Young gun Jason Mercier took down the PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Mohegan Sun High Roller Bounty Shootout for $450,000. The winner-take-all tournament will air on ESPN2 in May.
Six players began the final table of the NAPT Mohegan Sun High Roller Bounty Shootout after defeating their first round opponents on Monday. Each began play with 150,000 chips except for Luis Vazquez, who received a 25,000-chip handicap due to his first round table being five-handed instead of six-handed. Every player who made the final table except Vazquez picked up $60,000; Vazquez earned $50,000.
Vazquez bled chips early and often and was eventually eliminated in sixth place. Vazquez open-shoved with 10-5 of clubs on a flop of 4-7-10 for top pair, but Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka made the call with K-10 for top pair with a better kicker. The turn brought a second club to make matters more interesting, but the river was the ace of spades and Vazquez was eliminated. He earned two bounties along the way in addition to his shrunken final table bonus of $50,000 for a total of $70,000.
Fifth place went to Shawn Buchanan. After Mercier 3bet all-in on a flop of 10-Q-4 with two clubs holding K-3 of the suit, Buchanan called for his tournament life with Q-10 for top two pair. The nine of spades hit on the turn, giving Mercier an inside straight draw to a jack, and the river was the nine of clubs, filling Mercier’s flush and sending Buchanan out in fifth. Buchanan picked up four bounties for a total payday of $80,000.
Matt Glantz was the next casualty of the NAPT Mohegan Sun High Roller Bounty Shootout final table. In his final hand, Glantz ran pocket tens into Mercier’s pocket queens. The board ran out A-5-8-9-5 and Glantz pocketed $70,000 for two bounties and a $60,000 bonus for making the final table. Glantz marked Mercier’s fifth bust out and the hand gave him a healthy chip lead over Jaka and Sam Stein.
Jaka, who made the final table of the NAPT Venetian High Roller Bounty Shootout and finished fifth, took third place cross-country at Mohegan Sun. Jaka was in prime position to double up with A-K against Mercier’s A-7, but a seven on the flop propelled Mercier into the lead for good. Jaka picked up a club flush draw on the turn, but a red jack on the river sealed his fate and he was bounced in third place for a total of $80,000. Mercier held a slight chip lead heads-up against Stein, 468,300 to 406,700.
After three and a half hours of heads-up play, Mercier doubled up with pocket threes against Stein’s A-J of diamonds. The flop of J-2-6 gave Stein top pair and what seemed like an insurmountable advantage in the hand. However, a running 4-5 gave Mercier a miracle straight and a colossal 67:1 chip lead. Stein was eliminated shortly thereafter after his 9-3 of hearts could not draw out on Mercier’s 10-6. The board ran out K-4-8-K-2 and Mercier collected the $350,000 winner-take-all prize for a total payday of $450,000.
Perhaps fate was on Mercier’s side. He wore the same shirt as he did during his monumental run through the European Poker Tour (EPT) San Remo Main Event in 2008. In that tournament, he burst onto the live poker scene and picked up $1.3 million. Six months later, Mercier won the EPT London High Roller event for nearly $1 million. For Stein, the runner-up effort marked his third straight second place finish in an NAPT event. He was the runner-up to Tom Marchese in the NAPT Venetian Main Event and finished second to Stefan Huber in a $5,000 No Limit Hold’em preliminary event during the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure for $168,000.
Here were the final paydays from the NAPT Mohegan Sun High Roller Bounty Shootout:
1. Jason Mercier – $450,000
2. Sam Stein – $75,000
3. Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka – $80,000
4. Matt Glantz – $70,000
5. Shawn Buchanan – $80,000
6. Luis Vazquez – $70,000
In addition to his $450,000 payday, Mercier also earned entry into the next NAPT High Roller Bounty Shootout, although no date or location have been announced. PokerStars officials noted that the next stop, likely planned for after the 2010 World Series of Poker, will be announced soon.
