2016 WSOP Updates

With the WSOP coming to an end, we have seen the fruition of a few stories that were created early on at the 2016 WSOP. Without any more introduction, lets jump right in to some of the bigger news and updates. Player of the Year Race The 2016 WSOP Player of the Year was all but in the bag half way through the series. Jason Merciers two bracelet wins sealed deal with no other players coming close to what he had achieved this year. As of the final event starts, Mercier had a massive lead of about 600 points over Paul Volpe. Mercier is officially the winner as no player can earn enough points, even if they win the Main Event. Mercier had an amazing WSOP with 3 final tables, 2 bracelets and 10 cashes in total. Justin Bonomo also had a great year finishing in 3rd for Player of the Year honors. The pink haired pro from Denver made an impressive 4 final tables, but failed to seal the deal in any of those attempts. His best finish was 2nd in the $50,000 Players Championship for $801,000. He added 2 more 3rd place finishes and a 4th to go along with 2 other cashes this year. Mercier is Running Good Obviously Jason Mercier is the player on everyone's mind this year. It seems like he's having the best run of his life, and that didn't stop after his 2nd bracelet win. Even off the felt, Mercier is running better than just about anyone. Aside from his prop bet wins that are being touted as worth more than he made from playing at the WSOP, he's now officially engaged. His longtime girlfriend and fellow pro Natasha Barbour was playing in the $5,000 No Limit tournament when she busted in 3rd place. Mercier would play the role of good boyfriend by meeting her at the table to what most thought was to console her. Much to everyone's surprise, he dropped to a knee and proposed to her on the spot. Of course she said yes, and continues the best run of any player at the WSOP. One Drop Updates The High Roller One Drop saw 183 players pay the $111,111 entry fee making it the largest high roller tournament in history. As you would expect, all the top payers would enter the tournament in hopes of scoring a multimillion dollar payday. Many of those would drop out on day 2 including Phil Hellmuth, Justin Bonomo, Doug Polk and Erik Seidel. Among others. As of Saturday evening, 29 players remain. Joe McKeehan is the chip leader with over 7.9 million chips. Players are hand for hand right now as the top 28 players get paid. David Steicke is currently in last with just over 1 million chips. Still left in the field are Fedor Holz in 3rd, Igor Kurganoz in 2nd, and previous winner of this event, Antonio Esfandiari.