Jason Mercier (born 1987) is a rising poker player from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Having shot from complete obscurity right into the center of poker limelight at the 2008 European Poker Tour, Jason Mercier is a bona fide poker dark horse.
A native of southern Florida, Jason Mercier seemed an unlikely candidate for poker stardom. The 21-year old, with his scruffy looks and carefree attitude, has been a "degenerate" (as he candidly admitted during an online interview in San Remo) for the past several years. Poker, which fits pretty well with Jason Mercier's laid-back attitude, first became part of his life at the age of 15; the fact that he is a former teacher of mathematics sits less well with his image, but can be accredited with giving him an analytic viewpoint on the game. After turning eighteen, Jason Mercier was allowed to enter casinos in Florida. This undoubtedly enhanced his playing, as did dropping out of college - he now had much more spare time to devote to poker. Having played online since 2005, By 2008 Jason Mercier had garnered enough experience to try and go beyond internet playing rooms.
Jason Mercier qualified for the San Remo EPT at an online satellite at event sponsor PokerStars. This was his first EPT event, and his second live event following the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure the previous January. With this meager live tournament experience, Jason Mercier headed for the Italian riviera. Somewhat apprehensive about going on his own, Mercier nearly cashed his seat to buy a plane ticket to Amsterdam, where some of his friends had gone. He eventually decided to stay, and began ploughing his way through the 701-strong field in Italy's biggest poker tournament ever. Mercier led the chip count on the first day, and entered the second day with 100,000 chips more than his nearest rival. As hours passed it became clear he would play the final table. He was left against Frenchmen Antony Lellouche and Eric Koskas and Italian champion Dario Minieri. In just over two and a half hours he eliminated all three. He began by calling Koskas' all-in bluff with a pair of five, and moved on to beat Minieri's pair of queens with a flush on the river. Now holding 80% of the chips, it took Mercier only two hands to send Lellouche to second place. The fastest final table in EPT history now had Jason Mercier written all over it. The Florida math teacher was now a millionaire, and headed for the Monaco €10,000 Grand Final.
Life has been good to Jason Mercier ever since his astounding San Remo victory. In June of 2008 he played three WSOP tournaments, and while he failed to make first place in any, he did collect over $55,000 in cash. This will definitely not be the last we here of Jason Mercier - the would-be educator whose lucky choices won him poker fame.
Jason Mercier - Landmark Victories:
2008 EPT San Remo
€4,700 No Limit Hold'em
04/01/2008 $1,372,893
2008 39th WSOP
$2,500 No Limit Hold'em
06/07/2008 $30,203