Day 1A of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event played out on Saturday, with PocketFives.com member and bracelet winner Jason treysfull21 Mercier (pictured at right) finishing second in chips with 189,725. Mercier is a card-carrying member of Team PokerStars Pro and took down the 23rd event of the 12th Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS). The entire field after Day 1A trails Brian "snagglepuss" Powel, a Louisville native. Day 1B will play out today before the field convenes for Day 2 on Monday. All of the action can be found on PocketFivesLive.com, your home for WSOP Europe coverage of online poker players.A total of 156 players from more than 20 countries took to the felts in the £10,000 buy-in tournament, which is emanating from the Casino at the Empire in London. Mercier busted Ben “MilkyBarKid” Grundy late in the day, ending Grundy’s title hopes. The two tangled in a race situation, with Mercier holding A-K against pocket jacks. The flop came king-high, propelling Mercier into the lead for good in the hand and sending him into second in the chip counts, trailing only Powell’s stack of 194,600.
On Mercier’s play on Day 1A, PocketFivesLive.com Tournament Reporter Court Harrington, who is camped out in the Old World following all of the action, noted, "Jason has been one of the hottest players on the poker tour lately and, as he continues to rack up impressive results, his standing as one of the top tournament pros in poker only continues to grow."
Also with a Top 10 stack is Jonathan FatalError Aguiar (pictured at left), who holds 160,100 chips, good for fifth place. Aguiar’s pocket kings outlasted an opponent’s pocket queens late in the day when the board ran out 9-6-4-7-5. He then lost ground after betting out on a 10-9-7-Q board with two diamonds and two hearts. Two adversaries called and the ace of hearts hit the river. The action checked around and a player with a flush earned the check mark in the hand. Aguiar took down the PokerStars Sunday 500 in July for $87,000. He finished sixth in a $1,000 rebuy tournament during the 2008 WSOP for $130,000 in an event ultimately won by Michael worldsgrtest Banducci. Rebuys, of course, were stricken from the 2009 WSOP schedule.
After Day 1A in London, Christain charder Harder (pictured at right) proudly owns the seventh largest stack in the WSOP Europe Main Event at 134,125. Charder and Mercier were seated at the ESPN feature table during a portion of Saturday’s festivities. After a flop of 8-4-3 with two spades, Harder led out and Andy Black put in a raise. Poker Hall of Fame nominee Men “The Master” Nguyen folded and Harder called to see the turn come the nine of spades. Harder checked, Black moved all-in, and Harder tanked before calling with 8-6, no spades. According to coverage on PocketFivesLive.com, “Black pushed his cards face down towards the dealer. Nguyen asked to see the hand and Black’s As-7 was turned over. The hero call left Black in shock and the rest of the table in awe.”Harrington gave his take on Harder’s run through Day 1A: "A huge call at the very end of the day took Harder from an average stack to a Top 10 stack and he will be a major threat going into Day 2 play on Monday." Harder sits at #30 in the PocketFives.com Online Poker Rankings and is two weeks removed from a win in the Wednesday Quarter Million on PokerStars for $48,000.
PocketFives.com members remaining in the 2009 WSOP Europe Main Event after Day 1A include:
2. Jason treysfull21 Mercier - 189,725
5. Jonathan FatalError Aguiar - 160,100
7. Christain charder Harder - 134,125
39. Joe ender555 Ebanks - 49,175
49. Nadeem Deemer6 Riaz - 40,675
72. Scott r_a_y Montgomery - 18,225
The Top 10 chip stacks overall are:
1. Brian Powell - 194,600
2. Jason Mercier - 189,725
3. Sami Kelopuro - 168,925
4. Viktor Blom - 163,175
5. Jonathan Aguiar - 160,100
6. Martin Hansen - 152,775
7. Christian Harder - 134,125
8. Tommy Pavlicek - 119,825
9. Richard Grace - 116,850
10. John Kabbaj - 104,500
Check out all of the action from Day 1B and beyond on PocketFivesLive.com.
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