Over the past few weeks, a steady stream of notable player names have been announced as confirmed participants in the upcoming $1,000,000 buy-in WPT Big One for One Drop. From the first confirmation of WPT Ambassador Phil Ivey to the latest announcement which named a number of nosebleed pros headlined by Top-5 All-Time Money List entry Jason Koon, the event looks like it’s going to be a who’s who of poker’s elite battling it out for an enormous sums of money.
But press releases and exclusive interviews aren’t the only way to assess what the Big One field might look like. A look at online poker staking sites, like PokerStake, shows a handful of other marquee pros who are hoping to take a seat in one of the biggest tournaments of the year.
According to listings on the site PokerStake, Fedor Holz, Alex Foxen, and former professional football/soccer player turned high-stakes poker pro Mario Mosbock are each looking to sell a little action to their fans before they, presumably, buy into the Big One.
It makes sense that Holz, #1 on Germany’s All-Time Money List and currently 12th overall, would be looking to fire in this year’s One Drop after all of the success he’s had in One Drop branded events in the past. In fact, his top two career scores come in these events resulting in nearly 25% of his more than $40 million in lifetime live earnings.
His first One Drop score came in 2016 when Holz won the $111,111 High Roller for One Drop for what was then a career-high cash of $4,981,775. He eclipsed that in 2018, finishing as the runner-up to Justin Bonomo in the $1 million Big One for One Drop at the 49th Annual WSOP for an even $6 million, which remains as his largest score to date.
Alex Foxen doesn’t have the same One Drop track record as Holz, but the high-stakes crusher as accomplished nearly everything else in the world of nosebleed tournaments. The two-time WPT Champion and WSOP bracelet winner has more than $30 million in career live earnings with four seven-figure scores which includes a victory in the 2022 WSOP $250,000 Super High Roller for more than $4.5 million.
On paper, former professional footballer from Austria Mario Mosbock may look like a retired athlete taking a shot in the Big One. But Mosbock is far more heralded for his accomplishments on the felt than on the pitch. According to Card Player, since his first live cash in 2015, Mosbock has earned more than $4.4 million in tournament earnings with a large chunk of that coming from his runner-up finish in the 2023 Triton Monte Carlo $200K Invitational where he won nearly $2.7 million.
It should be noted that just because these three notable names are selling action, that is more of an indication (rather than a firm confirmation) that they will play. Action sold on most poker staking sites can be refunded should the player not reach a minimum amount sold or if the player decides not to play the event at all. However, one doesn’t often go through the trouble of trying to sell action, especially for a tournament of this magnitude, for an event that they don’t intend to play so speculation that Holz, Foxen, and Mosbock will be in the field is warranted.
On the other hand…there’s Michigan’s Mike Setera.
Among the One Drop action sellers, which also includes Ivey selling 1% at no markup, there’s a listing for Setera. Setera, an 8-time WSOP Michigan Online Circuit ring winner/guy with a dream, has a listing where he’s looking to sell 90% of his action at no markup in order to get in the mix and, as he puts it, hopefully, “escape the sim.”
The question of which players will ultimately put up the $1 million will be answered by December 18 when the WPT Big One for One Drop kicks off in the midst of the WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas festival.