Blumstein, Ott and Pollak Face Off for WSOP Main Event Title

Scott Blumstein, Dan Ott or Benjamin Pollak, one of these three names will be etched into poker history on Saturday night, as they are the final three players in the 2017 World Series of Poker Main Event. The chip counts heading into the final table of play look as following:

The penultimate day of WSOP action in Las Vegas started with seven players, all of which were guaranteed to take home at least $1,425,000. Scott Blumstein started the day with a huge chip lead, but all eyes were on the three short stacks that were battling for the ever-increasing payout levels. 

Damian Salas – 7th place – $1,425,000

Argentina’s Damian Salas couldn’t get anything going, and after slowly sliding down to less than 10 big blinds, he ultimately found himself all in versus Dan Ott. Salas was ahead after flopping a pair of aces, but Ott made a straight on the river to send the first ever Argentinian Main Event finalist to the rail. 

“I can’t even begin to understand the magnitude of how much support I had. I was mostly trying to be focussed, but I am happy and aware of all the support of very thankful,” Salas said after getting knocked out.

Bryan Piccioli – 6th – $1,600,000

The player with the biggest rail at the 2017 Main Event final table was without a doubt Bryan Piccioli. Collecting $1,675,000 for finishing in sixth place, Piccioli lost a few mid-size pots to Ott before shoving all in with ace-seven, only to get called by Ott with kings. 

After the board brought no help, Piccioli said: “I’ve always dreamed of making it here. When I started playing poker it was my dream to make the Main Event final table. I always knew that if I made it I would have an incredible support group with me, and they lived up to expectations and beyond. They’ve been amazing.”

Antoine Saout – 5th – $2,000,000

Former November Niner Antoine Saout had his second chance to win the Main Event this week, but after lots of all-ins, swings, double ups and the ultimately elimination he found himself on the rail in fifth place for $2,000,000. Saout was knocked out by Blumstein in a tough hand, that he analyzed shortly after leaving the table. 

“The Main Event is just once a year, and it’s very difficult to win, but I was very close again,” Saout said, as his friend Benjamin Pollak is still in contention to become the first ever French Main Event winner. 

John Hesp – 4th – $2,600,000

The most colorful character of the 2017 Main Event, John Hesp, held on for a long time, but in the end, he did not manage to recover from the massive pot he lost to Blumstein 24 hours prior.

Aside from one double up with pocket aces, Hesp was one of the short stacks for most of the day. With less than 10 big blinds he picked nine-seven of clubs to move all in with. Pollak called holding with ace-jack, and that spelled the end of the 64-year old semi-retired self-proclaimed ‘poker amateur’.

In his exit interview, Hesp said: “Before I came here, I wasn’t a multi-millionaire in any way shape or form, but you don’t have to have lots of money to be rich in life. I was rich in life before I came here, and I’m even richer now without the money.”

The final table results so far are as follows.

The final three players return to play down to a winner on Saturday night at 6:00 pm PST/9:00pm ET/3:00am CET on ESPN, and PokerGO in non-ESPN affiliated regions. For the full broadcast schedule and programming, click here.