2016 World Series of Poker Daily Update: Mercier Leads, Le Gets Gold

June 17th, 2016 | by Jason Reynolds

At the 2016 World Series of Poker on Thursday, chatter inside the Rio in Las Vegas was all about that Vanessa Selbst-Jason Mercier side bet. It’s the story that never ends. Or, at least not until (or if) Mercier wins his third bracelet of the year.

Vanessa Selbst Jason Mercier prop bet WSOP 2016

Vanessa Selbst may have this look on her face if she has to pay out seven figures on a drunken prop bet. (Image: onlinepoker.net)

Event #24, $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. began on Wednesday with 171 players. One of those players was Mercier, who happens to lead the field of 14 remaining players for play when it kicks off today again at 2 pm PT. Not only is he one of the top players in the world, he’s also going after an extra $1.8 million payday if he wins three bracelets this summer.

No one is rooting against him accomplishing that goal more than the formidable Vanessa Selbst.That’s because she is the one who will be forced to show him the money, thanks to a prop bet that happened while both parties were, apparently, enjoying an alcoholic beverage or five.

Mercier has 1,597,000 chips. In 2^nd place at start of day will be Jesse Martin, with 1,244,000. Daniel Alaei was the chip leader heading into Day Two, but didn’t make it through and busted in 18^th place. Jason Somerville also cashed, finishing in 16^th out of 171.

Nick Schulman and John Monnette are among the final 14. Friday this event will play down to a winner.

Givens Leads the Pack

Will Givens, the man who bragged about busting Chris “Jesus” Ferguson earlier in the tournament, will head into Day Four of Event #21, the $3,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em, as the chip leader with five players left.

The tournament was originally scheduled to conclude on Thursday, but like a few others so far this year, ran late. Givens has 6,030,000 chips. The other four players are Calvin Lee (4,250,000), Mark Herm (2,770,000), Martin Kozlov (1,555,000), and Steven Thompson Vila (835,000).

Givens is the only player left with a bracelet to his name.

Best Mistake Ever

Every heard the saying, “sometimes a mistake pays off?” For Scott Farnsworth of Washington, his mistake paid him $116,663.

Farnsworth entered Event #22, the $1,500 Limit Hold’em, under the assumption he was playing a no-limit tournament. He didn’t discover his error until the tournament started. But now he’s glad he made a goof. Heading into the event, he had never cashed in a WSOP event. After this tournament concluded on Thursday, he now has a 2^nd place finish and a whole heck of a lot more money to his name.

It was first-timer Danny Le, however, who won the bracelet and $188,815. The 49-year old California resident scored his first WSOP championship.

On Tap Today

The action at the Rio on Friday should be intense. Jason Mercier will be going for bracelet number two of the summer in $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. And two other bracelets will be awarded for Event #21, $3,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em and Event #23, $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em. Anthony Spinella is the chip leader in that tournament.

There will also be two brand new events starting today, both three-day tournaments. Event #27, $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold’em (for players age 50 and up) is already underway, and Event #28, $10,000 Limit Hold’em, starts at 3 pm PT.