Mercier Misses Out: PokerStars Continue to Battle with the ACC

Altergott Gets the Win

Despite Jason Mercier controlling much of the action in the early stages of yesterday’s EPT Super High Roller final table, it was online German pro, Max “AltiFC” Altergott, who walked away with the title.

Indeed, known as one of the online world’s toughest high stakes players, Altergott was able to hold his nerve and secure a career defining victory against a stellar field of pros.

At the start of the €100,000 finale it was Mike Watson who hit the rail first before Scott Seiver, Vladimir Troyanovsky and Timothy Adams all fell in succession.

That trio of eliminations left Sorel Mizzi, Mercier and Altergott all vying for the title and €1,746,400 top prize.

Leading the way with three players left was Mizzi; however, some mistimed aggression with KQ caused him to hit the rail after Altergott’s pocket jacks made a full house.

Using the momentum of Mizzi’s execution to spur him on, Altergott soon seized an opportunity to cripple Mercier with the board showing: [Jh] [8s] [7h] [4d]. After Mercier moved all-in with [Kd] [7d], Altergott scooped a huge pot after a blank river allowed his pocket queens to maintain their advantage.

With just a handful of chips left, Mercier moved all-in on the next hand with [Td] [6d] and after Altergott’s [Jc] [9s] connected with the [Kh] [6c] [5h] [7s] [8c] board he was able to breathe a sigh of relieve and lift his first EPT trophy.

Commenting after the tournament, Altergott said: “I felt quite confident because I’m used to playing many of these guys online, so I had a good feeling about how they play. It was a challenge for me though. It feels really good to beat those guys. I won’t lie – my heart was beating like crazy at the end.”

PokerStars’ Casino Deal Turns Sour

The Rational Group’s attempts to purchase the Atlantic Club Casino looks even further in doubt following a public attack from the casino’s owners.

After learning of the lawsuit filed by Rational (PokerStars’ parent company), the ACC retaliated by saying that they were unaware of the “serious criminal activities” the company’s executives had been accused of.

In a court document they claimed not to know the full extent of Rational’s crimes and accused them of not being the “innocent victims” they’ve portrayed themselves as.

While much of the rhetoric coming from the ACC is aimed at defaming the online poker company, their main legal claim is that there was a cancellation clause built into the original agreement between the two parties.

According to the ACC, this means that they could terminate the deal by a specific date regardless of whether or not Rational’s interim casino licence had been granted.

The Rational group have refuted this claim and will look to formally respond when legal representatives for each company attend an initial hearing on Friday.