Hand #4: Jack Sinclair raised to 1.6 million on the button and Ben Lamb jammed all in from the big blind. Sinclair quickly made the call and the cards were tabled. Lamb showed and Sinclair was in a dominating position with .
The flop came and Sinclair was still in the lead. The turn brought the giving Lamb some chop outs as well. The river landed the , giving no help to Lamb as he became the first elimination on the final table.
The remaining eight players are guaranteed at least $1,200,000 from here on out.
Hand #25: Action folded all the way around to Scott Blumstein in the small blind, and he thought it over for a bit before giving the short stack Antoine Saout a walk in the big blind.
Hand #26: John Hesp raised to 2 million from the cutoff, and Blumstein reraised to 5.2 million on the button. The blinds ducked out of the way, and Hesp quickly four-bet it to 20 million. Blumstein checked his hole cards a few times before folding, and the two exchanged in a bit of playful banter, with Hesp trying to fist bump Blumstein at the end. Blumstein leaned away, and Hesp jokingly went for a punch. Both players laughed it off as they moved on to the next hand.
Hand #27: Action folded around to Saout on the button, and he moved all in for his final 9.7 million. Jack Sinclair quickly called in the big blind, and the cards were tabled.
Saout:
Sinclair:
Saout would need some help to survive, and he got it right away, as the flop came down , giving him trip tens. Sinclair would need running kings now to win the hand, and the on the turn sealed the double up for the former November Niner. Sinclair caught the on the river to rub some salt in the wound, as Saout doubled to over 20 million.
Hand #30: Damian Salas moved all-in for 11,625,000 on the button and both blinds folded, sending the blinds and antes towards Salas.
Hand #31: Bryan Piccioli raised to 2.2 million on the button and John Hesp called from the big blind. The flop came and Hesp checked the action over to Piccioli who checked behind. The fell on the turn and Hesp led out for 3 million. Piccioli called to see the on the river. Both players checked and Hesp tabled . Piccioli showed and scooped a pot from the chip leader.
Hand #32: Dan Ott raised it up to 2.2 million on the button and both Hesp and Scott Blumstein called from the blinds. The flop was and the action was checked to Ott who bet 3.5 million. Hesp pushed his cards to the muck and Blumstein shoved all-in. Ott quickly called for his remaining 14,525,000 and was the player at risk.
Scott Blumstein:
Dan Ott:
The turn was the , giving Blumstein a flush draw to go with his straight draw. The river brought the and Ott scored a full double up.
Hand #44: John Hesp raised it up to 3 million from middle position, and Benjamin Pollak called on the button. Both the blinds folded, and Hesp and Pollak saw a flop of . Hesp bet 3 million, and Pollak quickly called. The hit the turn, and Hesp bet 3 million again. Pollak again called, and the hit the river. Hesp checked this time, and Pollak didn't take long to bet 10 million. Hesp thought about it for nearly three minutes before calling, and Pollak showed for a rivered straight. Jack Effel announced that Hesp showed ace-ten, and Pollak scooped a big pot.
Hand #45: Hesp raised it up to 2.5 million, and Scott Blumstein called next to act. It folded to Jack Sinclair on the button and he shoved for his final 12,350,000, and it folded back to Hesp, who laid it down. Blumstein was next, and he thought for about a minute before releasing his hand, giving Sinclair the pot.
Hand #46: Action folded around to Bryan Piccioli in the small blind, and he limped in after eyeballing Dan Ott's stack. Ott then raised it up to 2.8 million, and Piccioli released his hand, giving Ott the pot.
Hand #47: Blumstein raised it up to 2.2 million from under the gun, and it folded around to Hesp in the big blind. He called, and they went heads up to a flop of . Both players checked, and the hit the turn. Hesp tapped the felt again, and Blumstein fired 3 million. Hesp check-raised to 7 million, and Blumstein didn't take long to reraise to 17 million. Hesp shot up out of his chair, then moved all in. Blumstein snap called, making it the biggest pot of the tournament.
Blumstein:
Hesp:
Blumstein and his rail went crazy when the cards were flipped, as Hesp was drawing dead with his two pair to the top set of Blumstein. The meaningless river was the , and Blumstein scored a massive double up to 156,050,000, while Hesp tumbled down to 24,225,000.
