Jason Mercier Hand Voted Greatest in PokerStars History by Poker Media
Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier is all the rage at the World Series of Poker, having made one of the biggest prop bets of the summer after offerring 3-to-1 odds on winning a bracelet.
Now, the spotlight shines even brighter. On Thursday, PokerStars announced that a hand featuring Mercier was voted the Greatest Ever Poker Hand in the History of PokerStars.
A panel of the poker industry’s media voices, including us here at PokerNews.com, weighed in with their opinions on the best hand as an alternative selection to the public vote, which remains open until June 10 at the PokerStars YouTube channel.
Twenty-two hands were given as options and the winner was The One Where Jason Mercier Arrives, which took place at the final table of the European Poker Tour San Remo event in 2008. The No. 1 voted hand featured Mercier, relatively unknown at the time, making a hero-call on the river of a 5♣J♥6♦8♣8♥ board with only bottom pair holding 9♠5♥ to eliminate Erik Koskas. The incredible call brought Mercier to stardom as he took down the EPT San Remo €4,700 buy-in event for €869,000 — his first ever live cash.
A hand featuring Phil Hellmuth titled, The One Where Phil Hellmuth Runs It Four Times, finished a close second. The hand from the PokerStars Big Game saw the Hellmuth get his chips all-in on a 9♥10♠9♠ flop with A♥9♦ against Ernest Wiggins'K♠K♣. Both players tabled their hands and after some discussion, the two agreed to run the turn and river card four times. Run one went J♥ and A♦, giving Hellmuth a full house. Run two ran was K♥3♣, giving Wiggins a full house. The third run showed a 7♠8♠, for a four-card flush guaranteeing Wiggins at least half the pot. Then, on the final run, a Q♣K♦ completed the boards to give Wiggins win three out of the four runs, and three quarters of the pot.
There is still a chance to participate in a public vote by visiting the PokerStars YouTube channel by June 10. As part of a promotion for PokerStars' 100 Billionth Hand Celebration, Team PokerStars Pros Daniel Negreanu, Lex Veldhuis, and Liv Boeree will select one hand from the three most popular.
From June 24 through 30, players at Zoom No Limit Hold’em tables (any stakes) will be able to earn cash rewards by winning a pot post-flop with the exact same hand (including suits) as the one that the three Team Pros select as their favorite. The winning vote will be announced on June 20.
Winning players will receive a cash reward worth 100 big blinds at the stake level they are playing, to a maximum of $100.
For more information, visit PokerStars.com.
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