Mercier/Negreanu Pot Balloons Like it Were Made of Rubber

Jason Mercier (button) and Daniel Negreanu (big blind) started playing the next pot with a minimal bet pre, and a heads up flop of {5-Hearts}

. Negreanu checked and Mercier bet 160k. Unlike in his first two confrontations, however, Negreanu called and they saw a turn: {8-Diamonds}

.

Now Negreanu checked again, Mercier bet 290k, and again he called.

The river: {K-Spades}

Check to Mercier once more. He considered for a short while, before betting 805k. Negreanu did some squirming.

"Sometime's it's a silly silly game," he let everyone know. "That's a very good bet." He considered for a few moments more, asked himself, "What would Phil Ivey do?" and made the call.

Mercier showed: {K-Hearts}