Mercier Beats Volpe to Claim 2016 WSOP POY Award

Jason Mercier got off to an incredible start at this year’s WSOP in Las Vegas, and by the series’ midway point had all but secured his claim to the WSOP Player of the Year (POY) award, having notched up two gold bracelets, a runner-up finish, and a minor 35th place cash to propel himself way ahead of the competition.
By the end of the 2016 WSOP, the 29 year-old Florida pro subsequently clinched the deal in style with an impressive 11 tournament cashes worth almost $1 million in prize money, including the following 4 final table results:
1st in $10K 2-7 NL (#16) for $273,335
1st in $10K H.O.R.S.E. (#24) for $422,874
2nd in $10K Razz (#20) for $168,936
8th in $10K Omaha Hi-Low (#32) for $39,269
In addition to his tournament winnings, Mercier also cleaned up in prop bets after several brave pros gambled against him winning multiple bracelets at the 2016 WSOP. The 5-times WSOP bracelet winner then topped off his golden run by proposing to his girlfriend Natasha Barbour just after she was eliminated from the $5k NLHE event for $348,374, and of course she accepted.
Fellow PokerStars sponsored pro Daniel Negreanu has previously won the WSOP POY award on two occasions (2004, 2014), and following Mercier being honored with this year’s WSOP POY Award, the Canadian pro said:
“The Player of the Year race is a very special honor and no one is more deserving than Jason for his accomplishments in 2016. What a run he had playing against the world’s best and consistently putting up results. A great player who is highly skilled in every form of poker. Very happy for him.”
Jason Mercier currently sits at number 13 on poker’s all-time money list with $17,382,987 in winnings, as well as a further $2,206,185 won online under the screen name ‘Treysfull21’.
2016 WSOP POY Award
1: Jason Mercier 2195.57
2: Paul Volpe 1923.66
3: Max Silver 1687.67
4: John Monnette 1591.35
5: Justin Bonomo 1515.94
6: Michael Gathy 1505.31
7: Martin Kozlov 1501.39
8: David Vamplew 1496.22
9: Chris Ferguson 1469.57
10: Benny Glaser 1422.54