Can Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier Overcome A Bad Beat And Conquer A Stacked Final Table?
Two days ago, the €10,000 High Roller at the Season 9 European Poker Tour Prague is attracted a field of 113 players. That turnout exceeded even the wildest expectations, and that’s resulted in the tournament running longer than planned. For that reason, Day 3 has been added to the schedule to determine a winner.
Just nine players remain in contention for the €365,300 first-place prize including chip leader Sorel Mizzi, who has 1.192 million; France’s Philippe Ktorza, the only other man over a million in chips; back-to-back World Poker Tour champion Marvin Rettenmaier; and Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier.
Mercier suffered a brutal beat late last night when Rettenmaier opened for 40,000 from the cutoff and Mercier three-bet to 113,000 from the small blind. Action was then on Ktorza in the big blind and he paused for a moment before announcing that he was all in for 522,000. Rettenmaier got out of the way and Mercier snap-called.
Showdown
Ktorza: 
Mercier: 
Mercier held rockets and was a huge favorite over Ktorza, who was up on his feet. The 
flop gave Ktorza a pair of kings, but he'd need another to stay alive. Wouldn't you know it, the dealer burned and turned the 
. Ktorza briefly celebrated while Mercier was clearly disgusted and frustrated. The 
was put out on the river, and the long-time chip leader was suddenly on a short stack. Luckily for him, Mercier doubled the very next hand to put himself back in contention with 444,000.
Here’s a look at the final nine and how they stack up:
| Seat | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andrey Gulyy | 229,000 |
| 2 | Fabian Quoss | 781,000 |
| 3 | Marcin Wydrowski | 420,000 |
| 4 | Aubin Cazals | 225,000 |
| 5 | Marvin Rettenmaier | 738,000 |
| 6 | Juha Helppi | 546,000 |
| 7 | Jason Mercier | 444,000 |
| 8 | Philippe Ktorza | 1,094,000 |
| 9 | Sorel Mizzi | 1,192,000 |
Play will resume at 12:00 CEST, which is less than an hour from now. Join us then as we will crown a winner in the EPT9 Prague €10,000 High Roller!