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?

52 – It was fitting that the highest scoring game in NBA All-Star Game history saw an over 50-year-old scoring record fall. It was even more fitting that Anthony Davis did it on his home court in New Orleans. Davis scored 52 points on Sunday night, besting Wilt Chamberlain’s 42-point output in 1962. Sure, there wasn’t much defense and most of Davis’ points came from wide-open dunks but at least there was video of his record breaking performance. The same can’t be said about when Chamberlain scored 100 points against the New York Knicks. Conspiracy theories!

HK$3,641,600 – While the big event in Manilla is going to play to a winner today, Daniel Colman opened the series with a victory in the HK$250,000 Six Max event. 43 entries built up a sizable prize pool and when it was all said and done, Colman edged Erik Seidel for the title and a HK$3,641,600 ($469,196) score. It was a stacked podium, as 2016 Super High Roller Bowl champion Rainer Kempe finished 3^rd.

8^th – That “big event” in Manilla is the Triton Super High Roller Series HK$1,000,000 Main Event. There are some big names still alive, as six players will return Monday to play to a winner but the biggest name in poker, Phil Ivey, bowed out in 8^th place. Unfortunately for Ivey, that was two spots short of the money but after a hiatus away from tournament poker, seeing Ivey involved in these big buy-in events is enough to get poker fans excited again.  

1,498 – If it feels like the World Series of Poker Circuit is trying to one up themselves every week, it’s because they probably are. Last week, their first ever trip to Wisconsin drew an opening event field of just under 1,300 players and they nearly hit 1,500 during this week’s Las Vegas series opening event. The $365 buy-in event built up a nearly $450,000 prize pool and 2016 bracelet winner Ryan Laplante is near the top of the leaderboard with 98 players remaining.

56 – The biggest news out of the poker world involved the expansion of the year’s biggest event. Due to the overwhelming interest in the 2017 Super High Roller Bowl, ARIA announced earlier this week that they were expanding the field to 56 players. That will bump the prize pool to $16,800,000 and give some of the world’s biggest names and personalities a chance to compete.