Jason Mercier Secures Sixth World Series of Poker Gold Bracelet

Jason Mercier has cashed in ten poker tournaments over the last five years, and managed to come away with the title in three of those events. The 36-year-old father of two from Florida has stepped back from the full-time grind on the poker tournament circuit in recent years to spend more time with his family. Despite his infrequent appearances on the scene lately, he has proven that he still has what it takes to win on the game’s biggest stages.

Mercier’s most recent victory saw him defeat a field of 548 entries in the 2023 World Series of Poker $1,500 no-limit deuce-to-seven single draw lowball event, overcoming a stacked final table to earn $151,276 and his sixth gold bracelet.

This was his first win at the series since 2016. With it, he became just the 21st player in poker history to have won six or more bracelets. He is the fourth player to join that prestigious list in 2023, joining Shaun Deeb, Jeremy Ausmus, and Brian Rast.

Mercier, who is also a European Poker Tour main event champion, now has nearly $20.6 million in recorded tournament earnings to his name.

This tournament was scheduled to run over the course of three days inside the Paris and Horseshoe Las Vegas, but a fourth day was added so that the stacked final table could be livestreamed by PokerGO, the exclusive home of live coverage from the WSOP.

The final day began with four-time bracelet winner Brad Ruben in the lead, with nine-time bracelet winner Erik Seidel in second chip position and Mercier in the middle of the pack.

Seidel, who finished fourth in the $10,000 Omaha eight-or-better event less than two weeks earlier, doubled up short stack Jon Turner shortly after play got underway. Seidel then got all-in before the draw with 10-9-8-5-3. He was up against 10-7-6-3-2 for two-time EPT champion and World Poker Tour main event winner Michael Watson, who stood pat as the first to decide. Seidel correctly broke his ten low, but drew up a queen to lose the pot and hit the rail in fifth place ($31,114). The 63-year-old Poker Hall of Fam member now has more than $44.2 million in career earnings.

Turner was soon all-in again, and in rough shape with 6-5-4 facing the pat 9-8-7-6-3 of Ruben. Turner ended up with a pair of fives, which meant that his run in this event ended in fourth place ($44,002). The two-time Card Player Poker Tour Venetian main event champion now has more than $3.9 million in total cashes on the circuit.

Ruben kept falling into the danger zone, only to bounce back as the three-handed play continued. Eventually, he slid down to below five big blinds and found himself all-in and at risk facing both Mercier (who stood pat) and Watson (who drew one). Merciers pat J-6-4-3-2 was good for the whole pot, besting Ruben’s Q-8-7-6-4. Ruben earned $63,505 for his third-place showing. This was his third final-table finish of the series. It increased his career tournament earnings to over $1.5 million.

Heads-up play began with Mercier holding a slight lead over Watson. The two went on to battle it out for around 70 minutes, with a few lead changes early on before Mercier gained control for what turned out to be the final time. He won a crucial pot with 10-7-6-5-4 besting the 10-8-4-3-2 of Watson to take more than a 5:1 chip lead.

In the last hand, Mercier shoved from the button for just over 11 big blinds effective and Watson called all-in with 10-8-8-6-3. Mercier had 10-8-4-4-3. Both players discarded their paired cards. Watson drew a queen to finish with Q-10-8-6-3, but Mercier picked up a five to make 10-8-5-4-3 for the win.

Watson earned $93,495 as the runner-up finisher. This was his sixth second-place showing in a bracelet event, including a runner-up finish to Mercier in the $10,000 buy-in version of this same game back in 2016. This latest score saw him surpass $21.3 million in recorded earnings.

Here is a look at the payouts and rankings points awarded at the final table:

Here are the 21 players with six or more WSOP bracelets to their names:

Visit the Card Player 2023 World Series of Poker page for schedules, news, interviews, and the latest event results. WSOP coverage sponsored by Global Poker.

Winner photo credit: WSOP / Danny Maxwell.