Scott Blumstein heads to the final table of the 2017 WSOP Main Event with the chip lead.

If you’re an online grinder working your way up from the microstakes, or maybe you make a 45-minute drive to your local casino once a week to play the $75 nightly tournament, then you should be cheering for Scott Blumstein when the 2017 World Series of Poker Main Event final table begins on Thursday night.

He’s representing you.


Just over two years ago, he was working as a blogger, writing updates for the Parx Big Stax event.


And a few months after that, he was posting on the PocketFives forums, trying sell pieces of himself in the Borgata Summer Poker Open Main Event.

Back then, he just wanted a chance.

Now, Blumstein begins the final table with the chip lead and a shot at winning $8.1 million. It’s a scenario that the Main Event rookie and New Jersey native didn’t envision when he plunked down the $10,000.

“I’m not going to lie, I had no expectations of making the final table, I’m not going to beat around the bush, I just came out and I thought if I played my best I could cash, see what happens, but I’ve never played in a four-day tournament, let alone an eight-day tournament. So it’s a gauntlet, long long days,” said Blumstein.

While a lot of the 25-year-old’s friends headed to Las Vegas in early June to play as many WSOP events as possible, Blumstein stayed home to focus on his health and turn his attention to the online games.

“The NJ online tournaments, there’s not a lot of money at stake, but they’re tournaments, they’re the same principals, just because the money is different doesn’t really change much about what the situation is,” said Blumstein. “While everyone was out here grinding large field I was playing smaller ones back home, knowing the whole time just knowing I was coming out for the Main and that was my goal was to play the tournament for the first time in my life. Somehow it just resulted in this.”

Before coming out to Las Vegas, Blumstein again looked to sell off some action and turned to Twitter to find people looking to buy as little as 1% of him.

He’s certainly made those who took a piece of his action happy, but Blumstein still found himself pinching himself in the moments after bagging up with just nine players remaining.

“I don’t even know how it happened. It’s been a crazy ride, seven days, I somehow I bagged more chips than I started with every day by a significant amount,” said Blumstein. “I just keep going up in chips and that’s been my goal. Today I started with 18 million and ended up with 97, I don’t even know how it happened but here we are.”

Scott Blumstein’s Main Event Ride

DAY
CHIPS
POSITION
1C
86,200
799/3,300
2C
375,100
34/1,459
3
1,340,000
8/1,084
4
2,016,000
44/297
5
6,845,000
14/85
6
18,125,000
8/27
7
97,250,000
1/9

With two days off between Day 7 and the final table, flights from the East Coast to Las Vegas have been packed with Blumstein’s family and friends.

“I briefly would check my phone and would see a lot of people wanting to come out to support me, which means the world. I don’t know where they’re all going to sit,” said Blumstein.

While he admits that there is the potential for a huge group of supporters being a bit of a distraction, he also knows that having them there to share in his once in a lifetime opportunity is going to make the, hopefully, three days of play all the more special – no matter the result.

“At the end of the day, money doesn’t really drive me, as cliche as that is,” said Blumstein. “But having all of these people here rooting me on, that’s what honestly is going to make my dream come true; playing the dream I love on the biggest stage.”