In just 14 short months, 22-year old Florida native Jason Mercier has burst onto the poker scene with a slew of top-tier results, including two European Poker Tour (EPT) titles, a World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe final table, over $3 million in live tournament winnings and, most recently, his first WSOP bracelet in Event #5, the $1,500 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha contest. We sat down with Mercier to discuss his big win, how he got into poker, and how he has dealt with so much success at such a young age.
Poker News Daily: You’ve been on a pretty sick 14-month tear, but let’s go back before that. How did you get started playing poker?
Mercier: I started playing with my friends when I was 16 and started playing online when I was 18. I started winning money online and moving up stakes. Then, I started playing tournaments and converted to cash games. I played cash games all through 2007 and made Supernova Elite [on PokerStars]. I kept playing cash games, started playing a few more tournaments, and figured out I liked playing them also.
PND: Did you start playing in Europe before you turned 21?
Mercier: The first live big event I played was the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure right after I turned 21 in January of 2008. My second live tournament was EPT San Remo.
PND: So you were off to a good start then, since you won in San Remo. With your success in Italy, London, the L.A. Poker Classic preliminary events, and now the WSOP, do you feel like this level of success will continue or do you have more realistic expectations about your long-term poker results?
Mercier: Every time I do something else, I am sort of worried that that may be my last thing I do, but then again I am happy with how I’ve been doing. I don’t really want to think that it will ever end and hopefully it won’t.
PND: Your results are split fairly evenly between Omaha and Hold’em. Do you split your time evenly between the two games?
Mercier: On the live circuit, I pretty much play whatever tournament is available, No Limit Hold’em or Pot Limit Omaha. If I’m going to play cash games, I just play Pot Limit Omaha.
PND: You keep making Day Twos with some pretty big chip stacks. In the Omaha event, you had what many seasoned poker reporters described as “the biggest mountain of chips they’ve ever seen that early in a tournament.” How much fun did you have playing with and stacking your chips?
Mercier: It’s one of the most fun things in live poker compared to online poker, in my opinion. A lot of these guys don’t practice it and when I’m at home, I used to build stuff all the time, so it’s kind of fun. I think I play better when I have a huge stack in front of me. I try to win more chips so I can make something new.
PND: Do you feel like the big stack serves as an intimidation factor to your opponents?
Mercier: Not really. When I have a bigger chip stack, especially on the bubble, you can abuse people a lot. Sometimes guys are like, “Oh look at this guy,” when I show up at a new table, but I don’t think they’re really intimidated. Maybe some people are intimidated, but they don’t really show it.
PND: Maybe they just know about your results and that’s why they’re scared of you.
Mercier: Most people should be scared of me (laughs). Just kidding!
PND: Congratulations again Jason and good luck the rest of the 2009 WSOP.
