Mercier, who has racked up over $7.6 million in live tournament wins since his first cash in 2008, is one of the winningest players of the last few years but the players he’s making his bets against are just as dangerous.
“I’ve got bets with Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Tommy Vedes, Shaun Deeb and Mike Gorodinsky,” Mercier told PokerListings.com in Las Vegas.
The first two names on that list are certainly the biggest threats, and both of them have already made final tables at the 2012 WSOP.
Ivey made the final table of the $5k Stud Hi-Low event days ago but busted in seventh place, giving Mercier a sweat but sparing him having to pay out on that bet, at least for now.
“Me and Ivey just have a straight bracelet bet,” said Mercier.
We questioned Mercier about the numbers involved and if he got odds from Ivey, the eight-time bracelet winner.
“Ivey’s kind of a private person so I don’t really want to talk about it,” said Mercier.
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Rumors are circulating at the WSOP about Ivey’s new bracelet bets, and PokerListings.com overheard Ali Eslami say that if Ivey was to win a bracelet, he’d make $900,000 from one bet alone.
According to Mercier, however, the numbers he’s dealing with are a little smaller.
“I would win a nice little chunk, somewhere in the low six-figure range, if I won a bracelet,” said Mercier.
Cashes, Final Tables and Bracelets against Kid Poker
In addition to his straight-up bet with Ivey, Mercier has wagers on number of cashes, final tables and bracelets with Daniel Negreanu.
So far this summer Negreanu has cashed twice, the bigger of the two being a fifth-place finish in Event 5, a $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold’em event.
Negreanu got unlucky to go out in fifth, all-in preflop with A-Q against A-J. It was a stroke of luck for Mercier.
Even luckier for Mercier was that Tommy Vedes, another player Mercier has bets with, busted fourth following Negreanu.
“Some of my bets, like Shaun Deeb, I had to lay odds, where other ones like with Tommy Vedes it’s just in mutually played events,” said Mercier.
And since Mercier did play in Event 5, Vedes’ fourth-place score counts towards the bet.
Motivation Also a Factor
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Mercier has cashed 23 times at the WSOP since 2008, including bracelets in 2009 and 2011.
But being a good bet to win a bracelet isn’t the only reason Mercier booked so much action for 2012.
“Usually the bracelet’s going to be worth more than that just in prize money but the bets definitely motivate me to play,” said Mercier.
Mercier has been playing as many events as he possible can, sometimes two at once.
“I didn’t feel like playing today but because of the bets I’m in the $1,500 and if I bust that I’ll play the $5k Limit Hold’em tonight,” he said.
“If it wasn’t for the bets I would have just taken the day off.”
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