Event 5 - $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha - Live Updates

PokerListings blogger Jason Mercier has been hammering away at his opponent Stephen Burkholder and it seemed like a matter of time before the pair of them went to war.

That just happened!

Mercier Takes the Title!

Jason has a huge bank of successes built up over the last 18 months as he has picked up title after title on the EPT tour as well as impressing in numerous other events.

Surprisingly, the accomplished player is not as well known in America as perhaps his endeavours suggest he should be, but that will all change now he has added a bracelet to his many accomplishments.

The key hand saw both players see a J♥ J♠ 6♦ flop and get their stacks all-in!

Both players had trips as you would expect, but Burkholder held the edge with A♣ A♥ J♣ 7♦ versus Mercier's Q♣ J♦ 8♦ 2♠.

Set to double-up, his hopes were crushed as the Q♦ hit the turn and when the river blanked, Mercier was the champ and Burkholder picks up $146,748 for his second place finish,

Mercier though wins the bracelet, $237,415 in cash and the plaudits for an outstanding achievement that will mark his place in history.

We will be back shortly with winner shots and some words from Jason but for now congratulations!

The last level was a blur of action as bust-out followed bust-out to leave Jason Mercier heads up with Stephen Burkholder.

Here's how the dramatic action went down.

Tare Down (6th)

Jonathan Tare flopped bottom two pair and got his stack in versus Jason Mercier but Mercier had him wrapped up with a set of jacks.

The board ran out and Tare was eliminated in 6th for $37,192.

Biondino Bustondino (5th)

Mercier took on Biondino with A♣ 9♠ 6♠ 6♣ pre-flop versus Biondino's 5♥ 4♦ 3♠ 2♠ and when the board fell high, Mercier had another scalp and Biondino was out in 5th for $48,533.

Matt Finish (4th)

Matt Giannetti should have known better than to take on the terminator Jason Mercier, who busted his latest victim by making a straight.

Giannetti picks up $66,544 for 4th spot.

Kevin is Now Kev-OUT! (3rd)

Stephen Burkholder had watched Mercier steamroll the rest of the table and decided it was his turn to do some damage.

Seeing a flop with Kevin Iacofano he was delighted to flop top set and even more delighted when Iacofano shipped it in with his open-ender and overpair.

Bricks on turn and river meant Iacofano was out in 3rd for $96,128.

So that leaves PokerListings blogger Jason Mercier on the cusp of picking up his first bracelet.

Good luck Jason!

Mano-a-mano

Here are the counts as they play out the heads-up. Thanks to worldseriesofpoker.com for these.

Well, it has taken a while to spark into life here in the $1.5k PLO - but the last level saw one more elimination and the hand was something of a coldeck.

Here's the details.

Tran Crash (8th)

The seemingly grammatically-incorrectly named An Tran saw a limped flop with Jason Mercier, Chris Biondino and Stephen Burkholder.

The flop fell K♥ 5♠ 2♦ and checked to Mercier, he took a stab at it, betting out 36k. Burkholder now check-raised to 110k and Tran now shoved!

Mercier looked a bit shell-shocked but passed quickly, leaving Burkholder and Tran to reveal their hands.

Set of deuces for Tran, set of fives for Burkholder! Ice-cold deck, brrrrrrrrrrr!

No one-out hit, meaning Tran was relegated to the rail with $25,122 for his 8th place finish.

Chipping Away

Kevin Iacofano has ascended to the top of the tree right now with a giant 905k stack. Here's how the others stand, courtesy of worldseriesofpoker.com.

Omaha is a sick game. With four hole cards and significantly more combinations available to make a hand than in NLHE, we can expect today's final table at the $1.5k PLO event to provide a multitude of thrills and spills.

Throw in PokerListings very own blogger Jason Mercier, a first prize of $237k and of course a shiny WSOP bracelet and all the ingredients are there for a dramatic run-in to the title.

Here's the early action.

No Park In (9th)

Vic Park has just seen his hopes evaporate as he has busted in ninth spot. With A♦ K♦ 3♦ 2♠ in his hand, once he saw a flop of J♥ T♦ 6♦ versus Matt Giannetti, he was always likely to get his chips in the middle with his nut flush draw and middle pin gutshot.

Giantetti held K♥ K♠ Q♠ Q♣ for the overpair and open ended straight draw and when two blanks appeared on turn and river, his kings had held and Park was out.

Here are the chip counts as we play through level 19, courtesy of worldseriesofpoker.com.