Jason Mercier, a 36-year-old skilled Florida poker player, has won three titles in the ten events he has competed in since 2018. Yet, he has reduced the time he spends playing to increase his family time. But the player's skills are still top-notch.
He recently beat 547 opponents in the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) $1,500 No-Limit Deuce-to-Seven Single Draw Lowball tournament to win his sixth bracelet and the $151,276 top prize. Mercier bagged the title seven years after he won his last WSOP event. Besides, he is the 21st player to win more than five bracelets in the series' history.
Mercier is also the fourth pro to bag a 2023 WSOP title after Brian Rast, Jeremy Ausmus, and Shaun Deeb. Statistics state that the European Poker Tour (EPT) Main Event winner has almost $20.6 million in recorded poker tournament earnings.
The recent event was initially scheduled to last for three days at Paris and Horseshoe Las Vegas. But, an extra day was added for PokerGO to stream its final table.
What Did the Top Seven Finalists Win?
- Jason Mercier – $151,276 and 840 Card Player Player of the Year (POY) points
- Michael Watson – $93,495 and 700 POY points
- Bradley Ruben – $63,505 and 560 POY points
- Jon Turner – $44,002 and 420 POY points
- Erik Seidel – $31,114 and 350 POY points
- Richard Ashby – $22,461 and 280 POY points
- Jonathan Glendinning – $16,562 and 210 POY points
How Things Unfolded on the Final Day
Brad Ruben was the chip leader early on Day 2. Erik Seidel followed him closely in second place, and Mercier was the short stack.
The former doubled up the latter early in the day. Seidel used 10-9-8-5-3 to go all-in before the draw and faced Michael Watson's 10-7-6-3-2. The former broke a ten-low.
He drew a queen and lost the pot before exiting the event in fifth place. Turner used 6-5-4 to go all-in against Ruben's pat 9-8-7-6-3. The former got a pair of fives and left the table in fourth position with $44,002.
Ruben dropped his position at the leaderboard for a while before collecting more chips during three-handed action. But, his stack drastically reduced to less than five big blinds when he went all-in against Watson and Mercier.
Mercier's pat J-6-4-3-2 earned him the pot and dominated Ruben's Q-8-7-6-4 before busting him in third place. The latter's exit kicked off a heads-up battle between Mercier and Watson.
They battled it out for 70 minutes and exchanged the stack lead several times. Even so, Mercier's 10-7-6-5-4 earned him a vital pot after beating Watson's 10-8-4-3-2. Moreover, it gave Mercier an over 5:1 chip advantage over Watson.
The former made a more than 11 big blinds effective button shove, while the latter used 10-8-8-6-3 to call all-in. Mercier got 10-8-4-4-3 before they discarded paired cards.
Watson used Q-10-8-6-3 to draw a queen, and Mercier used 10-8-5-4-3 to make a five. He busted Watson in second place with $93,495.
