World Series of Poker Asia Pacific
The World Series of Poker Asia Pacific (WSOP APAC) is the third expansion of the World Series of Poker-branded poker tournaments outside the United States. Since 1970 participants have had to travel to Las Vegas, Nevada to compete in the World Series of Poker (WSOP). Although the WSOP started holding circuit events in 2005 in other states, the main tournaments, which awarded bracelets to the winners, were exclusively held in Las Vegas. In 2007 the inaugural World Series of Poker Europe marked the first time that a WSOP bracelet was awarded outside Las Vegas. The WSOP further expanded to Africa in 2010 and 2012 however these events did not award any bracelets.
World Series of Poker
On June 2, 2011, the World Series of Poker and Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté announced plans for an officially sanctioned special fundraising event, known as The Big One for One Drop, starting on July 1, 2012 with a record US$1 million entry fee. 11% of the money (more precisely, $111,111 from each buy-in) went to Laliberté's charity, the One Drop Foundation, and the WSOP waived its normal 10% rake of the entry fees. At the time of the original announcement, 15 of the maximum 48 seats had been taken. By early December 2011, the field size had increased to 22, the minimum required for an official bracelet tournament. Among those who committed early to the event were Johnny Chan, Daniel Negreanu, Jonathan Duhamel, Tom Dwan, Laliberté, billionaire businessman Phil Ruffin and Erik Seidel. On April 12, 2012, the WSOP announced that 30 players had committed to the tournament, which brought the first prize to $12.3 million, exceeding the record amount won by Jamie Gold. In the end, all 48 seats were filled, resulting in a first prize of $18.3 million. Poker professional Antonio Esfandiari won the event, also receiving a special platinum WSOP bracelet.