Congratulations to Jason Mercier, Event #35 Champion ($619,575)!

The World Series of Poker heard the voice of the players and included a six-handed PLO event on this year’s schedule. Event #35 $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha/Six Handed was the first of its kind and appealed to an assorted mix of amateurs, professionals, and seasoned online players. When registration closed two days ago, 507 players had entered to create a prize pool of $2,382,900, with $619,575 of that reserved for first. It took three grueling days of intense play, but eventually it was Jason Mercier who defeated a stacked field to claim the prize and his second PLO WSOP gold bracelet.

Day 3 got off to a bang when the field of 15 that started the day was whittled down to just eight within the first two hours of play. The man making the most noise during that time seemed to be Mercier, who scored a double knockout to vault among the top stacks. In that hand, David "Devilfish" Ulliott raised to 25,000 from the button and Peter Jetten re-raised to 110,000 from the small blind. Mercier called from the big blind, while Ulliott called behind. The flop came down and Jetten open-shoved all in, Mercier instantly went all in, and Devilfish called off his stack.

Mercier:
Jetten:
Ulliott:

Ulliott was ahead with a set of jacks, but Mercier had both straight and flush draws and Jetten's aces weren't looking too good. The turn came to give Mercier the straight, leaving Devilfish looking to pair the board; however, the river was the and both Jetten and Devilfish hit the rail. Of course the ever-vocal Devilfish didn’t leave before calling Mercier "the luckiest f**king mother f**ker alive".

Early Eliminations
Place Player Prize
15 Shawn Bennani $23,519
14 Peter Jetten $23,519
13 David “Devilfish” Ulliott $23,519
12 Daniel Fuhs $30,024
11 Chris Moorman $30,024
10 Jared Bleznick $39,413
9 Robert Fellner $53,210
8 David Callaghan $39,413
7 Greg Brooks $53,210

Brooks’ elimination meant the official final table had been reached. It was there that WSOP rookie Michael "Timex" McDonald got his short-stack all in against four-time bracelet winner David Chiu.

Chiu:
McDonald:

Unfortunately the board ran out and Timex was eliminated in sixth place for $73,965. The next elimination came some time later and in excruciating fashion. It began when Joe Ressler raised to 80,000 from under the gun and the action folded to Steven Merrifield in the small blind. He called as did Mercier in the big blind to see the flop fall . Merrifield and Mercier checked to Ressler who bet 150,000, only to see Merrifield check-raise to 425,000. Mercier folded, Ressler snap-shoved and Merrifield insta-called.

Ressler:
Merrifield:

It was set-over-set as the dealer burned and turned the . Ressler was one card away from a double, but much to the shock of his supporters, the spiked on the river. Merrifield had hit a one outer to send Ressler home in fifth place ($105,967).

The next to go was Chiu, who grew extremely short stacked and couldn’t outflop Mercier. The four-time bracelet winner hit the rail in fourth place, worth $156,628. Three-handed play began with the chips essentially spread equally between the players. Merrifield held a small lead, but short-handed play did not go his way. He was chipped down considerably and eventually eliminated at the hands of Hans Winzeler. That left Mercier (3.49 million) to do heads-up battle against Winzeler (4.125 million). The heads-up match saw the chip lead change hands a couple of times, lasting almost two hours. In the end, Mercier hit a straight on the river to claim the title, his second in the PLO variation, with his previous victory coming back in the 2009 Event #5 $1,500 PLO after he cleared a field of 809 players to claim the $237,462 first-place prize. That means he has now won two PLO bracelets for a combined $857,037.

Final Table Results
Place Player Prize
1 Jason Mercier $619,575
2 Hans Winzeler $383,075
3 Steven Merrifield $239,100
4 David Chiu $156,628
5 Joe Ressler $105,967
6 Michael McDonald $73,965

I once allied myself, as a human, with the Alpha Wolf.

I once allied myself, as a human, with the Alpha Wolf.

I once allied myself, as a human, with the Alpha Wolf.

I once allied myself, as a human, with the Alpha Wolf.

I once allied myself, as a human, with the Alpha Wolf.

Congratulations to Matt Jarvis, Event No. 40 Champion ($808,538)

Following the footsteps of all of the other "November Niners" since 2008, Matt Jarvis became a well-known entity in the poker world after making the final table of last year's WSOP Main Event. While he'd depart from that table in eighth place -- in one of the more memorable hands in WSOP history versus Michael Mizrachi -- Jarvis nonetheless earned lasting fame from his performance, not to mention a million-plus dollar payday. But with today's win in Event No. 40, the $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em Six-Handed event, Jarvis has ensured himself instant respect as well for having bested one of the toughest large-sized fields the WSOP will likely see this summer.

Today's runner-up, Justin Filtz, should also gain some acclaim for his performance as well. Filtz enjoyed the chip lead for much of Day 3 and for part of the three-plus hours he and Jarvis battled heads-up last night and today. While he's surely disappointed in coming up one spot shy, the almost half a million dollars should help him get over it somewhat. Jarvis is still beaming as he stands on the stage giving final interviews, clearly satisfied with having closed the deal here after being unable to do so last November. Jarvis collects $808,538 for his victory, his win marking the fifth by a Canadian at this year's Series, the most by any country other than the U.S.

I once allied myself, as a human, with the Alpha Wolf.

H&M's website makes me want to punch my own banana split in.