when play got five-handed and gave percentages to the remaining players.
What we know for sure is that the 12-time WSOP bracelet winner will be playing the world’s first $1 million buy-in tournament.
Also reportedly competing in the MGM satellite were Sammy Farha, Shawn Buchanan and Chau Giang.
PokerListings.com will be providing full live coverage of the event beginning at noon.
Brandon Stevens Represents Philanthropists in $1M Big One
2010 Main Event final-table bubble boy Brandon Steven is playing the Big One for One Drop with a stake from a group of businesses, including his own in Wichita, Kansas.
Any money Steven makes will go to charity, including the Wichita Children’s Home and the Lady Bugg House, an organization that helps young mothers become self-sufficient.
Check out the story on the Wichita Business Journal to find out more.
Steven is an active philanthropist and was named National Man of the Year by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in 2007. He was also involved in aiding Joplin, Missouri after the tornado that ravaged the area in 2011.
When Steven finished 10th in the 2010 WSOP Main Event he pocketed over $635,000 and reportedly donated much of it to charity.
Steven is sitting at by far the most difficult table in the Big One. He’ll have to deal with Phil Ivey, Erik Seidel, Tom Marchese, Antonio Esfandiari, Nick Schulman, Ben Lamb and Vivek Rajkumar when this event begins.
Including Steven the players at his table have won more than $56 million in live poker tournaments.
Hansen Beats Deeb for Last Big One Satellite Seat
Even though it wasn’t a bracelet event the $25k Mega Satellite to the Big One for One Drop today at the Rio proved to be one of the most exciting tournaments of the summer so far.
96 players bought in, putting $2.4 million up for grabs for the top three finishers.
The winner would take a seat to the Big One, the runner-up would get an alternate spot or a million dollars in cash and third-place eould earn $400k.
When the last card fell, Gus Hansen took home the seat and will play tomorrow while Shaun Deeb was the runner-up.
It did look as though a deal was made and Deeb intentionally dumped his chips so Hansen would win.
Deeb was placed last on the alternate list and if he fails to make it into the tournament will get $1 million cash.
Jason Somerville finished third to take the $400k prize. Will Failla and ElkY went home empty-handed in fourth and fifth, respectively.
Many of the players already registered for the Big One played in this satellite, including Phil Ivey, Brian Rast, Talal Shakerchi and Jason Mercier.
Here’s a look at the action from the Mega Satellite today, in photo form.
For all the action from the WSOP in Las Vegas click through to our 2012 World Series of Poker Live Coverage section, brought to you by 888poker.com.
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