Tilly & Mercier Go To War On Poker Night In America S05 E09

6 years ago
Tilly & Mercier Go To War On Poker Night In America S05 E09
07:00
25 Jun

The girls outnumber the boys at the poker table in this episode of Poker Night in America, a scenario that is highly unlikely to occur in public poker rooms considering that women account for roughly only 5% of poker players.

Jennifer Tilly makes the most of her time in front of the PNIA cameras, talking almost non-stop throughout the entire 22-minute video. While she steals the show by forcing everyone to listen to her incessant chatter, Tilly certainly doesn't put herself in a favorable spotlight with her poker play.



 Big Hand

"Raisey daisy," Tilly says to Jason Mercier, coming over the top on his $1,150 bet on the turn by putting $3,000 in the middle of the table while holding two pair. Tilly didn't look at her cards until after the flop and likely thought she was well ahead of Mercier when that flop hit the board.

However, Mercier was sitting on trips with his pocket jacks and was all too happy to reel in his hapless victim. Tilly was drawing dead with only fifth street yet to come because even if she managed to connect with a full boat on the river, Mercier's full house would be higher.

A three-bet by Mercier to $8,250 was called by Tilly, but not before PNIA host Joe Stapleton outwardly wished that the actress/poker pro folded her cards.

"Jennifer, we're all hoping you get away from this," Stapes said. "We like you."


Haters Gonna Hate

That sentiment is certainly not shared by everyone, as evidenced by the comments section following the video. Tilly appears to be a somewhat polarizing figure among the masses, evoking either love or hate from those who watch her movies and/or poker play.

Personally, I thoroughly enjoyed her performance in "The Fabulous Baker Boys," playing the role of Blanche Moran, a ditzy waitress who auditioned as a singer for Jeff and Beau Bridges. Tilly's rendition of "Candy Man" was priceless, and here it is if you missed it:

But getting back to poker and the huge hand between Tilly and Mercier, the pot stood at $17,975 after Jennifer's call and before the river arrived. When the board was completed, Mercier announced all-in and Tilly tanked for awhile.

She eventually made the call - creating a $45,975 pot - and looked on helplessly as Mercier turned over his set of jacks.

"How could I not be the poker god's favorite," Tilly wondered aloud.

The session, which was played at the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida in August of last year, ended with Tilly easily the biggest loser at -$30,450. As can be deduced from that hand, Mercier walked away with a nice profit of $38,550.



The Other Players

Also seated at the $25/$50 cash game were Esther 'E-Tay' Taylor (-$2,625), Wendeen Eolis (-$2,425), and the normally outspoken Cate Hall (-$950). But with Tilly doing most of the talking, we barely hear a peep from Hall.

Cate's session was punctuated by getting pushed off a hand on the turn by Tim Reilly (-$1,325) despite having two pair with aces up top. Hall bet $1,350 and Reilly raised to $3,200 with only a pair of queens, but it was enough to induce a fold from Hall.

On another personal note, I've enjoyed the poker writing of Eolis over the years at Poker Player Newspaper. As the first woman to cash in the WSOP Main Event, she blazed a trail for other ladies to follow.

The only other player to have a winning session besides Mercier was Stewart Newman. A modest $75 was Newman's take for the day. The Florida native has a bunch of cashes in tournament play at the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, amassing over $900K in earnings during his career.


Articles 904

Charles is a Chicago native and long time poker player who dusted off his journalism degree and began writing about poker following the events of Black Friday in 2011. He has written for a number of leading poker websites, offering his insights and expertise on subjects ranging from online poker leg...Read more

Comments

You need to be logged in to post a new comment

No Comments found.