Jason Mercier Wins Third SCOOP Title in a Week and $178,000
PokerStars might think about renaming the Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) to the "Jason Mercier Spring Poker Invitational", at least for the high buy-in events. Since the 2015 edition of the famed online poker series began last Sunday, Mercier has now won three titles after he took down SCOOP-20-H: $2,100 NL Hold'em [4-Max] today for nearly $180,000.
Last week, Mercier won the SCOOP-05-H: $2,100 FL Badugi and SCOOP-08-H: $2,100 NL Draw events in back-to-back days.
In his two prior victories, Mercier beat out combined field sizes of 99 entries (56 and 43). This time around, he beat out a field of 398, including a tough final table with Ryan "HITTHEPANDA" Franklin and Calvin "cal42688" Anderson.
SCOOP-20-H: $2,100 NL Hold'em [4-Max] Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jason Mercier | $178,457* |
| 2 | Ryan "HITTHEPANDA" Franklin | $152,789* |
| 3 | Calvin "cal42688" Anderson | $68,408 |
| 4 | TransSib | $42,315 |
*Denotes a heads-up deal.
The event was played out over two days, with the first day stopping with 16 players remaining. Of those returning, the field contained top online players Griffin "Flush_Entity" Benger (16th - $9,209), Tom "hitthehole" Middleton (15th - $9,209), and Jeremy "EndlessJ" Menard (13th - $9,209).
At the final table, "TransSib" busted in fourth place, and then Mercier battled hard with Anderson during three-handed play. Mercier eventually worked his way into the chip lead before he busted Anderson in third place with KxKx to KxQx. Anderson, who had won his record sixth SCOOP title earlier in the series, took just under $70,000 for his finish.
Mercier and Franklin paused the tournament to discuss a deal, and it resulted in Mercier receiving $170,457 and Franklin getting $152,789. The two left $8,000 and the title left to play for.
Quickly after the match resumed, it was all over.
With the blinds at 5,000/10,000 with a 1,250 ante, Franklin raised to 20,000 on the button, Mercier reraised to 58,838, Franklin four-bet to 132,469, and then Mercier put him all in. With just over 600,000 behind, Franklin called with the 10♠10♦. Mercier had the 9♣9♥ — a hand the has proved to be his kryptonite in recent years. But, not this time.
The flop, turn, and river ran out A♣J♥3♦9♦5♣, and it was all over. Mercier had done it to win the event and his third SCOOP title within one week's time.
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