Written by :
Published on :
Ben Lamb is proving a point after Phil Hellmuth predicted he would win the 2017 World Series of Poker Main Event. He actually just might do so.
With 27 players remaining in the 2017 World Series of Poker Main Event, only 18 eliminations stand between the remaining players and a seat at the final table.
At one point Sunday evening, with just under 40 players left in the Main Event, Ben Lamb had been number two in number of chips. At the close of Sunday's play, he maintained a sizeable 4th place chip lead.
The Vegas-based player has won over $7,207,830 in live career earnings.
He’s already in the money and guaranteed at least $214,913 regardless of where he finishes beyond this point.
"It turns out it's kind of hard to go deep in a 7,000-player field every year," said Lamb. "I just usually would bluff of my chips on Day 1. So, I made a note in my phone to remind me in a year 'Don't bluff off your chips on Day 1.' So, it popped back up on my phone right as I was going into the Main [Event], so I didn't bluff."
He's obviously made this kind of a run before, but it's even a shock to him for him to be doing it again.
"After I bagged big on Day 2, I thought it would be fun to make a deep run," he said. "I didn't expect to have 30 million with 27 left in the Main [Event] or whatever."
Christian Pham, a 2015 WSOP bracelet winner, led the pack after Sunday’s play.
A breathless Pham, sans the bucket hat he can be so often seen wearing at tournaments in and around his native Minnesota, could barely contain his excitement.
"It's the hope of every poker player, we go to the final table, or we go the top 27, 18 something like that," he said. "And now, my dream come true. I'm very happy about that.”
The key moment for Pham on Day 6 came in a three-bet pot against Superman costume-clad Jonathan Dwek, who accidentally reraised the minimum and wound up running a wheel with ace-eight. Unfortunately for the Canadian, Pham's bottom pair on the flop became a backdoor steel wheel, and Dwek was unable to find the fold button on the river when Pham shoved on him.
"Oh my God straight flush, that's amazing," Pham said as he recalled the hand, adding that he made another straight flush shortly after. "Two straight flush today! That's amazing! Oh my God, that's incredible."
- Nagesh Rath, Gambling911.com
