Phil Hellmuth Will Emcee The Big Deal For One Drop Charity

Big Deal for One Drop will take place at Resorts World Las Vegas this week in the middle of Formula 1 race week and will feature some of the biggest names in poker and entertainment.

Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte is set to headline the $10,000 buy-in charity event alongside racing legends David Coulthard, Martin Brundle, Otmar Szafnaeur and Alex Wurz and F1 photographer Kim Illman and F1 artist Paul Oz.

Poker players in attendance will include inaugural champion Antonio Esfandiari, as well as Maria Ho and Jeff Gross. Meanwhile, 17-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth will emcee the event.

The event gets underway at noon local time, leaving plenty of time for the night’s race and for the event’s after-party at Zouk nightclub with performances from Kaskade and Deadmau5.

The charity event will raise money for the One Drop Foundation, which helps communities solve the water and climate crisis. According to WPT, the WPT Foundation and One Drop Foundation have raised more than $75 million combined since 2012.

The World Poker Tour (WPT) announced today that the charity event will award a “Crown Jewel” Monaco Grand Prize package for the May 2025 race that includes two VIP passes to the qualifying rounds, two VIP passes for race day and two private invitations for a VIP reception at the Palace of Monaco.

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Other prizes being offered in the Big Deal for One Drop include:

• Singapore Grand Prix VIP experience for two, including private suite and hospitality tickets for this prestigious race, including hotel stay in Singapore in October 2025.
• Montreal Grand Prix VIP experience for two in Guy Laliberté’s home city courtesy of event promoters Grand Prix du Canada. The package includes platinum tickets and VIP hospitality and two passes for the renowned Ritz Carlton Grand Prix party in June 2025. This prize is kindly donated by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation.
• Sustainable future of racing experience for four with VIP hospitality as guests and courtesy of the Mahindra Formula E team at the AAB FIA Formula E World Championship in 2025.
• Michael Schumacher, helmeted portrait. Stunning limited edition, hand-embellished 41-inch canvas from official F1 painter and sculptor Paul Oz.
• Steve Aoki money-can’t-buy DJ booth experience for four, including a meet-and-greet with Steve. Live the energy of the show from the DJ booth and enjoy bottle service and hospitality from the best seats in the house courtesy of Steve.
• Ultra-limited-edition Dos Caras hand-numbered Gran Embajador Tequila for refined tastes, valued at $10,000+ per bottle courtesy of Dos Caras.

Esfandiari has largely stepped away from poker but made some appearances on the felt this month, including in the second season of the PokerStars Big Game on Tour at Resorts World.

“The Magician” also played in this week’s Global Poker Table Talk event inside PokerGO Studio against F1 racers Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc and Olympic legend Michael Phelps, which is expected to air this weekend.

Connor Richards is an Editor & Live Reporter for PokerNews and host of the Life Outside Poker podcast. Connor has been nominated for two Global Poker Awards for his writing.