Event #55: The Big One for One Drop - $1,000,000 No-Limit Hold'em

Known to many as "The Magician," Antonio Esfandiari saved his most stunning trick for Tuesday, July 3, 2012 when he came into the final table of the $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop with the chip lead and walked out the winner, and a massive $18,346,673 payday.

When the final table began, Esfandiari was the man leading the way, trailed closely by Sam Trickett. Throughout the entirety of the final table, those two jockeyed for the top spot while everyone else was playing catch up.

On the 23rd hand of the final table, the first elimination occurred and it was Richard Yong hitting the rail. He was all in preflop with the    versus Brain Rast's   . Yong was able to hold up on the first four community cards, but the fifth one was a king and gave Rast the winning hand.

Just under 20 hands later, Bobby Baldwin dropped out in seventh place on the 41st hand of the final table. With the blinds in Level 20 at 250,000/500,000/50,000, Baldwin was all in with the    versus Guy Laliberté's   . A flop, turn and river ran out       to leave Baldwin second best.

Next to go was Rast in sixth place, earnings just over $1.6 million for his finish after he was eliminated by Trickett in an exhilarating hand during Level 21 with the blinds at 300,000/600,000/75,000.

Rast had the button and Sam Trickett opened to 1.2 million from under the gun. Rast called and Esfandiari called from the big blind. The flop fell     and Esfandiari checked. Trickett fired 1.8 million and Rast called. Esfandiari folded and the turn brought the  . Trickett tanked, then led out for 3.8 million. Rast called.

The   completed the board on the river and Trickett tanked before moving all in for 8.275 million, effectively. Rast snapped it off, tabling    for a flopped flush, but Trickett turned over    for quad threes and won the pot.

Laliberté fell in fifth place on the 60th hand of the day when his    couldn't out-race the    for Esfandiari in a massive clash for over 50 million in chips. As Laliberté left the tournament stage, he was sent off by chants of "Guy! Guy! Guy! Guy! Guy!" and given a standing ovation for all of his time and effort put into the One Drop project and this event.

Just moments after that, Phil Hellmuth was eliminated in fourth place, falling short of his 13th gold bracelet. He was eliminated on the 62nd hand of the final table during Level 22 with the blinds at 400,000/800,000/100,000.

Hellmuth's    was up against Trickett's   . An exciting flop of     gave Hellmuth the lead, but he still wasn't anywhere near the safe zone just yet. The   on the turn made things even more of a sweat for Hellmuth and, in the end, he just couldn't hold up when the   fell to give Trickett a winning straight. For his finish, Hellmuth pocketed over $2.6 million and earned largest score of his poker career.

With the tournament down to three players, David Einhorn was the shortest stack of the bunch. Einhorn was the man who had pledged all of his earnings from this event to City Year, an education-focused nonprofit organization, and he'll be sending a check of $4.352 million their way.

Einhorn's    went down to Esfandiari's    as the board ran out       and the battle was set between Esfandiari and Trickett.

Esfandiari had a 2.5-1 chip lead going into heads-up play and it only lasted 16 hands. At first, Trickett started to chip back up, but Esfandiari made trip nines on the 81st hand of play to knock him right back down. Then, all of the money went in just a few hands later on the 85th hand of the final table.

Esfandiari had the button and raised to 1.8 million. Trickett called and the flop came down    .

On the flop, Trickett checked and Esfandiari bet an unknown amount. Trickett came back with a check-raise to 5.4 million and then Esfandiari fired with a reraise to 10 million. After a minute or two, Trickett reraised to 15 million. Esfandiari raised all in and Trickett made the call.

Trickett turned over the    for a flush draw and Esfandiari held trip fives with the   . Trickett was the player at risk with his 36 million on the line.

The turn was the   and Esfandiari stayed in front. There was a long pause as everyone silently awaited the river card, no one more so that Trickett and Esfandiari as they stood in the middle of the stage awaiting fifth street. This river card would either swing the match in Trickett's favor or be the one that ended the tournament.

The dealer burned and turned what ended up being the most expensive card in poker history, the  . And with that, Esfandiari became the richest man in the history of poker.

Final Table Payouts

Esfandiari hugging all of the cash

PokerNews would like to congratulate all of the winners and especially Esfandiari on his amazing achievement. The WSOP and the One Drop organization put on an absolutely spectacular event that won't be matched anytime in the near future. With his win, Esfandiari earned his second WSOP gold bracelet, over $18.3 million in prize money and has become the number one player on poker's all-time money list. Surely, Esfandiari will be riding on cloud nine for quite some time.

