2017 WSOP Main Event Most Entertaining in Years
July 25, 2017 2:47 pmThe 2017 WSOP Main Event attracted the third largest field in the tournament’s history, with the 7,221 players who took part this year just 98 players off the 2010 total of 7,319 players, and 1,552 players short of the all-time record set in 2010 of 8,773 entrants.
Furthermore, this year’s Main Event was one of the most entertaining in recent years, not least because of the decision to do away with the November Nine format in which those players who reached the final table would go on an almost three-month break while they brushed up on the playing styles and techniques of their opponents.
Unfortunately, by the time the final table did resume, the players had their game plans so worked out that nothing extraordinary tended to happen, making for rather dull action. This year, however, the players resumed their final table action following a just two-day break, and as Craig McCorkell noted in a tweet:
“You stop them getting 3 months coaching and this is what we get. Great entertainment. We’ll never have a November nine again #WSOPMainEvent”
In other words, the players were forced to rely as much on their abilities as professional gamblers as professional poker players in order to gain an advantage over their competitors at the table. One of the finalists who highlighted this point poignantly was John Hesp, a 64 year-old Englishman whose enthusiasm for the game was contagious. As the amateur player stated after finishing in 4th place for a $2.6 million payday:
“I play poker recreationally, and I will continue to play poker recreationally. I want to stay an amateur.. to stay having fun, and enjoy the tournaments and competitions. If I get invited to a few tournaments – three, four, five times a year – I’d be very happy to do that.”
Interestingly, Hesp had just $2,207 in live tournament winnings before the start of the 2017 Main Event, but despite winning a life changing amount of money, Hesp was keen to place the emphasise on the sense of enrichment he felt on account of having fared so phenomenally well during the world’s most prestigious tournament, stating:
“Before I came here, I wasn’t a multi-millionaire in any way shape or form, but you don’t have to have lots of money to be rich in life. I was rich in life before I came here, and I’m even richer now without the money.”
Amen to that!