One of the things that sprung up after the poker explosion of 2003 was bracelet bets at the WSOP. There was a lot of money in the poker community at that time, and some of the top players felt some of the smaller events weren’t worth their time, so they upped the ante with bracelet bets. The story goes that Eli Elezra came up with the idea in 2007, taking 5-1 on winning one. It worked out well for him, as he won around 200k for winning the 3k Stud High/Lo and much more from his bets. Not to mention a bracelet!
In 2009, Phil Ivey had already won two bracelets, and large sums in bets before the Main Event. He took very long odds on winning the ME and had a bunch of players very nervous as he made the November Nine. Alas, he busted out quickly and there were some very relieved people.
In 2010, Tom Dwan took around 3-1 on winning for large amounts from numerous players. It was speculated that he stood to win somewhere between 9-20 million. When he got to heads up in the 1500 NL against a Kiwi named Simon Watts, the poker community was electric. Luckily for everyone but Dwan, Watts prevailed. As Mike Matasow said to him when he won, ““They are going to put your picture on the Bobby’s Room wall (the high-stakes section in the Bellagio poker room). Here is Simon, saved everyone from going broke.”
This year the buzz is bets made by Jason Mercier. He took 2.7-1 from several people on winning one bracelet. He also took what I believe was around 18-1 on winning two. But the real talk is the bet he made with Venassa Selbst. Apparently they were in a bar in Nassau at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure tournament and she laid $1.8 million to $10,000 that he wouldn’t win three bracelets. She knew she’d made a mistake and tried to buy out for $1000 the next morning, claiming she was very drunk, but Jason wasn’t having it. A twitter battle ensued. As Vanessa found out, drinking and gambling don’t mix!
Well, Jason has been on the run of a lifetime in the last week. He won the 10K 2-7 NL for a 273k first prize, and much more in winning bets. He followed that up by getting to heads up in the 10k Razz a few days later, but finished 2nd. There were people sighing relief after that one, figuring that he’d had his chance. But, their escape was short-lived, as he won the 10k HORSE on Friday! Two wins and a second in a little over a week is amazing in itself, but with the bets it is really special.
As I write this Jason is near the money in the 3k six-handed PLO. You can follow the action on WSOP.com, and enjoy the fun on @jasonmercier and @vanessaselbst on Twitter.
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