NO MERCY
Las Vegas, NV (June 22, 2011) – Jason Mercier added to his lustrous list of poker accomplishments today, by winning his second World Series of Poker gold bracelet.

Mercier won the latest Pot-Limit Omaha competition, held at the Rio in Las Vegas.  The professional poker player from Davie, FL overcame a strong field totaling 507 entrants, and earned what must be considered as his most impressive career win, to date.  No doubt, given the field size and quality of competition, this was as huge a test as Mercier had ever faced.

Mercier collected $619,575 in prize money for first place.  He also solidified his reputation as one of the world’s top Pot-Limit Omaha tournament players.  Mercier won his first gold bracelet two years ago in a $1,500 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha tournament.  He repeated his game dominance again this year, with a victory in the $5,000 buy-in Six-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha event.
 
Throughout the three-day tournament, Mercier looked like a player who expected to win.  He gradually built several tall towers of chips, which became increasingly more intimidating as the tournament went on and played down to few players.  By the time the final table was reached on the third day, Mercier enjoyed the chip lead.  He was never in serious danger of being eliminated.
 
With this victory, Mercier shattered the $1 million mark in career WSOP earnings.  He now has more than $1.6 million in lifetime earnings – which includes 18 cashes.  In worldwide tournaments, Mercier now has more than $6 million in live earnings.  He reportedly has accomplished online results which are just as impressive.

The runner up was Hans Winzeler, from Managua, Nicaragua.  Had Winzeler managed to win, he would have become the first WSOP winner in history from Nicaragua.  Instead, he settled for second place, which paid $383,075.

This was the first time a Six-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha tournament had ever been held at the WSOP. 

Among former gold bracelet winners who cashed in this tournament were:  David Chiu (4th), David “Devilfish” Ulliott (13th), Erick Lindgren (17th), Vanessa Selbst (18th), Jeff Lisandro (26th), John Kabbaj (30th), Layne Flack (31st), and Jesper Hougaard (44th).

For a comprehensive recap of Event #35 and the official report, please return soon to WSOP.COM