The effort to give people around the world access to safe drinking water has taken a step forward, as the World Poker Tour announced a partnership with the One Drop Foundation.
“WPT has always committed to giving back to those in need both locally and globally,” said WPT CEO Adam Pliska in a press release. “Through the World Poker Tour Foundation™, we have utilized our position in the poker community to raise millions of dollars in funding for non-profit organizations, and we are eager to continue this charitable thread by teaming up with the incredible One Drop Foundation.”
One Drop has long been connected to poker. It was created by the founder of Cirque du Soleil, Guy Laliberte, who used to be an avid high-stakes poker player. Laliberte was well-known in both live and online cash game circles and appeared on both Poker After Dark and High Stakes Poker. According to The Hendon Mob’s database, he has over $2.5 million in live tournament earnings.
In 2011, Laliberte forged a partnership between the One Drop Foundation and the World Series of Poker. The next year, the unheard of $1 million buy-in Big One for One Drop event debuted at the WSOP. Caesars took no rake from the tournament and $111,111 of each buy-in went directly to the One Drop charity. Antonio Esfandiari won that year’s event and over $18.3 million, the largest top prize in live tournament history at the time, now number two on the list after Bryn Kenney’s $20.6 million win in the 2019 Triton Million for Charity.
Since then, there have been two more Big One for One Drop tournaments plus a slew of other One Drop WSOP events with buy-ins ranging from $1,111 to $111,111.
And now One Drop is teaming up with the WPT, the other household name in poker (apologies to EPT and PokerGO, among others).
“The One Drop Foundation has raised more than $25 million through poker events over the past decade,” said Alexandre Meunier, One Drop Foundation’s chief marketing and events officer. “We now look forward to the next milestone in our mission to improve access to safe water and living conditions for millions across the globe. We are confident the World Poker Tour is the ideal partner to help us achieve that goal, hand in hand with the global poker community.”
One Drop’s mission is to “ensure sustainable access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene for communities all around the world through innovative partnerships, creativity and the power of art.” Through this, not only will people be healthier, but they can be empowered to continue to develop their communities to improve the lives of others.
