The 2017 WSOP Main Event was classy, funny, and packed with quality action from start to end. There were 7,221 entries to join the tournament’s field this year, but it was New Jersey online grinder Scott Blumstein to capture the World Champion gold bracelet and the $8.15 million first-place payout.
The player won the tournament after dominating final-table performance. On Thrusday, he entered the final table as the chip leader and did not lose his advantage even for a second throughout the next three days of play.
The WSOP Main Event’s final day was played on Saturday, with two more players left, besides Blumstein himself, to contend for the title. Blumstein’s fellow countryman Dan Ott and France’s Benjamin Pollak joined the eventual winner at their designated table at the Brasilia poker room to finish off what they started two weeks ago when the tournament kicked off.
Blumstein began the day with a stack of 226,450,000 in chips and a commanding lead over Ott’s 88,375,000 and Pollak’s 45,850,000. Blinds were at 1,000,000/2,000,000, so each of the three finalists had a lot to play with and hopefully improve. Three-handed play was an epic three-hour battle, which ended in an equally epic way. The three survivors found themselves locked in an all-in confrontation, from which only Blumstein had the chance to emerge alive no matter whether he lost or won the pot.
The key hand ended with Pollak hitting the rail in 3rd place for $3.5 million and Ott accumulating a substantial chip stack to enter the heads-up battle with. However, Blumstein was still well ahead and fierce to protect his stack and extend his lead even further. The two remaining players battled it out for over 60 hands, during which Blumstein managed to deploy his strategy to the fullest and to leave little room for Ott to improve.
Ott eventually doubled up through his opponent, only to lose it all on the very next hand. The tournament concluded in the early hours of Sunday with Hand #246 being the last one to be dealt. Blumstein limped in from the button to see Ott raise to 8 million. Blumstein shoved and Ott called after giving it some thought.
Ott tabled [Ad][8d] to clash against Blumstein’s [Ah][2d]. The board ran out [Js][6s][5h] on the flop to affirm Ott’s advantage. The [7h] appeared on the turn to further improve Ott’s odds. However, the [2h] on the river locked the victory for Blumstein. There was nothing else left for Otts but to congratulate his opponent and to head to the payout desk and collect his $4.7-million payout.
Commenting on his runner-up finish, Ott said that chips and cards simply did not go his way in the end, but finishing second in the third-largest WSOP Main Event was still an accomplishment he cherished and could not complain about.
As for the champion, he was beyond happy, particularly given the fact that he won the tournament in such a spectacular manner, hitting the three-outer on the river. Blumstein further dwelt on the life-changing amount he won, by saying that he will try not to change his play and his approach to the game, despite the money he now has in his bankroll.
The player is planning to play more live tournament poker, but he will not pick his preferred events by their buy-in but rather by their location.
