2019 marks the 50th annual World Series of Poker. The most prestigious poker festival in history has played a pivotal role in creating many of the legends and superstars of the game. To commemorate the occasion, PocketFives editorial staff each ranked the top 50 players in WSOP history in an effort to define and rank the most important, influential, and greatest WSOP players of all time. 

Jason Mercier

Jason Mercier arrived at the 2008 World Series of Poker with next to no fanfare or recognition. He cashed just three times for just under $57,000 and left Las Vegas frustrated. He came back in 2009 still basking in the glow from his European Poker Tour San Remo title and almost immediately picked up the first bracelet of his career.

Mercier topped the 809-player field in a $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha event to break the seal on what is a five bracelet and counting career.

“Winning always feels good,” Mercier said after his win. “Especially after last year. I played in 22 [WSOP] events. I went deep in just one of them. I finished 13th and that made me sick. I cashed three times, and all three times I busted out with the worst [starting] hand, in marginal spots. I was really upset with how I played last year. Now, it feels great to win a gold bracelet, especially so early in the Series.”

Mercier is now one of just 25 players who have won five or more bracelets in his career. He picked up wins in 2011 and 2015 before he put on one of the most memorable performances in WSOP history in 2016.

Having placed a massive wager on himself to win three bracelets in a year, Mercier went to work in 2016 and came oh-so-close to pulling it off. He picked up his first bracelet by beating 99 other players in the $10,000 No Limit 2-7 Championship. The final table there included Stephen Chidwick, Benny Glaser, David Grey and Mike Watson. In the minutes following his win, he predicted what was to come.

“If I can win another (bracelet) really quick, it would be a sick sweat the rest of the Series,” Mercier said “Now I’m free rolling the next year.”

Mercier then entered the $10,000 Razz Championship and navigated through all but one player before losing heads-up to Ray Dehkharghani. He followed that up by winning the $10,000 HORSE Championship for his second bracelet of the summer and fifth of his career.

“That seven-day period was really something to behold. The prop bet had a bit of a drama behind it, and once Mercier won the first bracelet, the amount of attention and pressure on him only intensified,“ said PocketFives Editor in Chief, Lance Bradley. “That being said, it shouldn’t overshadow everything else he’s done in his WSOP career so far. He plays every game the WSOP spreads and consistently performs against the toughest fields.”

Look past Mercier’s five bracelets and the rest of his numbers remain impressive. He’s cashed in 72 WSOP events in just 11 years and nearly one-third of the time he’s managed to make it into the top 10. In Championship-level events with a buy-in of $10,000 or higher, Mercier has cashed 27 times and 13 of those have resulted in a top 10 finish.
Speaking to his ability to play every game, Mercier has cashed in 16 different poker variants at the WSOP. Outside of No Limit Hold’em, Mercier has cashed 14 times in Pot Limit Omaha events including four times in the $10,000 Championship.

Twice in his career he’s made the final table of the WSOP Europe Main Event. In 2009, he outlasted 330 other players before falling in fourth. Three years later, he made his way to the final table having worked past 412 players before ending up with an eighth place finish. He has two small cashes in the Main Event in Las Vegas and has made the $50,000 Poker Players Championship final once (2015 – 7th).

“I consider Mercier to be one of the two or three best players of his generation. To think he still has years and years of WSOP success ahead of him makes it hard to project how many more bracelets it could be,” Bradley said. “It’s not hard to think of him as one of the players who could one day surpass Phil Hellmuth’s record number though”