One of the more exciting events at the 2011 WSOP is in the books. In a tournament that has players holding twice as many cards, it was Jason Mercier who ended up seeing double when it comes to World Series of Poker bracelets. With more than 500 players in the field this was one of the biggest prize pools in a PLO tournament ever. There was more than $600,000 on the line for the winner and approximately $1,000,000 more to be awarded at the six person final table. The final table chip counts can be found below:
Jason Mercier 1,900,000
David Chiu 1,710,000
Steven Merrifield 1,485,000
Hans Winzeler 1,240,000
Joseph Ressler 1,000,000
Michael McDonald 245,000
With one of the best tournament players leading the way it was going to be an uphill battle for the rest of the final table. Still, with formidable foes like Michael “Timex” McDonald and David Chiu on hand it was not going to be a cakewalk for Mercier. Unfortunately for the rail one of the more interesting players busted in 6th place. Canadian poker pro and Team FullTilt member Michael “Timex” McDonald was the first to bust at the final table for a $73,965 payday. All of the money went in PF with Timex holding a nice rundown hand in QhTs9d8d but ran into a monster in Chiu’s AcAh9c8c. Chiu was a sizable preflop favorite by Omaha standards as he held a 64:36 advantage. An awful flop for McDonald ensued, 5c6c6h, leaving Timex drawing to just a chop. The turn was the 6 of diamonds leaving McDonald drawing dead and bolstering Chiu’s chip stack in the process.
It took some time for the next elimination to occur but when it did it left Joseph Ressler out in the cold in 5th place for $105,967. In a hand that might have Ressler thinking “what if?” for the rest of his life, he flopped top-set against his opponent’s middle set only to lose the hand on a one-outer on the river! On a flop of Kd Th 7c Ressler and Merrifield got all the money in the middle and while Merrifield did have a backdoor flush and straight draw he was only an eleven percent favorite to win the hand. The 4c on the turn only strengthened Ressler’s position but when the Ten of Spades fell on the river it spelled disaster for the young pro.
At this point Merrifield took a large chiplead during four-handed play:
Steven Merrifield 3,350,000
Jason Mercier 2,540,000
Hans Winzeler 1,340,000
David Chiu 500,000
As you can see Chiu was nursing a short-stack and could only hold on for a few more hands. After being whittled down to less than 300,000 in chips Chiu got all of his money in before the flop with Ac Kc Jc 4c and was a small favorite against Jason Mercier’s Ah Qh Jd 9c. Unfortunately for Chiu the flop came Ad 9h 4h giving Mercier top two pair and the nut flush draw. Chiu found himself more than a 4:1 underdog and the the Six of Spades on the turn did nothing to remedy that. The river came the Ten of Hearts giving Mercier the nut flush and busting Chiu in 4th place for $156,628.
While Steven Merrifield led the way once four-handed play began, he could not get anything going and eventually busted in 3rd place for $239,100. After losing a big pot 3-handed against Hans Winzeler he found himself as the short-stack and in desperate need of a double up. Merrifield raised the button and bet/called a flop of Kh Td Js with Ac Kc Jh 4s only to be up against the nuts in Ah Qh Th 5c. Merrifield has four outs for the win and another three for the chop but when the board came running threes he fell just short of winning a WSOP bracelet. Heads-up play started just before midnight Las Vegas time and with nearly equal stacks both Winzeler and Mercier were ready for a lengthy battle.
However, after just about 90 minutes of heads-up play Jason Mercier was able to overtake the chiplead and earned his second WSOP bracelet. In a hand that describes the gambling nature of Omaha, Winzeler three-bet PF and bet-called his 2,000,000 stack off on a 9d 4s 3d board. Holding just Ac Kh Kc Js he found himself in trouble against Mercier’s Qc 6c 5d 3s. Even though Mercier had just bottom pair, his pair and straight outs left him as a 3:2 favorite. The Ten of Clubs on the turn reversed each player’s fortune with Winzeler now out in front as a 60% favorite. However, the night came to an end on the river as a Seven of Hearts rolled off giving Mercier the nut straight. Winzeler was consoled by his friends and a $383,075 check.
For Mericier this marks his second WSOP win, both coming in Omaha events. The former winner of the NAPT $25k Shootout, $20k EPT High Roller, and EPT San Remo Main Event, is getting quite used to winning big time poker tournaments. Mercier is also no slouch in cash games having made appearances on GSN’s High Stakes Poker and the PokerStars.net Big Game on the FOX Network. He now has more than $6,000,000 in cashes from tournaments around the world. Congratulations goes to Mercier and all of those who made the money in the 2011 WSOP Event #35.
2011 World Series of Poker Event 35
507 Entrants; $2,382,900 prize pool
1. Jason Mercier $619,575
2. Hans Winzeler $383,075
3. Steven Merrifield $239,100
4. David Chiu $156,628
5. Joseph Ressler $105,967
6. Michael McDonald $73,965