Jason Mercier Wins Record $50K High Roller at SHRPO 2019
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The 2019 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open (SHRPO) in Hollywood, Florida has already seen 19 players capture trophies as the action in the final four events of the series continue. Among the big winners thus far is a semi-retired professional that clearly hasn't lost his poker chops.
While some players talk of newborn baby rungood, the Merciers seem to have struck another form of baby-related good fortune, and that is seven-month pregnant rungood. Last weekend, Jason Mercier found himself back in the winner's circle after taking down a 41-entry field in the $50,000 SHRPO High Roller for a payday of $715,860 as his wife, Natasha Mercier, was seven months along with their second child.
Ironically, she was also seven months pregnant with their first-born, Marco, two years ago during the same series when Jason won the $25K High Roller — his last poker tournament win before taking a step back from the game to focus on family and parenthood.
“I won a ton of hands that I probably shouldn’t have, just because of stack sizes.”
Last week's two-day single re-entry event drew a prize pool of $1,988,500 to nearly double the $1 million guarantee and make it the biggest $50K in Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood history. Mercier had a smooth tournament and got another healthy boost to his chip stack at the end of Day 1 when he sent Dan Shak, who was second in chips behind Mercier, out on the money bubble in eighth place.
According to the SHRPO live updates, Mercier raised with ace-jack suited, Shak three-bet with pocket kings and Mercier called to see a flop of ace-four-deuce rainbow. Shak shoved with his pair of kings and Mercier found the call to scoop a pot that put him at a more than 5-to-1 chip advantage over the next biggest stack.
2019 SHRPO $50K High Roller Official Payouts
| Place | Player | Country | Payout |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Jason Mercier | United States | $715,860 |
| 2nd | Franklin Fok | United States | $457,355 |
| 3rd | Tom Boivin | Belgium | $288,330 |
| 4th | [Removed:150] | Venezuela | $198,850 |
| 5th | Manig Loeser | Germany | $139,195 |
| 6th | Sam Sweilem | United States | $109,370 |
| 7th | Albert Daher | Lebanon | $79,540 |
The final table lasted under two hours as Mercier never relinquished his death grip. Franklin Fok went into heads up with a 7-to-1 chip deficit against Mercier, even after he eliminated Tom Boivin in third. In the ninth hand of heads-up play, Mercier closed it out when his pocket fives held up versus ace-jack suited, allowing the Florida native to add yet another poker trophy to his case.
“I won a ton of hands that I probably shouldn’t have, just because of stack sizes,” Mercier told SHRPO live reporters following the win. “I had over half the chips in play when we were seven-handed, so I was playing a ton of hands and just taking advantage of spots. But I also got dealt really good hands, and was able to call all-ins when I was in the big blind, and those hands won.”
It may have been a year after he last cashed in a poker tournament, but Mercier has shown he hasn't lost a step, now with over $19.5 million in career winnings to his credit, according to Hendon Mob.
More SHRPO Winner Highlights
Among notable winners of the series leading up to the $5,250 Championship Event and the final three post-lims were big names like Raminder Singh, who claimed $200,000 in Event #1:$600 Deep Stack, David Levi, who won the $400 Limit Omaha 8 event, as well as Sam Panzica and Jonathan Little.
Panzica bested a field of 94 entries to win the $1,100 Eight-Handed Turbo for $23,962 while Little won $97,160 for winning the $2,200 Eight-Handed NLH that drew 211 entries.
I won the tournament for $97,000. That is #lucky. https://t.co/tBV4t3XtFn
— Jonathan Little (@JonathanLittle)
Another player that has had a solid series thus far is Georgii Belianin, who found himself in the headlines for an unfortunate reason after being disqualified from the WSOP Main Event just last month. Belianin has since issued an apology and seems to be on the up-and-up, winning not one but two SHRPO prelims — the $400 Pot-Limit Omaha and the $400 Big O events.
2019 SHRPO Prelim Winners
| Event | Entries | Prize Pool | Winner | Top Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event #1: $600 Deep Stack NLH | 3,229 | $1,711,470 | Raminder Singh | $200,000 |
| Event #2: $400 Limit Omaha 8 | 92 | $31,280 | David Levi | $5,208 |
| Event #3: $400 HORSE | 88 | $29,920 | Brandon Caputo | $8,825 |
| Event #4: $400 Pot-Limit Omaha | 130 | $44,200 | Georgii Belianin | $11,315 |
| Event #5: $400 Deep Stack | 323 | $109,820 | Gustavo Lopez | $23,755 |
| Event #6: $1,700 Purple Chip Bounty | 106 | $108,650 | A.J, Gambino | $32,605 |
| Event #7: $400 Seniors 50+ | 184 | $62,560 | Lisa Teebagy | $9,188 |
| Event #8: $400 Black Chip Bounty | 256 | $61,440 | Adam Demersseman | $13,910 |
| Event #9: $400 Pot-Limit Omaha | 155 | $52,700 | Harpreet Padda | $7,511 |
| Event #10: $150 Big Stack NLH | 635 | $76,200 | Trent Smith | $9,200 + $5,250 Championship Seat |
| Event #11: $600 Six-Max NLH | 349 | $184,970 | Aleksey Shaburov | $30,890 |
| Event #12: $400 Big O | 75 | $25,500 | Georgii Belianin | $7,815 |
| Event #13: $400 Omaha 8/Stud 8 | 68 | $23,120 | Gabriel Ramos | $6,090 |
| Event #14: $1,100 Eight-Handed Turbo NLH | 94 | $94,000 | Sam Panzica | $23,962 |
| Event #15: $2,200 Eight-Handed NLH | 211 | $422,000 | Jonathan Little | $97,160 |
| Event #16: $300 Jeff Conine Celebrity Charity | 370 | $15,000 | Randal Fernandez | $3,250 + prize package |
| Event #17: $1,100 Six-Max NLH | 288 | $279,360 | Nelson Resendiz | $57,340 |
| Event #18: $50,000 Super High Roller | 41 | $1,988,500 | Jason Mercier | $715,860 |
| Event #19: $400 Six-Max Pot-Limit Omaha | 87 | $29,580 | Igor Tretyakov | $8,460 |
The SHRPO action continues in Hollywood through Tuesday, when the Championship final table will play out, live streamed starting at 1 p.m. ET, and a winner will be crowned in the final $25,500 High Roller.
Lead image and live updates provided courtesy of SHRPO/Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood.
