After coming into the day with one of the shorter stacks in the room, Jason Mercier surged through Day Two to take down the championship of the World Poker Tour Alpha8 St. Kitts.
Nine players came back to the felt on Sunday to resume the festivities with Olivier Busquet holding court over the table. With his 346,000 chips, only Bill Perkins (254K) and Daniel Colman (222.5K) were within shouting distance of Busquet. Arranged underneath these three men were Alec Torelli (170K), Tony Guglietti (127K) Kathy Lehne (116.5K), Mercier (100.5K), Antonio Esfandiari (90.5K) and Talal Shakerchi, all looking to get a double up to get back in the tournament.
These nine players had to eliminate one player to reach the official Alpha8 final table and when it came it was a bit of a surprise. Mercier would open the betting from under the gun and Colman, who has run roughshod over High Roller tournaments throughout 2014 but bled chips through the early play on Sunday, three-bet all in for more than 90K in chips. Mercier considered his action for a lengthy period before eventually making the call and the duo turned up their cards.
Mercier probably knew he was behind and he was with his A-Q against Colman’s A-K. Irritated with his decision, Mercier’s anguish immediately changed to elation when a Queen showed in the window on a Q-6-4 flop. When a nine came on the turn and a deuce on the river, Mercier had eliminated the dangerous Colman and put himself in the running for the St. Kitts championship.
With the Alpha8 official final table determined, now it was time to move towards finding the champion. Shakerchi would leave the event in eighth place at the hands of Torelli only four hands into the final table but, for the most part, the players tentatively engaged each other. It would take over twenty hands before the next elimination would take place.
On Hand 27, Torelli would push all in from the cutoff, looking to pick up the blinds. Unfortunately for Torelli, Busquet would find a pocket pair of sevens in the big blind and made the call. Torelli turned up an A-10 to go to battle and it looked good at the start with the flop coming 4-A-9. Now leading the hand, Torelli was stunned to see a seven come on the turn, switching the lead back to Busquet’s set of sevens. A deuce on the river changed nothing as Torelli walked to the beach in seventh place.
Even though they were down to six players, only three would walk away with any of the prize pool created. Esfandiari, who needed to finish in at least second place to make any money after his three entries, would double up twice on back-to-back hands against Busquet and Mercier to suddenly become a contender. After those two stunning hands, Perkins would bow out of the tournament in sixth place after his A-J couldn’t catch Busquet’s pocket Kings.
The only woman at the table (in fact, the first woman ever to enter an Alpha8 tournament), Lehne now came to life after quietly watching the action around her. After forcing Mercier out of a pot with an all-in move, Lehne doubled through Busquet after Busquet’s flopped Queen-high straight was countered by Lehne hitting a full house, Jacks over eights, on the turn. Now Lehne was back in the tournament as the four players behind Busquet (separated by roughly 30K in chips) looked to catch up with him.
On Hand 65, those five players would become four. Esfandiari’s dreams of getting a return on his investment ended here as, after a Busquet raise and a Lehne all-in, he pushed his chips into the center. Busquet cleared the way and Esfandiari, with his pocket Queens, held the edge over Lehne’s A-K. A 4-3-J kept Esfandiari in the lead but, when a five came on the turn, suddenly Lehne had a wheel draw to go with her over cards. That wheel came home with a deuce on the river, cruelly eliminating Esfandiari in fifth place and rocketing Lehne into the lead.
Lehne lengthened her lead and, after Mercier (holding a K-Q) eliminated Busquet (holding an A-J) on a Q-5-9-2-7 board, the three cashers in the Alpha8 St. Kitts were determined. Lehne held 826K, more than twice the chips of either Guglietti (326K) or Mercier (348K) as the trio settled in for what would be an arduous fight.
It would take 40 hands of three-handed play before the final two would be determined. While Lehne drifted back to the pack a bit, Mercier and Guglietti would determine who would take her on. On Hand 117 on an 8-7-K-Q flop and turn, Guglietti moved all in and Mercier, after some deliberation, made the call. His K-10 held the edge over Guglietti’s K-3 and, when a deuce hit the river, Guglietti was out in third place and Mercier took over the lead from Lehne.
Mercier would never let Lehne back into the tournament. As her chips slowly slipped through her fingers, Lehne eventually made her stand on Hand 151. After a Q-5-Q flop, Mercier would check-call a 75K bet out of Lehne to see a seven come on the turn, which both checked. On the eight river, Mercier bet out at this point and, sizing up her stack, Lehne moved all-in to put the pressure back on Mercier. Mercier would only need a minute to make the decision to call, turning up pocket Aces to have a better two pair (Aces and Queens) than Lehne’s 10-8 could muster (Queens and eights) and take down the WPT Alpha8 St. Kitts crown.
1. Jason Mercier, $727,500
2. Kathy Lehne, $436,500
3. Tony Guglietti, $291,000
The scene now shifts to Las Vegas and the Bellagio, where the WPT will conduct its final two tournaments for 2014. WPT Alpha8 will hold another $100,000 buy-in tournament beginning on December 18, but the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic will take center stage next with its start on December 15.