Justin Bonomo Takes Down 2018 WSOP Big One for ONE DROP for $10 Million

Justin Bonomo became the brand new Big One for ONE DROP champion mere hours ago after outlasting a field of 27 of the world’s best high roller players. The poker pro thus scooped the $10 million first-place prize which secured him with the top spot in one of the most prestigious rankings in live tournament poker.

Bonomo, who now boasts a poker bankroll of just under $43 million, has dethroned Daniel Negreanu to become the world’s most profitable player. The behemoth Big One for ONE DROP payout came as continuation of Bonomo’s successful streak of poker victories since the beginning of the year.

Over the past seven and a half months, the player managed to win almost every single major high roller tournament on the 2018 calendar, including the Aria Super High Roller Bowl and the Super High Roller Bowl China, and a number of other events, including a WSOP one – the $10,000 Heads-Up Championship – that he topped a few weeks ago.

This year’s Big One for ONE DROP drew 27 entries, as already mentioned. The event was played over three days and the final one took place at the host casino, starting off with 6 contenders for the title.

The money bubble was looming at the start of Day 3 as the prize pool of $24.84 million was only split into five payouts. Investor David Einhorn became the unfortunate bubble boy not long after cards were thrown in the air yesterday. He was eliminated by Bonomo. The latter said in his post-victory interview that he felt a bit guilty that he busted Einhorn as he had promised to donate his whole payout from the tournament to the One Drop Foundation which supplies clean water to the world’s most vulnerable communities. Bonomo himself said that part of his prize would go for charity.

Three-Handed Play and Heads-Up
Bonomo had his ups and downs throughout the day, despite his initial massive advantage. Following the elimination of Byron Kaverman in 5th place ($2 million) and Rick Salomon in 4th place ($2.84 million), three-handed play with Bonomo, Holz, and their fellow high roller Dan Smith still in the run for the title kicked off.

Holz held a massive chip lead over his remaining opponents and even assumed control over two-thirds of all chips in lay at some point. Bonomo, on the other hand, dropped to the short stack with around 20 big blinds left.

However, the eventual champion managed to recover and gain momentum. He eliminated Smith in 3rd place ($4 million) to set the heads-up match between him and Holz. Two-handed play began with the German poker pro holding 84.3 million in chips to Bonomo’s 50.7 million.

Holz extended the gap early into the duel, but Bonomo managed to recover. The player began building his stack to eventually surpass Holz. A key hand helped Bonomo emerge as the chip leader and to bust his final opponent not long after. That key hand saw the eventual champ pick off Holz’s bluff and collect a massive pot. Bonomo’s stack was worth 110.4 million after that hand, while Holz was down to just 24.6 million. The young German never recovered from that point on.

Hand #156 of the final table was the last one dealt within the tournament. It saw Bonomo limp in on the button and Holz shove for 23.6 million. Bonomo snap-called with [As][Jd] to Holz’s [Ac][4s]. The board ran out [Kd][8s][3s][2c][Qd] to send Holz to the rail. The German poker star earned $6 million for his incredible run in the tournament.

In Justin Bonomo Takes Down 2018 WSOP Big One for ONE DROP for Million