Natasha Mercier’s WSOP Paradise $25K Super Main Event Ends After Brutal River
On Thursday, the final table of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Paradise $25,000 Super Main Event got underway, and one of the favorites at the table was Natasha Mercier, who sat down with the third-largest stack.
Mercier had family and friends on hand, including her husband, future Poker Hall of Famer Jason Mercier, as she entered her fourth career WSOP final table. Her run was reminiscent of Liv Boeree’s fourth-place in last year's WSOP Paradise Super Main Event, and Mercier had the chance to eclipse that mark.
Unfortunately for Mercier, she fell two spots short of tying Boeree when she bowed out in sixth place after losing back-to-back hands, including one to a brutal river card. She received $1.8M for her deep run.
“The past five days have been filled with emotions,” Mercier told PokerNews afterward. “Day 1 was pretty uneventful, but as the days went by, the field was getting tougher every day and the stakes higher. First you’re grinding $10k pay jumps and next thing you know it’s $100k, and then it’s a million.”
Mercier’s quick downfall was originally reported by PokerNews’ Josh Noy.
In the first hand, it was Level 36 (3,000,000/6,000,000/6,000,000) when Terrance Reid opened to 12,000,000 on the button, and Mercier moved all in for 110,000,000 in the big blind. Reid made the call for all of his chips, and the hands were turned up.
Terrance Reid: A♦J♠
Natasha Mercier: A♥8♣
Reid's jack kicker held through the A♣4♣7♥Q♥3♣ runout, doubling his stack while leaving Mercier with just three big blinds.
In the very next hand, Reid opened to 12,000,000 in the cutoff, and Mercier moved her short stack of 17,000,000 into the middle from the small blind. Jean-Noel Thorel took some time before three-betting to 50,000,000 in the big blind.
Reid got out of the way, and the cards were turned up.
Natasha Mercier: A♥Q♠
Jean-Noel Thorel: K♦8♦
Both players missed the 10♣2♥9♣ flop, while Mercier connected with the Q♣ turn. The crowd gasped as Thorel spiked the K♣ river, ending Mercier's run in sixth place.
Balancing poker with motherhood has become a defining part of Mercier’s career, and she admitted the length of elite tournaments still takes an emotional toll. “I always want to play,” she said. “But tournaments this good are so long, and it hurts me to be away from my little boys every time. Poker comes second.”
“My eight-year-old, who never wants me to leave town, suddenly had a heart attack knowing I planned to buy in late,” she said. “He basically begged me to leave Sunday morning and told me I had to play this tournament on time. I don’t know how it works, but something completely unexplainable happened.”
Mercier also gave a short post-elimination interview with Jeff Platt in which she shared that she was anxious to get home to her children, which she’ll be doing $1.8 million richer.
Here’s a look at the remaining payouts in the tournament:
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000,000 | ||
| 2 | $6,000,000 | ||
| 3 | $4,000,000 | ||
| 4 | $3,000,000 | ||
| 5 | $2,350,000 | ||
| 6 | Natasha Mercier | United States | $1,800,000 |
| 7 | Peter Chien | Canada | $1,400,000 |
| 8 | Franco Spitale | Argentina | $1,100,000 |
