Recently updated on July 25th, 2017
The 2017 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event came to a conclusion in the early hours of Sunday morning on the 23rd of July. The main event was won by 25-year old Scott Blumstein, a poker player from New Jersey. What makes the story even more incredible is that this was his first ever WSOP tournament, which he entered just a few weeks earlier.
He managed to make it through his initial games and survived the original field of over 7200 players to make it to the Final Nine. With this win, Blumstein goes home to New Jersey $8.15 million richer, plus he has a WSOP champion’s bracelet, which itself is said to be worth another $500 000.
How Blumstein Became Champion
Blumstein managed to enter into the Final Nine as the chip leader, making him the favorite to win. It took 256 hands to finally defeat all of his opponents, which he did on the morning of Sunday the 23rd of July, not long after midnight. His last opponent that he had to knock out was Dan Ott, a player from Pennsylvania.
This was the first time he had ever come to Las Vegas to play poker live in the WSOP. He entered into the final event with a fairly substantial chip lead. He managed to hold on to his chip lead for the entirety of the main event, except for when British player, John Hesp, managed to take the lead for a brief moment. Hesp would ultimately be knocked down to fourth place, setting up the final three showdown between Blumstein, Ott, and Benjamin Pollack from France.
Blumstein Triumphs Over Final Three
Pollack entered into the final three with a disadvantage in terms of his available chips, so he had nothing to lose. This lead to some aggressive plays that made for interesting poker, but ultimately, Pollack was knocked out around 9pm. This just left Blumstein and Ott, who would battle for another 60 hands or so before the new 2017 World Series of Poker champion was finally crowned.
