Jason Mercier Wins WPT Alpha8 St. Kitts ($727,500)!

Jason Mercier is the champion of the second annual $100,000 WPT Alpha8 St. Kitts!

This event began yesterday with 11 players in their seats, and four re-entries brought the total number of entries to 15. That generated a prizepool worth $1,455,000 to be shared by the final three players.

Nine levels of Day 1 action reduced the field to nine players with Jeff Gross and Michael Singh failing to advance. The nine who did returned to The Pavilion at Christophe Harbour today to battle for the trophy and the huge seven-figure top prize.

Daniel Colman was the day’s first victim, losing his final pot to Mercier on a bad beat. Colman got his last 23 big blinds into the pot with his AK dominating Mercier’s AQ. The poker gods have been kind to Colman in 2014, but this time would turn out differently. The Q64 flop left him drawing dead to three outs or running straight cards, and the turn 9 and river 2 sealed his fate and set the final table of eight.

Here’s how the finalists stacked up as they took their seats around the official final table:

Seat 1: Tony Guglietti — 186,000 (47 bb)
Seat 2: Talal Shakerchi — 44,500 (11 bb)
Seat 3: Bill Perkins — 255,000 (64 bb)
Seat 4: Olivier Busquet — 336,000 (84 bb)
Seat 5: Kathy Lehne — 107,000 (27 bb)
Seat 6: Antonio Esfandiari — 144,500 (36 bb)
Seat 7: Jason Mercier — 256,500 (64 bb)
Seat 8: Alec Torelli — 170,500 (43 bb)

The short-stacked Talal Shakerchi was the first of the finalists to meet his demise, three-bet shoving his J9 into Alec Torelli’s A8. The board ran out 742A8, and Shakerchi’s day was done in 8th place.

Alec Torelli could not get much going today, either, and he was content to flip for double or nothing during Level 12. His last 12 big blinds went into the middle with AT, and he out-flopped Busquet’s 77 on the A94. Unfortunately for Torelli, the 7 ripped off on the turn, and a meaningless 2 was the last card of Torelli’s day. Busquet’s set of sevens earned him the knockout and reduced the field to six.

Bill Perkins fired two bullets in this event, and he was the life of the party for two straight days. But his chips and his time left at the table were both running short. His final stand came just a few hands later, three-bet shoving for about 21 big blinds with AJ. Behind him, Busquet made a cold four-bet shove with his KK to isolate himself against the at-risk Perkins, and the board ran out J9845. Perkins was out in sixth place, and Busquet was sitting with more than twice as many chips as anyone at the table.

Antonio Esfandiari one-upped Perkins by firing three bullets into the prizepool, needing to finish second or better to turn a profit. Unfortunately for “The Magician”, he could not make it that far. One level after Perkins’ elimination, Esfandiari got involved in a big coin flip with Kathy Lehne, his QQ against her AK. The runout was a nasty one for the pantless Esfandiari, coming 43J52 to river him out the door in fifth place.

That brought the four remaining players squarely onto the money bubble. The final three would all earn at least $291,000, while the next player one out would walk away with nothing.

Busquet began the day with the chip lead, and he increased for most of the afternoon before running into some trouble during that same level. By the time Esfandiari fell, Busquet was one of the short stacks, and he could not stave off a fourth-place finish. He got his last 17 big blinds in good, three-bet shoving AJ to Mercier’s KQ. This 60/40 went Mercier’s way, though, as the board came Q9527. Busquet was gracious in defeat, smiling and shaking hands as he departed from the stage empty handed.

Three-handed play lasted for about a level before Tony Guglietti was sent off in a bad spot against Mercier. The two men were betting and calling to the turn on a K87Q board, and Guglietti ended up all in on fourth street with K3. Mercier was in front with KT, though, and the river 2 sealed Guglietti’s fate. He was out in third place, and Mercier and Lehne were heads up for the title.

A short dinner break interrupted the duel, which was mostly running in favor of Mercier and his aggression. Lehner came back from the break with some newfound aggression of her own, though, and she nearly had the gap closed before things came unraveled.

On the final hand, Lehne check-shoved the river as the board showed Q5Q78. The move put Mercier to the test, and he considered his play carefully before making the call with AA. Lehne’s T8 made an inferior two pair, and she had to settle for a runner-up finish worth $436,500.

She’s the only lady who’s ever entered an Alpha8 event, and she’s 1-for-1 so far.

So then, after another impressive tournament performance, Mercier is the newest champion of WPT Alpha8! He earns $727,500 for his efforts, along with a pair of Monster 24K headphones and a Hublot King Power Unico watch. Oh, and a #selfie with Lynn Gilmartin.