Nothing can ever be taken for granted in poker, so it wouldn’t be right to say that Scott Blumstein has the 2017 World Series of Poker championship all but wrapped up. Still, the New Jersey native put the rest of the competition on the brink of bankruptcy Thursday in just the first day of the final table.
Blumstein bested amateur John Hesp to claim an epic pot worth more than $156 million — one of the largest in WSOP history — to take a commanding lead over the other six remaining competitors. The pot, which amounted to almost 44 percent of the total chips in play, decimated Hesp, who had been the leader with more than $101.5 million in chips prior to the hand.
https://youtu.be/fuav2Kl2Edc?t=38m40s
Blumstein, a rookie at the final table, ended the night with $178.3 million in chips, with the rest of the players fighting for scraps. It was such a dominant performance, tournament organizers cut short the first day with seven players still standing, rather than the planned six, out of fear Blumstein might run off with the bracelet well before the three-day event’s schedule finale Saturday.
The second day of the 2017 WSOP final table commences Friday at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN, which you can watch here.
