A New Jersey man with a degree in accounting is this year's World Series of Poker champion.
Scott
Blumstein won the series' marquee no-limit Texas Hold 'em main event
early Sunday in Las Vegas surrounded by dozens of supporters including
relatives and college friends. He is now more than $8.1 million richer
after eliminating Pennsylvania's Daniel Ott on the 246th hand of the
final table, more than 60 hands with just the two of them with bricks of
bills and a gold bracelet separating them.
"I'm really happy
about how I played tonight," said Blumstein, who's 25. "... This is just
one poker tournament. It takes variance and luck and playing your best,
and all those things came together, and I'm happy to be the winner."
Blumstein's
final hand of an ace of hearts and a two of diamonds ended up being
stronger than that of Ott, who went all in with an ace of diamonds and
an eight of diamonds. The community cards were a jack of spades, a six
of spades, a five of hearts, a seven of hearts and a two of hearts. It
was the last card that prompted Blumstein's supporters to erupt.
"I'm
really happy with the result, really happy with the deuce because I was
playing good, but I'm pretty tired of poker at this point honestly, and
to have to go back and battle pretty deep again, I wasn't looking
forward to it," said Blumstein, who fell to his knees near his
supporters after the two of hearts was revealed.
Blumstein, Ott
and seven other players reached the final table after having bested more
than 7,200 participants. Unlike the past several years, the final nine
players didn't have to wait until November to take their spots at the
final table. Each of them was guaranteed at least $1 million.
The
famed tournament marked the end of this year's series, in which dozens
of tournaments drew 120,995 entrants from around the world, shattering
attendance records. The men who made the final table represented the
United States, Argentina, France and Britain. Earlier, on Saturday
night, Frenchman Benjamin Pollak was eliminated in third place.
Ott,
of Altoona, Pennsylvania, earned $4.7 million. Neither he nor
Blumstein, of Brigantine, New Jersey, had previously played at the main
event. Both had dozens of supporters who cheered and gasped - depending
on the hand - throughout the night. Some in Team Blumstein sported
T-shirts that wondered "Is this real" and others that declared "I don't
like folding."
Ott said overall he was satisfied with how he performed and the result.
"At
the end the chips didn't go my way," Ott told PokerNews.com after the
event. "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."
Blumstein, a
graduate of Temple University, is a regular on New Jersey online poker
sites but had never cashed in the World Series of Poker. His total live
winnings stood at more than $300,000 before Sunday. Besides his
multimillion-dollar payout, he also took home a bracelet made from white
and yellow gold, diamonds and rubies.
The millions of dollars
Blumstein earned probably won't go toward buy-ins at high-roller poker
tournaments, though. Blumstein said money is not what motivates him to
play, but his payout will allow him to do "whatever" he wants to do
whether that is play more poker, go into business or return to school.
The
champion's home state is one of three states where online poker is
legal. After the tournament ended, he credited his many hours on the
online felt for helping him win the main event.
"The best way to
get better at anything is through repetition and practice," he said.
"When you play online in New Jersey, it's hard for any live pro to see
even close to the amount of hands I've probably seen in the last two
years."
Credit: Associated Press
