London High Roller: The Jason Mercier Interview

By Martin Derbyshire Oct 6, 2008 | 1 month ago

Jason Mercier wins the PokerStars EPT London £1m Showdown

Following up on his WSOPE Main Event win last week, John Juanda looked primed to be crowned king of London heading into heads-up at the PokerStars.com EPT London £1 Million Showdown with a 2-1 chip lead.

But the hottest player in London ran into the hottest player in Europe and could not stop Jason Mercier from adding the £516,000 first-place prize and the title to his recent final-table appearances at EPT Barcelona, the WSOPE Pot-Limit Omaha and his win at EPT San Remo at the end of last season.

Moments after taking on one of the toughest fields the EPT has ever seen to book the win, the young American and burgeoning poker superstar sat down with PL.com to tell us how he did it and why he's so hot on this side of the Atlantic right now.

I know you've had some success in the very recent past here on the EPT - a final table in Barcelona and obviously your win in San Remo - but when you got here on Day 1 and looked around at how tough the field was, were you thinking "I can win this," or "Oh my God, look at these guys"?

I guess I wasn't really thinking "Oh my God, look at these guys." I was just thinking I hope I get a good table draw to start and can get a good feel for the tournament and how the players are going to play.

Day 1 it was pretty rough at first and I was able to get lucky a few times and get some chips. I just wanted to make it to Day 2, and once I'd made it to Day 2, I just wanted to make the final table and I kind of just took it one thing at a time.

Here at the final table it seemed like you were kind of quiet, hovering around the middle of the pack until the end. Was it your plan not to make too many moves and to wait for big hands against these guys?

Yes, actually that's pretty much exactly what I was trying to do. The last two final tables I was at, in Barcelona and the [WSOPE] Pot-Limit Omaha event, I was the one trying to make the action happen, and I ended up getting sixth and eighth. So coming into today everyone had about the same amount of chips and I really just wanted to wait and try and pick up some big hands and pick my spots well.

He's a star now!

Once you did get heads-up with John Juanda you were facing an almost 2-1 chip deficit and it was John Juanda. Were you thinking that you lacked an edge against him and were definitely willing to gamble?

I was kind of thinking that, not 100%. The blinds were $10,000/$20,000 so I only had 25 big blinds, so I can't just keep limp-folding to his raises and I know he's aggressive as hell. So when I raise with the Q-J and he shoves immediately I know he's got ace-rag or a low pair, so I'm going to take the coin flip every time.

Does this win feel particularly special, being that the field was some of the best in the world?

Yeah, it feels pretty special. I mean, there were 86 players so it was a small field, but probably 50 of the top 200 players were in this event. [I mean the] top 200 tournament players in the world in my opinion, so to get first is pretty unbelievable.

So what's next for you?

I'm going to Niagara for the WPT. I was planning on taking the next couple of months to take it easy and just play online, but maybe I'll hit a couple of EPTs.

I wouldn't think you'd ever want to leave Europe the way things are going. Why do you think it is you've had so much success here and not at home in America yet?

It's about as simple as that.

I run really good in Europe and I run really bad at home [laughs]. It's about as simple as that. I had a really bad World Series - I didn't make any final tables, but it was kind of humbling to, you know, realize that you can't just expect to win everything and you really have to focus. A lot of times I wasn't getting a good night's sleep before the tournaments and I had to kind of refocus on my strategy and what I need to do to play good solid poker.

So what are you going to do with all this cash you keep winning? Throw a party?

Yeah, my mom and dad, because we didn't do anything after I won San Remo, they said they were going to throw a party for me if I won anything else. They said they were going to do it when I got sixth in Barcelona so I think now we're definitely going to do one.

 

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With his aggressive approach to the game and the solid head on his shoulders, Jason Mercier has taken Europe by storm, and if this latest win against a field filled with poker's elite is any indication, we're witnessing the beginnings of a very special poker career ... no matter what side of the pond it's on.