Mercier doubled up with A-10 against Laak’s K-J. The flop came 3-5-9, keeping Mercier out in front with ace-high. The turn was an ace, leaving Laak drawing dead to the river. Mercier then shoved pre-flop with pocket fives and Laak called all-in with K-2. The flop came A-K-8, giving Laak middle pair and the lead in the hand. The turn paired the board with an eight and Mercier was left drawing to one of the two remaining fives in the deck for the win on the river. Sure enough, it hit to allow Mercier to advance. Laak earned $25,000.
Now, Mercier will take on Nguyen (pictured at left), who defeated “High Stakes Poker” host Gabe Kaplan in the round of 16. Mercier’s path to the Elite Eight has included wins over Team PokerStars Pro front man Daniel Negreanu, reigning European Poker Tour (EPT) Monte Carlo Grand Final winner Pieter de Korver, and Laak. Mericer is one week removed from final tabling the $25,000 High-Roller event held during the L.A. Poker Classic.
Also advancing to the Elite Eight was UB.com pro Annie Duke (pictured at right). Her epic match against 2007 National Heads-Up Poker Championship winner Paul Wasicka featured Duke drawing out on pocket aces with A-10. The flop of A-J-2 gave Wasicka what seemed like an insurmountable lead in the hand with top set. However, help was on its way, as Duke turned a queen and hit a king on the river to double up in style and cripple Wasicka’s stack.
Wasicka doubled up once more before the final hand of the match was dealt. Then, Duke open-shoved with 8-5 of diamonds and Wasicka woke up with pocket jacks. Insert bad beat story here. The flop came 8-2-7, all spades, and Duke hit a five on the turn to make two pair, stunning Wasicka. Duke dodged a two, seven, and jack on the river to send Wasicka to the rails and punch her ticket to the round of eight.
Duke will now play 2007 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion Jerry Yang, who eliminated Barry barryg1 Greenstein (pictured at left) to make his way to the Elite Eight. Greenstein committed his stack with 10-9 pre-flop and Yang made the call with A-Q. Yang flopped trips and dodged an inside straight draw on the turn and river to advance.
Doyle Brunson defeated Betfair pro Annette Annette_15 Obrestad (pictured at right) in the Sweet Sixteen. Brunson was all-in on a board of 7-5-J with J-5 for top and bottom pair. Obrestad held 6-4 for an open-ended straight draw, but the board ran out K-J, doubling Brunson up. Short-stacked, Obrestad pushed with Q-5 of hearts against Brunson’s A-8. Brunson caught a pair of eights on the flop and two pair on the river to move on to the Elite Eight.
This is Brunson’s (pictured at left) first trip to the Elite Eight of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship. The DoylesRoom front man is one month removed from major dental surgery and his attendance at this event seemed to be in doubt. However, the 10-time bracelet winner has been a force to be reckoned with.
The winners of the Clubs and Spades brackets will play each other in the Final Four. The champions of the Diamonds and Hearts brackets will also do battle. Here are the survivors in the invitation-only tournament:
Clubs Bracket
Erik Seidel vs Peter Eastgate
Spades Bracket
Scotty Nguyen vs Jason treysfull21 Mercier
Hearts Bracket
Dennis Phillips vs Doyle Brunson
Diamonds Bracket
Jerry Yang vs Annie Duke
Play kicks off on Sunday at 11:00am PT and will feature the quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals. Obrestad and Greenstein each earned $25,000 for their efforts. Stay tuned to PocketFives.com for the latest National Heads-Up Poker Championship coverage of online poker players.
