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Jason Mercier Wins SHRPO High Roller – Justin Bonomo Wins London Short Deck Event

Jason Mercier SHRPO

Two of poker’s biggest names have taken down titles in the last couple of days. Jason Mercier is largely focusing on being a dad these days but still plays the occasional poker tournament. On Friday, he won the $50,000 Super High Roller Event at the 2019 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open for $715k.

Justin Bonomo was recently leapfrogged by Bryn Kenney for #1 on Poker’s All-Time Money List. Knowing his prowess at the table, we knew it wouldn’t be long before Bonomo began his march to retake the title. Bonomo won the £100k Short Deck NL Event at the Triton Poker London series on Thursday along with $3.2 million in prize money. However, after the event, he told the poker world that he is easing his way into retirement.

Jason Mercier Wins SHRPO Super High Roller

You don’t hear us talk about Jason Mercier that much anymore and that is for good reason. He is busy being both a husband and father and is putting the majority of his focus into that. However, he tends to put his all into any poker event he does play and that was the case with the recently completed $50,000 Super High Roller Event at the 2019 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open in Hollywood, FL.

The event drew a small, but an elite field of 41 players and the final table was a solid one that consisted of Manig Loeser, Mercier, Tom Boivin, and others. Mercier entered the final table as the chip leader and prior to the start, he tweeted out a remarkable stat via his Twitter account.

Mercier having such a dominant chip lead going into the final table was enough of an advantage, but he took his advantage to the next level with his final table preparation:

As one would expect, the final table ended up being a slaughterfest for Mercier. By the time action was five-handed, Mercier had 80% of the chips in play. This didn’t change much and by the time he was heads-up with Franklin Fok, he has about a 7 to 1 chip lead.

Fok never really stood a chance and in the end, he was all-in with As-Js against pocket fives for Mercier. The board ran out ten-high and Mercier won the title along with $715,860.

Justin Bonomo Wins Triton £100k Short Deck and Talks Retirement

Learning that Justin Bonomo has taken down another poker tournament comes as no shock to the poker world. What he said after winning his latest title was. On Thursday, Bonomo won the £100k NL Hold’em Short Deck Event at the Triton Super High Roller Series London. He outlasted a field of 53 players to take down the title and the $3.24 million top prize.

Some of the other players that cashed in the event included Tom Dwan, Stephen Chidwick, David Benefield, and Isaac Haxton. The top four players earned over $1 million in prize money Paul Phua finished fourth for $1.18 million while Xu Liang finished third for $1.46 million.

It was Wai Yong against Bonomo heads-up for the title, but he fell short and earned a solid $2.23 million payday. Yong won the London Main Event earlier in the week, to give him over $5.3 million in earnings for the series.

The big surprise of this event came from Bonomo, who after his victory revealed that he is easing his way into retirement. He told reporters that he is trying to ramp down his playing, stating that, “I’m not going to completely retire, but I’m playing a lot less. Because of 2018, I’ve nothing but pride to look back on. I’ve nothing left to prove.”

Bonomo spoke about Bryn Kenney recently taking over the #1 spot on the Poker All-Time Money List. He stated that he feels that he’ll never get to #1 again and he is OK with that since it was never a goal of his.

Now what a part-time schedule means for Bonomo is anyone’s guess. Will he turn out to be another Fedor Holz where he will win millions on a part-time schedule or will he play the occasional tournament while enjoying the quiet life with his winnings from 2018? Only time will tell.

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