Mercier Has an Up and Down Beginning

Jason Mercier can be seen seated next to fellow team member Macin Horecki towards the back corner of the tournament room. Just recently Mercier was involved in a couple of hands.

First, on a board of {A-Diamonds}

, Mercier checked to his opponent. The player fired a bet of 1,225. Mercier made the call. The river brought the {5-Hearts}

and Mercier checked. His opponent quickly checked behind.

"Nuts." announced Jason, as he turned over the {4-Diamonds}

. His opponent shook his head in disgust as he saw Mercier missed his flush draw but backed into a wheel.

On the next hand, Mercier opened with a raise to 250 from early position. His opponent from the previous hand called from the cutoff seat and the player in the big blind called as well. The flop came down {Q-Spades}

and action checked to the cutoff. He fired a bet of 1,200. The big blind folded, but Mercier came along.

The turn brought the {5-Spades}

and Mercier checked. His opponent fired 2,550 this time and Mercier again made the call. After the river fell the {2-Spades}

, Mercier checked once more. The cutoff seat fired a small bet of 1,000 by tossing a single red chip into the middle. Mercier tossed in one of his own red chips to make the call.

The cutoff tabled {K-Spades}