Hand #64: Jack Sinclair moved all in for 15.6 million from middle position and Damian Salas asked for a count. Eventually, he folded. Bryan Piccioli was in the cutoff and moved all in over top for 18,750,000. Everyone else folded and the cards were on their backs.
Jack Sinclair:
Bryan Piccioli:
The flop came and Sinclair picked up a pair of kings for a chance to improve. The dealer put out the on the turn, and Sinclair needed a king or a jack to stay alive. The river was the and Sinclair was eliminated, sending him home in eighth place for a hefty payout worth $1.2 million.
This is what he had to say after his bust out.
The remaining seven players are guaranteed $1,425,000 from here on out.
At 5:30 p.m. local time, the final table of the 2017 World Series of Poker Main Event got underway. Nine hopefuls started, with a plan for six players to bag and tag, seeing three players exit on the first of three final table days.
Fan favorite John Hesp, who began the day second in chips, made his presence known right out of the gate. In the very first hand of play, Hesp opened the cutoff and called Antoine Saout's three-bet out of the small blind. He then min-raised Saout's continuation bet and showed a bluff as Saout folded. Hesp raised his arms in the air and cheered, his opponents at the table cheered with him, as did the crowd that went wild with such a fierce start from the Englishman.
Three hands later, the crowd would get even louder as the first all-in and call happened. Ben Lamb shoved with ace-nine suited out of the big blind against Jack Sinclair who had opened his button. Sinclair called with ace-queen and the board stayed clear of nines, flushes and straights. Lamb was the first one out, in the fourth hand of play. After a 3rd place finish in 2011 ($4,021,138), Lamb added a 9th place finish in 2017, scoring an even $1,000,000.
The John Hesp show continued after Lamb's departure, with the amicable Brit being the center of attention. Hesp took over the chip lead for a moment, but it was the double-ups for Saout (ten-nine against the king-eight of Sinclair) and Dan Ott (ace-jack to Blumstein's queen-ten on a jack-high board) that got the crowd really going.
As Pollak started to move up in the ranks, the biggest pot of the tournament would be played between the only two players who still topped him. Hesp and Blumstein, the two biggest stacks at the final table, clashed - and they clashed hard. Blumstein opened the hand from under the gun for 2.2 million and Hesp called from the big blind. Both players checked on ace-seven-five rainbow and an off-suit ten hit the turn. Hesp checked again and Blumstein bet 3 million. Hesp check-raised to 7 million and saw Blumstein three-bet to 17 million. Hesp shot up out of his chair, then moved all in. Blumstein snap called, making it the biggest pot of the tournament. Hesp had top two pair with ace-ten suited but was drawing dead against the top set of aces of Blumstein. The meaningless three of clubs hit the river and Hesp lost the 156 million pot, left with just 24 million. Blumstein was still stacking chips when the next hand was over.
While Hesp had lost the chip lead and had doubled his nearest opponent, he was by no means the shortest player after that. He still had more chips than Bryan Piccioli, Saout, and Sinclair, as play continued. After Saout got a shove through and Hesp lost another pot, Sinclair would end up next on the rail. He shoved with king-jack suited right into the aces of Piccioli. The flop brought a king to keep Sinclair hopeful, but the turn and river bricked to see Sinclair exit in 8th place, for a payout worth $1,200,000.
Play continued for 35 more minutes, but no players were eliminated. Just as the clock hit 11 p.m., the tournament organizers called for the bags to come out and play was halted for the day. Instead of the original plan of playing down to six players, the wrapping up began with seven still players remaining. They will return to the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino Friday at 5:30 p.m.
After play was over, we caught up with Bryan Piccioli. He talked about what he did in preparation for the final table, and broke down his thoughts on today's play, including the big knockout of Jack Sinclair with aces.
"Obviously I wanted to do some studying up," Piccioli said. "I didn’t do as much as I had hoped to I guess. I was super focused on making sure all my friends and family were able to get out here and making sure they were settled in. I wasn’t sweating it super hard obviously this is the main event but I mean I’ve played big ones before and this honestly isn’t too different. I’m very comfortable with my position at the table."
He continued, "I had a few close spots where I made some tight folds I’m sure people saw on the stream but with my stack and being kind of short but having other stacks that were shorter than me. So yeah I basically had enough to keep me out of trouble. Then Jack (Sinclair) moved in and obviously when you see a guy all in in front of you you always dream to look down at aces and that happened. The flop was a bit scary could have been scarier but I’ll take it."
