#Pocket fives full
During the $50,000 PLO High Roller, Mercier mentioned to others that he’ll likely be back full time at the WSOP in two years. The “pause” on playing full time could be over sooner rather than later for Mercier. Back then I was playing a lot of hours, trying to make a lot of money, and now I take it easy a little more enjoy the time that I'm able to play when I get to play, and mostly focus on my family and raising my kids.” You look back at those times and you're like, 'Man, what was I doing? That was kind of crazy.' But also, I was young, I didn't have any kids, and no real responsibilities. I could sleep in two seconds if I laid down. “I'm not playing any 48-hour sessions, that's for sure,” Mercier said. Maybe we shouldn’t say those days have ended, but rather, they’ve been put on pause.
#Pocket fives series
The days of long sessions grinding cash games for days and days have ended, as have flying all around the world to play whatever major tournament series is running at the time. Now a husband and father of three, Mercier said that “dad life” has changed his outlook on poker, as it has for many before him. With more than $2,000,000 in prize money, Mercier currently sits fourth on the WSOP’s all-time Omaha money list, per. He also won the $5,000 PLO Six-Handed event at the 2011 WSOP and placed second in the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship in 2015. His first-ever WSOP gold bracelet came in the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha tournament at the 2009 WSOP. Mercier knows a thing or two about PLO tournaments. MORE: Daniel Negreanu's Quest for a Third WSOP Player of the Year Award He went on to finish sixth in the event for $260,815, pushing his career live-tournament earnings to more than $20,000,000. The event had 106 entries to create a prize pool larger than $5,000,000. When speaking to Mercier, he was on dinner break in the 2022 WSOP $50,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller event. Even if I take a long break, I still feel super comfortable playing.” But for me, poker in the last decade has always been like riding a bike. I would say that I'm not rusty because of that, you know, staying fresh. But there's been times when I've gone months without playing any hands of poker. You know, there was a game running where it was an online club and I played 40 hours a week for a few months. There were points where I was playing a lot. During the last three years, I played a little bit online here and there. “The last five years I played almost as a part-time player since having kids. “I've really played a lot less than I did in the last five years,” Mercier said. Even in 2018, his volume was down and his cashes fewer as a result. From August 2018 until now, Mercier has just five live tournament results. If you look at Mercier’s live tournament record as tracked by, you’ll see a noticeable drop-off in results after 2018. PokerGO Jason Mercier with a big stack at the WSOP tables. And then, you know, it was during the winter and just ended up skipping.” Plus, the World Series didn't happen in one year. She gave birth in September of that year, and then, the pandemic hit and we just never ended up coming back. My wife Natasha was pregnant with our second child. “The last time I was here, I was leaving the World Series of Poker in 2019. “I miss it a lot, honestly,” Mercier said, who was back at the WSOP in Las Vegas for the first time in a few years. Life was good for Mercier, and poker might’ve been better, but then he settled down and spent more time away from the tables than at them. Mercier was one of the faces of PokerStars Team Pro, he appeared on High Stakes Poker, and almost won an unthinkable bracelet bet against Vanessa Selbst in 2016. Mercier quickly rose to the top of the game, winning the first of five WSOP gold bracelets in 2009 as he began to rack up big score after big score in tournaments all around the world. MORE: Stream the WSOP on PokerGO | Full World Series of Poker Schedule We’ve seen many players over the years come in, make a splash, and then fizzle out or simply linger, but that wasn’t the case with Mercier. An unknown youngster on the poker scene, it was the first-ever live tournament cash he recorded and put him firmly on the poker map. '”įive-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Jason Mercier burst onto the poker scene in 2008 with a victory in the European Poker Tour Sanremo Main Event for nearly $1,400,000. “I see guys winning their fourth or fifth, and I'm like, 'Man, if I just played the last five years, I would have like 15.