Jason Mercier raised to 8,000 from the button, and Eugene Katchalov made the first three-bet of this duel, reraising to 20,500 total. Mercier quickly passed.
On the next hand, Katchalov opened with the same minimum raise from his button, and Mercier flatted to see a flop. It came , and Mercier check-called a bet of 6,000. He check-called another 16,500 on the turn, and the river drew checks from both players. Mercier showed up , and his aces up were good.
Eugene Katchalov min-raised the button to 8,000. Jason Mercier made the call from the big blind and the flop came down , very draw-heavy. Mercier checked and Katchalov bet 12,000. Mercier shoved and Katchalov called off the last of his chips holding bottom two pair with the . Mercier held top pair and a straight draw with the .
The turn brought the and now Mercier needed a jack, ten, nine, six or three to win the hand. Katchalov just needed to dodge.
The river completed the board with the and smacked Mercier a better two pair than Katchalov. He had Katchalov covered and just like that it was all over with Mercier successfully defending his title.
As if Vanessa Selbst going back-to-back in the $5,000 Main Event yesterday at the North American Poker Tour Mohegan Sun wasn't enough, Jason Mercier has matched her and successfully defended his High Roller Bounty Shootout title. Not only did Mercier win the tournament, but he also won the prize for the most bounties, which earned him another $20,000 and an entry into the next NAPT Bounty Shootout.
For winning his first table, Mercier scored $40,000 and pocketed $12,000 for six bounties, plus another $2,000 for his own. He then went on to bust three more players at the final table where the bounties were increased to $10,000 apiece. When you combine that with the $20,000 bounty prize and the $142,600 in first-place prize money, Mercier's grand total comes out to $246,600. Of course, it's not as much as the $475,000 he won last year in this event, but it's still one heck of a payday as he adds his tenth trophy to his collection (according to him).
Katchalov finished runner-up and what a performance it is for him. Just three weeks ago, on March 23, Katchalov was announced as the latest addition to Team PokerStars Pro. Putting on such an amazing performance here in this event prove further that he deserves to wear the patch and will go on to do nothing but great things to represent PokerStars. To many, Katchalov is considered one of the best all-around players in the world.
Final Table Results
Place
Player
Prize
1
Jason Mercier
$246,600
2
Eugene Katchalov
$68,000
3
Michael Pesek
$70,000
4
Jonathan Jaffe
$54,000
5
Taylor von Kriegenbergh
$44,000
6
Jimmie Guinther
$42,000
7
Scott Blackman
$44,000
8
Micah Raskin
$46,000
9
Joe Sweeney
$52,000
That wraps up our coverage from the 2011 NAPT Mohegan Sun. Congratulations to all the winners and especially to Vanessa Selbst and Jason Mercier for absolutely amazing back-to-back feats! Truly two of the best poker players in the world today.
Until next time, take care and thanks for following along.
![[user66118]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
, and Mercier check-called a bet of 6,000. He check-called another 16,500 on the 
turn, and the river 
drew checks from both players. Mercier showed up 
, and his aces up were good.
, very draw-heavy. Mercier checked and Katchalov bet 12,000. Mercier shoved and Katchalov called off the last of his chips holding bottom two pair with the 
.
and now Mercier needed a jack, ten, nine, six or three to win the hand. Katchalov just needed to dodge.
and smacked Mercier a better two pair than Katchalov. He had Katchalov covered and just like that it was all over with Mercier successfully defending his title.
