Back in July 2017, the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino watched on as a 25-year-old from New Jersey won in the World Series of Poker 2017. Before this day, very few poker fans had heard the name Scott Blumstein, but yet he seized victory, taking home the coveted gold and diamond bracelet and over $8,150,000 in prize money. Today we’re looking at the young player and his journey towards becoming World Champion.
While many players choose to hit Las Vegas on Day One of the WSOP, Blumstein decided on another approach– focusing all his efforts on winning the Main Event. He sacrificed the first 72 events of the competition and instead stayed home, practicing his skills by playing
WSOP online NJ. When his summer of playing online poker was over, Scott packed his bags, told his mates he was ‘just going to win’ the tournament and, well…he was 100% correct.
Blumstein was to take on fellow youngster, Dan Ott in the final. This was 26-year-old Ott’s first summer at the World Series of Poker and his very first Main Event. On the final day, Blumstein began heads-up play with an almost two-to-one lead over the Pennsylvania player. He gradually grinded Ott down by applying consistent pressure, winning the majority of small pots. Despite these consistent victories, Ott refused to be broken and managed to double up once with king-nine against Blumstein’s sixes to stay in the game. Moments later, Blumstein was dealt a lucky river card – when Ott raised to 8 million, Blumstein moved all in. Ott called after about a minute and Blumstein collapsed to the floor – he had done exactly what he set out to – won the Main Event at the World Series of Poker.
Immediately after the life-changing victory, Blumstein stated: “I’m still in shock. I thought I would get even more emotional than what I got in real time but it’s just the best feeling. I can’t even put into words.”
Runner-up Ott walked away with a cool $4.7 million for his trouble. About the final, he commented: “At the end the chips didn’t go my way. The cards didn’t go my way. But I got second place in the third largest Main Event ever. I can’t complain about that.”
So, what’s Blumstein going to do now that he’s World Champion? He told the WSOP, “I’m going to play a little bit of poker and keep trying to find success in poker. I’m going to hope to do a little investing and make some smart decisions with my money, because at the end of the day, that’s the goal. And just interact with poker fans. It’s going to be cool for a year, having the role of Main Event champ, and I’m looking forward to having 12 months of fun.”