Don't forget to check out all of our exclusive coverage from the 2012 WSOP and until next time, goodnight from Las Vegas!

Hand #70: Sam Trickett had the button on the first hand of heads-up play. He called and then Antonio Esfandiari checked his option in the big blind.

The flop came down     and both players checked to see the   fall on the turn. Esfandiari checked and Trickett bet two million. Esfandiari called.

The river was the   and Esfandiari fired 4.2 million. Trickett studied and then raised to 14.2 million. Esfandiari snapped.

Both players showed    and chopped up the pot.

Hand #69: Antonio Esfandiari had the button, and raised to 1.6 million. Sam Trickett folded from the big blind, and David Einhorn moved all in for 15.025 million from the big. Esfandiari called, tabling   , which dominated Einhorn's   .

The flop fell    , and it tricked some spectators because they saw the   first. The   kept Esfandiari in the lead, however. The   on the turn was a brick, and so too was the   on the river, eliminating Einhorn in third place.

Einhorn received a rousing round of applause from his rail, which is well-deserved - he plans to donate the entire $4,352,000 he's earned to City Year, an education-focused nonprofit organization.

Hand #63: Sam Trickett had the button. He raised to 1.6 million and Antonio Esfandfiari reraised to 4.4 million from the big blind and won the pot.

Hand #64: David Einhorn had the button and raised 1.6 million. Everyone folded and Einhorn won the pot.

Hand #65: Antonio Esfandiari raised to 1.6 million after starting this hand with the button and David Einhorn reraised all in from the big blind for 13.625 million and won the pot.

Hand #66: Sam Trickett had the button and folded. David Einhorn moved all in from the small blind and won the pot.

Hand #67: David Einhorn started this hand with the button. He raised to 1.6 million. Antonio Esfandiari reraised to five million from the small blind. Einhorn folded and Esfandiari won the pot.

Hand #68: David Einhorn had the button for the second hand in a row (button did not move) and folded. Antonio Esfandiari raised from the small blind and won the pot.

Hand #61: Phil Hellmuth had the button, and the action folded to him. He folded as well, and Antonio Esfandiari raised. Sam Trickett released, and Esfandiari took down the pot.

Hand #62: Antonio Esfandiari had the button, and Phil Hellmuth was first to act. He opened to 2.8 million, Esfandiari released, and Sam Trickett three-bet jammed for 33.575 million. David Einhorn folded from the big blind, and Hellmuth quickly called all in for 8.025 million.

Hellmuth tabled   , and he was trailing Trickett's   .

There was a pause for effect, then the dealer rapped the table, burned a card, and spread    . The entire mothership erupted. The flop gave Hellmuth aces and tens, but Trickett had ace-high flush draw, and any queen would give him a better two pair.

The crowd hushed as the dealer burned a second card, and delivered the   on the turn. The crowd erupted once more. Now, Trickett could make the best hand with any heart, any king, any jack, or any queen.

The mothership went silent as the dealer rapped the table one final time. He burned a card, then spiked the   on the river. A chorus of cheers and "ooohhhs" filled the air as Trickett stood to shake Hellmuth's hand. A fourth-place finish has to be bittersweet for the twelve-time WSOP bracelet winner, but this is the biggest score of his career, and a top-notch accomplishment.

Hand #59: On the first hand of the next level, David Einhorn had the button. Actin folded to him and he raised to 1.6 million. Phil Hellmuth made the call from the big blind and the flop came down    . Hellmuth checked, Einhorn bet two million and Hellmuth folded.

Hand #60: Guy Laliberté had the button. Sam Trickett raised to 1.6 million from under the gun and Laliberté three-bet to five million. Antonio Esfandiari reraised from the big blind to 12.3 million and Trickett folded. Laliberté moved all in for over 25 million quickly and Esfandiari called to put a pot over 50 million up for grabs.

Laliberté:   
Esfandiari:   

The flop came down     and Laliberté stayed in front with his queens. The two stood hugging in the middle of the stage and looked to be having a blast, despite flipping for tons and tons of chips.

The turn card was the   and Laliberté fell behind as Esfandiari smashed a king to make a higher pair. The river was delivered with the   and that was it. Esfandiari had won the pot and eliminated Laliberté in fifth place.

Laliberté was sent off with a standing ovation from everyone in the rooms. Hundreds clapped and cheered before chants of, "Guy! Guy! Guy! Guy! Guy!" rang through the Amazon Room. He received hugs from all the players and gave them back, before exiting the same way he came in, through the back tunnel of the ESPN Main Stage.