Men Lie, Women Lie, Numbers Don't

Facts and figures. They make the world go around and, more often than not, tell a story without letting opinions or biases get in the way. Which numbers from the past week tell that story and what quick opinions do we have?

$323,551,806 – The biggest story line in poker over the last week was poker’s biggest event. Registration for the 2017 Super High Roller Bowl opened and 54 players put down a deposit for this summer’s $300,000 buy-in event. The only problem, there were only 35 open seats, meaning a live lottery had to be run to decide who was in and who was out. In the end, a stacked field was chosen, one that we broke down this weekend and has just over $323 million in career tournament earnings.

15 – While the majority of the field is already determined, the remaining 15 seats in the Super High Roller Bowl are still being finalized. Those seats are reserved for by ARIA and will be filled by a mixture of big name players, non-professionals and a celebrity. When that list is finalized, Poker Central will be the first to publicize it but until then, we are all left wondering who will round out the 2017 SHRB field.

695 – The biggest events, prize pool wise, were held at ARIA this weekend but one of the most popular series in the country also threw down in Las Vegas. The first ever MSPT Poker Bowl played out at the Venetian and when it was all said and done, Jordan Young had outlasted a field of 695 players to claim $117,000 score. Ankush Mandavia, who is going to be one of seven SHRB rookies this summer, took home a smaller six-figure score for 2^nd.

111,300,000 – What did you do yesterday if you didn’t watch the Super Bowl? I wouldn’t know, as I was glued to my television for the majority of Sunday watching potentially the greatest Super Bowl in NFL history. Over 111 million others did as well and those early season NFL ratings hot takes cooled off pretty quickly.

+475 – It’s never too early to look ahead! The NFL season ended yesterday but we already have our first look at who the favorites are to make it to Super Bowl LII. The Patriots opened with +475 odds and the Cowboys are at +900, as the favorite to come out of the NFC. Some other interesting odds, also known as the teams that the Poker Central office roots for every year, Falcons +1200, Giants +2500, Bills and Redskins +6600. The Cleveland Browns bring up the rear with +15,000, meaning a $100 bet on the Browns will win you $15,000. If you plan on making that bet, let me know and I’ll talk you out of it for $50.