Now that the dust has settled on the Main Event, I wanted to share a few thoughts about the things that 2017 brought. Some I loved, some I loathed, but, as always, I was glad to be a fly on the wall for another great poker tournament!

• The Phoenix Rises – As you heard numerous times if you were watching ESPN, 2017 gave us the third largest Main Event field ever. Those who have been fearing the demise of live poker since Black Friday can rest a little easier. There seem to be plenty of players who are still game to lay their money down and take their shot at the big money

• Where are the Women? – On the other hand, women made up less than 4% of the field this year. There was only one woman under 26 in the Main Event, and she was not even from the US. We’ll talk about this more in a future post, but if live poker is going to remain viable for the long run, we need to figure out how to bring women into the game.

• Live Coverage All the Way – There were definite pros and cons to the live coverage. While it was great to see every hand of a feature table, I missed learning more about what was going on at the outer tables. I missed the updates on various celebs and big name pros as they surged and stumbled. And I really missed ESPN having the time to get the graphics right.  There is nothing like trying to figure out why that bozo went all in with Q2 off on day two only to find out 45 seconds later that – nope, sorry – he actually had pocket queens. All of the graphic stumbles really tended to pull me out of the action.

• Viva John Hesp – I know, we’ve already written an entire post on our love for John Hesp. But there’s no getting around the fact that this amateur from England brought the final table to life. His antics, his habit of showing his cards on almost every hand, and even his awful A10 to AA loss against Blumstein humanized him and gave us the ability to imagine ourselves sitting at that final table too.

• Nguyen – Vayo: The Rematch – Is it just me, or did the final run out seem eerily familiar? Blumstein was all aggression all the time, hitting equally hard with KK and 72off. Meanwhile, Vayo – I mean Ott – seemed to have only one move in his arsenal: Fold. On the one hand, it was disappointing not to see a more even match. At the same time, it was a exhilarating to watch Blumstein outplay his opponent so masterfully.

What did you think about the Main Event? Add your thoughts below or come over to the in the forums and join the discussion!

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