Long-time poker fans will remember the World Poker Tour Alpha8 events. The high-roller series ran from 2013-2015, and some of the biggest names in poker showed up for the big prize pools.
Winners of the series back then included Fedor Holz, Dan Coleman, Jason Mercier, Dan Cates, and more; a veritable who's who of the high-stakes poker scene. Earlier this week, our own Blaise Bourgeois took us back in time to look at every champion from years past for this series.
Now, the Alpha8 returns today to The Wynn casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. While the EveryOne for OneDrop final table concludes today, the $111,000 WPT Alpha8 for OneDrop makes its triumphant return at 1 pm local time. We can't wait to see the list of big names that turn out for this one.
The OneDrop Foundation
It's a big week in Las Vegas. Between the World Poker Tour EveryOne for OneDrop final table, this Alpha8 event, and the World Series of Poker Main Event wrapping up, several poker players will be earning massive paydays.
The WPT focuses on one guaranteed winner this week: The One Drop Foundation. Back when the new partnership was announced, we spoke with their Chief Marketing and Events Officer Alexandre Meunier. Now, the partnership is in full force with events in play this week.
For the Alpha8, $7,000 from each $111,000 buy-in will go directly to the OneDrop Foundation. Back when we interview Meunier, he shared the following regarding OneDrop's mission: "One Drop’s objective is to provide access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene; because these three things go together. We have an approach that we call ‘A. B. C. for sustainability.’ ‘A’ stands for ‘access’ because you need to have access to water. Then ‘behavior,’ because sometimes behaviors need to be changed so the access to water can be sustainable over time. Finally, the “C” stands for “capital,” because there are entrepreneurs everywhere we go who can multiply our efforts and carry on our work after we are gone."
Today, more poker players come together to support a worthy cause, but also for what's sure to be a massive prize pool. Everyone wins.
The structure and details
Play will start today at 1 pm at The Wynn Las Vegas. The $111,000 buy-in will get you 250,000 chips to start the day. Of that buy-in $102,500 goes to the prize pool, so just over 7% total rake with the majority of it going to charity.
Day 1 will feature ten 60-minute levels. Day 2 on Saturday will play down to 6 players. Finally, Sunday will play to a winner. Days 2 and 3 will be live-streamed for all the poker world to enjoy.
The event will be a comfortable eight-handed one with the action clock in play from the start of the event. One re-entry is allowed, and registration is open until the start of Level 11, which is the start of Day 2. Those who choose to buy-in on at the start of Day 2 will receive 25 big blinds.
The top 12.5% of the field will make the money. We'll be on-site for all three days of coverage. Follow along with us on our Instant feed for all the happening here in Las Vegas and beyond.
All photos courtesy of WPT
