Justin Bonomo now has $43 million in winnings, putting his 1st on the All-Time Money List.
Justin Bonomo won the $1 Million Big One for One Drop event at the World Series of Poker, which brings the 2018 WSOP to an end. In winning the $10 million prize, Justin Bonomo surpassed Daniel Negreanu as the all-time highest money winner in organized poker tournament history.
The 32-year old Bonomo now sits at $43 million on the All-Time Money List, while Negreanu sits in 2nd place at over $39 million. The resident of Las Vegas’s Panorama Towers began playing Magic: The Gathering competitively, but had won a live poker tournament by the age of 19.
To win the $1 Million Big One for One Drop, Justin Bonomo had to defeat Feder Holz in heads-up play. Feder Holz is considered by many to be the best overall poker player over the past two to three years. Bonomo and Holz have a contentious history, so the heads-up showdown had a bit of additional drama.
Justin Bonomo v. Fedor Holtz
In the final hand, Justin Bonomo limped on the button and Holz went all-in with A-4 off-suit. Bonomo quickly called while holding A-J off-suit, which dominated Holz’s hole cards. The board fell K-8-3-2-Q to give Justin Bonomo the win with ace-high and a better kicker.
The $1 Million Big One for One Drop is a charity event which inhabits a special place at the World Series of Poker each year. Because the buy-in is $1 million, few but the best poker professionals enter the event. Most receive sponsorships into the tournament, though a few millionaire and billionaire amateur players enter on occasion.
$1 Million Big One for One-Drop
This year, 27 players entered for an entry pool of $27 million. That led to a prize pool of $24,840,000, while the remaining $2.16 million went to Guy Laliberte’s favorite charity: the One Drop Foundation. The foundation helps to supply communities around the globe with access to clean water.
The charity event is the brain-child of Guy Laliberte, the Montreal native who founded Cirque du Soleil. Though it is only a few years old, the $1 Million Big One for One Drop has become one of the prestige events at the World Series of Poker. Winning against a small pool of world-class poker players is considered a more impressive feat than winning against 7000+ amateurs, because it is thought to involve more skill than luck.
2018 Big One for One Drop: Top 5 Finishers
Most of the top five finishers represent a who’s who of top poker pros: Justin Bonomo, Fedor Holz ($6mil), Dan Smith ($4mil), Rick Salomon ($2.84mil), and Byron Kaverman ($2mil). The 29-year old Feder Holz has over $32 million in career winnings. The 29-year old Dan Smith has over $25 million in career winnings, while the 31-year Byron Kaverman has won over $14 million playing tournament poker.
The 49-year old Rick Salomon is best known for his relationships with female US celebrities (Shannen Doherty, Pamela Anderson, Paris Hilton) and his finishes in the 2014 and 2018 Big One for One-Drop events.
Justin Bonomo: Best Year Ever?
Justin Bonomo’s victory at the Big One event cemented one of the best years of poker in competitive poker history. After Fedor Holz eliminated Rick Salomon and Byron Kaverman in a 3-way all-in call with a 10 on the river, he had the chip lead and appeared ready to roll to victory.
Instead, Fedor Holtz was himself knocked off by Justin Bonomo.
Fedor Holtz’s All-In Bluff
The pivotal hand was #135, on which Fedor held K-J off-suit. Bonomo held 8-4 suited. When Holz opened with 2.8 million, Bonomo raised to 9.5 million. Holz called and the flop came Q-4-3, giving Bonomo a pair.
Bonomo bet 5 million and was called. The turn revealed another 8, giving Justin Bonomo two pairs. He checked to Holz, who raised 11 million. Instead of check-raising with a dominant hand, Bonomo called the bet, further baiting the trap for Fedor Holz. After a 6 arrived and Bonomo checked, Fedor raised all-in with a bluff. Bonomo instantly called and won a huge pot.
After that pot, most of the hands were inconsequential, due to the difference in chip stacks. Fedor Holtz doubled-up a couple of times, but that mainly kept him in the event. Eventually, Justin Bonomo had the right hand on one of Holtz’s all-in calls.
