On the second hand after Jason Mercier's elimination, Joe Tehan was in the cutoff when action folded around to him and he threw in a raise to 125,000. Michael Binger was next to act on the button and he reraised to 330,000. Both blinds folded and it was back on Tehan. He grabbed a stack of 100,000 chips and spiked them on the table for a raise to over 2 million. Binger only had 1,505,000 total and made the call.
Binger:
Tehan:
It was another race situation but this time Tehan had the worst of it. The flop changed nothing and Binger was in good shape to double until the dealer burned and turned the , giving Tehan a pair of aces and the lead!
The room reacted sharply as Binger grinned and simply nodded his head. He seemed to know his chances weren't good and that he'd need one of the two remaining tens on the river. Unfortunately for him it came the and he was eliminated from the NAPT Los Angeles Main Event in 6th place.
Jason Mercier made a mini-raise to 120,000 from the middle seat, and Ray Henson called in position. Small blind Chris DeMaci took a moment to think before calling as well, but there was a reraise coming. Big blind Joe Tehan squeezed in a three-bet to 515,000, sending the decision back to Mercier.
Mr. Mercier wasn't going anywhere. In his deliberate fashion, he stacked out a four-bet to 1.1 million straight, enough to fold the two monkeys in the middle. When it came back to Tehan, he announced a reraise all in with the covering stack. "Wow," was all Mercier said as he made the call for his last 3.645 million to put himself at risk.
Showdown
Mercier:
Tehan:
"It's kind of big," Michael Binger said with a smirk, eying up the enormous pot that was about to be pushed to the winner of this flip. Mercier and Tehan wished each other luck, and both of them were all smiles (and a few sidelong winces) as they sweated their fate.
The flop was full of blanks for Mercier as it came down to grow Tehan's lead with two to come.
Turn: . It too was a miss, but there was an overwhelming feeling in the arena that the six-outer was coming.
It wasn't.
The river drew a simple shrug from Mercier, and he shook hands with the table and wished them luck as he made his exit.
"Good hand, Joe. Take it down, buddy."
With that, Jason Mercier and his lucky shirt have become our 7th place finishers. He'll pick up $84,857, but that will likely be little consolation to the Team PokerStars Pro who had a clear plan to win the trophy today.
"Wow... Jason Mercier lost a race," Ray Henson said once Mercier had gotten out of earshot.
Ray Henson opened to 135,000, under the gun, and Jason Mercier three-bet to 315,000 from the small blind. Henson took just a quick look across the table before double-checking his hole cards and sending them into the muck.
Jason Mercier came in for a min-raise to 120,000 in early position, and Michael Binger made the call from the big blind.
Heads up, the flop came out , and Binger quickly checked. Mercier is not a fan of checking; he continued out with a bet of 140,000, and that was just the right amount to take it down.
"Show those cards again," Binger said with a smirk. "Make sure the camera sees the bluff."
Anh Van Nguyen raised to 120,000 from early position only to have Chris DeMaci reraise to 350,000 from the small blind. Joe Tehan got out of the way in the big blind and Nguyen gave it up as well.
Action folded to Ray Henson in the small blind and he limped. Chris DeMaci was in the big and decided to exercise his option with a raise to 210,000. Henson made the call and the two saw a flop of .
Both players checked and the hit the turn. Henson checked, DeMaci bet 150,000 and Henson folded. Pot to DeMaci.
Joe Tehan completed from the small blind, and Michael Binger exercised his option to raise to 185,000 from the big. Tehan gave him a look and a long frown, reluctantly surrendering to Binger's aggression.
Jason Mercier raised to 120,000 from the cutoff and Ray Henson three-bet to 335,000. Chris DeMaci folded the big blind and Mercier followed suit, conceding the hand to Henson.
Chris DeMaci raised to 135,000 from under the gun. Ray Henson three-bet to 340,000 from the big blind and DeMaci made the call. The flop came down and Henson fired 425,000. DeMaci made the call.
The turn card was the and Henson checked. DeMaci bet 480,000. Henson made the call. The fell on the river and action was on Henson. He checked. DeMaci checked behind.
Henson tabled pocket kings, but lost to DeMaci's .
Chris DeMaci raised to 135,000. Jason Mercier made the call from the small blind and Al Grimes called from the big blind. The three players took the flop of and action was checked to DeMaci. He also checked.
The was added on the turn. Once again, all three players checked.
The fell on the river and action checked around again. DeMaci showed the and his two opponents mucked.
flop changed nothing and Binger was in good shape to double until the dealer burned and turned the 
, giving Tehan a pair of aces and the lead!
and he was eliminated from the NAPT Los Angeles Main Event in 6th place.![[user66118]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
to grow Tehan's lead with two to come.
. It too was a miss, but there was an overwhelming feeling in the arena that the six-outer was coming.
drew a simple shrug from Mercier, and he shook hands with the table and wished them luck as he made his exit.
, and Binger quickly checked. Mercier is not a fan of checking; he continued out with a bet of 140,000, and that was just the right amount to take it down.
.
hit the turn. Henson checked, DeMaci bet 150,000 and Henson folded. Pot to DeMaci.
and Henson fired 425,000. DeMaci made the call.
and Henson checked. DeMaci bet 480,000. Henson made the call. The 
fell on the river and action checked around again. DeMaci showed the 
and his two opponents mucked.