There were a number of highlights (as well as a few lowlights) in the poker world this past year, but let’s face it, events like Greg Merson’s WSOP win, the emergence of poker in Asia, the hacking and subsequent lengthy hiatus for the 2+2 poker forum, or Greg Raymer’s four HPT titles aren’t going down in the poker history books. That being said, there were a handful of occurrences in 2012 that may find themselves written into the next history of the game, and in this series I’ll detail each of the poker moments that shaped poker in 2012.

Here is a look at the five stories that shaped poker during 2012, and will have some type of lasting effect on poker:

* Story #1: The Epic Poker League

* Story #2: The Relaunch of Full Tilt Poker

* Story #3: Phil Hellmuth’s 2013 tournament successes

* Story #4: PokerStars settles with the DOJ and purchases Full Tilt Poker

* Story #5: The Big One for One Drop

I have listed the events by how many lines I would give them if I were writing a comprehensive history of the game, and we have now reached the most important moment of 2012, which is also the moment that I feel will leave the greatest footprint on the game in the long-run, The Big One for One Drop tournament.

The Big One for One Drop

The final installment of this series is in my mind the biggest story of 2012 (or what will prove to be the biggest story of 2012 in the long-run) and that was the extraordinary tournament organized by the WSOP and Cirque de Soleil founder Guy Laliberte, the Big One for One Drop.

One Drop not only managed to reach the 48 player-cap that was set by Laliberte, the tournament utterly crushed the record for the biggest first-place prize in poker, awarding over $18 million to the eventual winner Antonio Esfandiari.

Beyond the size and scope of the event, the Big One for One Drop tournament produced some incredible moments, ranging from folded quads to Guy Laliberte challenging for the title. The final four players, Antonio, UK superstar Sam Trickett, Guy Laliberte, and Phil Hellmuth were among the most popular entrants, and they put on a terrific show despite so much money being on the line.

The win propelled Antonio into a new level of poker stardom, and the tournament was so successful that it will be making a return appearance at the 2014 WSOP – the 2013 WSOP will feature a Little One for One Drop tournament, a $1,111 rebuy event.

In the end I expect the One Drop tournament to be a major game-changer in poker, combining top poker talent, the WSOP, some of the richest and best-known businessmen in the world, and all the drama and excitement that winning $18 million produces.

I’ve written extensively over the past six months or so about the One Drop tournament, and some of those articles I have listed below for further reading:

https://pokernewsboy.com/wsop-news/how-historic-will-the-big-one-for-one-drop-tournament-be/12609

https://pokernewsboy.com/wsop-news/antonio-esfandiari-big-one-for-one-drop-champion/12645

https://pokernewsboy.com/wsop-news/2012-wsop-takeaways-one-drop-saves-the-day/12809

OTHER ENTRIES:

#1 – Epic Fail

#2 — FTP Relaunch

#3 — Hellmuth

#4 — Stars vs DOJ

#5 – One Drop

Tags: Antonio Esfandiari, Cirque De, Cirque De Soleil, Cirque Soleil, doj, Final Four, Founder Guy, Full tilt Poker, Greg Raymer, Guy Laliberte, History Books, Hpt, Lengthy Hiatus, Lowlights, Merson, Occurrences, phil hellmuth, Poker Forum, Poker Story, Poker World, PokerStars, Quads

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 6th, 2013 at 9:36 am and is filed under Poker News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.