Jason Mercier: PokerStars Supernova Elite

Jason Mercier is a classic example of the young online poker success story. Hailing from Florida, Jason Mercier got all his action on PokerStars, where he was lucky and skilled enough to win a seat at the EPT San Remo No Limit Hold'em championship. He took full advantage of the opportunity, winning the event and $1,372,000.

Before his success in poker, Jason Mercier was studying to be a Math teacher before he made it big in the poker world. He then discovered online poker when he went away to college, and the next few years were spent mastering the game, picking up some impressive results in online tournaments along the way. He also began crushing the cash games, and became only the 16th player to become a PokerStars Supernova Elite.

In 2008, Jason Mercier was ready to make his mark on the live scene, and was about to have the kind of year that most can only dream of. Thousands of poker players spend years making small but steady cashes before hitting that big score. Thousands more never make it. Jason however was skilled enough to get that life-changing payday in his first major live appearance.

Jason Mercier came out of nowhere and beat a field of 700 other players to take down the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour San Remo event in April 2008, earning prize money of $1,372,893. Just six months later, he came close to picking up another EPT title when he came sixth in Barcelona, good for another $324,946. Days later the run continued, with an eighth place finish in the £5,000 Pot Limit Omaha event at the World Series of Poker Europe in London, followed a month later by victory at the High Roller event at EPT London, beating a field full of poker legends for a cash of $944,847.

In 2009, Jason Mercier made two final tables at the L.A. Poker Classic in February, including a first place finish in a Pot Limit Omaha event. This was followed by another victory in a $1,000 Hold’em event at the Wynn Classic, worth $81,480. Then came the WSOP in Las Vegas, where Jason was able to continue an incredible year with four cash finishes and his first bracelet, after taking the top spot in the $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha event for $237,462.





Jason Mercier then went deep at the WSOPE in London, finished in fourth spot in the Main Event, good for $425,158. He recently won the £20,000 High Roller No Limit Hold'em event at the European Poker Championships in London for $944,847, outplaying poker superstars like Isabelle Mercier, David Benyamine, Isaac Haxton, Scotty Nguyen and John Juanda, all of whom made the final table as well.

Jason Mercier is one of the best poker players on the circuit today, with lifetime live tournament winnings in excess of $4.39 million, all coming in a span of less than 2 years. He also defeated Daniel Negreanu, Pieter de Korver, and Phil Laak before losing to Scotty Nguyen in Round 4 with $75,000. He is a member of Team PokerStars Pro and plays online using the screen name “JasonMercier”.

Adding to his skyrocketed success, Jason Mercier was the 2009 Player of the Year. Thanks to a campaign that featured five tournament victories, 19 cashes and $1,354,026 in tournament winnings, the PokerStars pro took Player of the Year honors with 1,427.98 points in the Bluff rankings, edging out Eric Baldwin and Cornel Cimpam.