Scott Blumstein heads into the second day of the final table as the overwhelming chip leader and was asked what was going through his mind. "A lot of thoughts, and a lot of nothing. It's overwhelming. I didn't expect tonight to go as well as it did. That hand was pretty brutal for John. He had two pair on the driest board and I was lucky enough to have top set. I accumulated around 80 million chips, how I could be upset with that?"
Blumstein had quite the celebration when he got involved in the big pot with Hesp and he explained his reaction. "It was nice knowing he was probably drawing dead. In poker, not very often do you get to celebrate when the chips get in the middle. It was nice playing a big pot with aces, and if I was going to play a big pot with John, it was going to be with top set.
"We didn't even knock out the amount of people we were supposed to. I'm not going to be counting any chickens before they hatch, you can't in this game."
Blumstein was not getting too far ahead of himself looking towards the next couple days and what could be a big pay day for him. "Having a big stack is obviously imperative and I'm just excited I can come back tomorrow and play my game," he said.
Seat
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
%
Trend Since Start
1
John Hesp
United Kingdom
22,475,000
18.7
6%
-63,225,000
2
Scott Blumstein
United States
178,300,000
148.6
49%
+81,050,000
3
Antoine Saout
France
14,550,000
12.1
4%
-7,200,000
4
Benjamin Pollak
France
77,525,000
64.6
22%
+42,350,000
5
Damian Salas
Argentina
15,625,000
13.0
4%
-6,550,000
6
Bryan Piccioli
United States
35,750,000
29.8
10%
+1,950,000
7
Dan Ott
United States
16,350,000
13.6
5%
-10,125,000
Position
Player
Country
Prize
8
Jack Sinclair
United Kingdom
$1,200,000
9
Ben Lamb
United States
$1,000,000
The Biggest Hands of Day 8 of the 2017 World Series of Poker Main Event
Ben Lamb Eliminated in 9th Place ($1,000,000)
Hand #4: Jack Sinclair raised to 1.6 million on the button and Ben Lamb jammed all in from the big blind. Sinclair quickly made the call and the cards were tabled. Lamb showed and Sinclair was in a dominating position with .
The flop came and Sinclair was still in the lead. The turn brought the giving Lamb some chop outs as well. The river landed the , giving no help to Lamb as he became the first elimination on the final table.
The remaining eight players are guaranteed at least $1,200,000 from here on out.
Player
Country
Chip Count
Trend
Jack Sinclair
United Kingdom
37,200,000
+17,000,000
Ben Lamb
United States
Busted
Blumstein Scores Huge Double Through Hesp
Hand #47: Blumstein raised it up to 2.2 million from under the gun, and it folded around to Hesp in the big blind. He called, and they went heads up to a flop of . Both players checked, and the hit the turn. Hesp tapped the felt again, and Blumstein fired 3 million. Hesp check-raised to 7 million, and Blumstein didn't take long to reraise to 17 million. Hesp shot up out of his chair, then moved all in. Blumstein snap called, making it the biggest pot of the tournament.
Blumstein:
Hesp:
Blumstein and his rail went crazy when the cards were flipped, as Hesp was drawing dead with his two pair to the top set of Blumstein. The meaningless river was the , and Blumstein scored a massive double up to 156,050,000, while Hesp tumbled down to 24,225,000.
Player
Country
Chip Count
Trend
Scott Blumstein
United States
156,050,000
+75,625,000
John Hesp
United Kingdom
24,225,000
-75,000,000
Jack Sinclair Eliminated in 8th Place ($1,200,000)
Hand #64: Jack Sinclair moved all in for 15.6 million from middle position and Damian Salas asked for a count. Eventually, he folded. Bryan Piccioli was in the cutoff and moved all in over top for 18,750,000. Everyone else folded and the cards were on their backs.
Jack Sinclair:
Bryan Piccioli:
The flop came and Sinclair picked up a pair of kings for a chance to improve. The dealer put out the on the turn, and Sinclair needed a king or a jack to stay alive. The river was the and Sinclair was eliminated, sending him home in eighth place for a hefty payout worth $1.2 million.
The remaining seven players are guaranteed $1,425,000 from here on out.