By Nick Sortal

Parents, hide this article from your college-age children.

Students, here's the example you need to support a start-up career in poker.

Whatever your perspective, here's the fact: Jason Mercier, 21, of Hollywood, has won $2.6 million this year playing Texas Hold 'em.

He returned this month from Europe, where he won his second tournament of the year. It's his first year playing against the top pros.

"It's surreal going from playing online, where no one knows who you are, to playing live against people you see on TV," he said.

He took a path that didn't sit well with his family. In spring 2005, Mercier played so much online that he dropped out of Florida Atlantic University and moved back home - only to get kicked out of his parents' house for playing too much. He eventually moved back in after agreeing to play less and attend Broward Community College.

"We had to reach a compromise," he said. "And I didn't have what it took yet to play against the best."

That changed in 2007, when he played 2 million hands online - 5,500 a day - on PokerStars.net. He built a $90,000 bankroll and got into a European Poker Tour event in April in San Remo, Italy.

He won, taking home $1.3 million.

After a dismal World Series of Poker in Las Vegas in June - he finished out of the money in 19 of 22 events - he returned to Europe and reached the final table in three of six events he entered, including a $900,000 win in the London Showdown on Oct. 7.

His parents, middle-class, hardworking people, are understandably conflicted about the turn of events.

"It's not the career choice we would have picked for him," said Richard Mercier, who helps run a golf cart business. "I won't say I've changed my entire perspective, but, it's true we didn't understand how much experience he had playing online.

"The important thing is that he stays grounded."

Gambling addiction among college students has doubled in the past five years, partially because it's so easy for students to sit in their dorm and play online all day, said Pat Fowler of the Florida Council for Compulsive Gambling. She also notes that almost all college gamblers end up "broke, in debt and with no education." Jason said he's socking some of the money away.

Jason's mother, Dottie, had more basic concerns when her son, the youngest of four, made his first trip overseas.

"He told us he was going off to Europe by himself, and I was like, 'Oh, just shoot me now,' " she said. "He just hadn't traveled that much."

Looking back, Richard Mercier can point to traits that help his son in poker. Jason's competitive nature helped him letter in baseball, basketball and soccer all four years at Sheridan Hills High, a small Baptist school in Hollywood. And that aptitude for sports stats carried over: he scored a 35 out of 36 on his ACT.

Now his parents are "my biggest fans," Jason said. They watched the Europe tournaments streaming online; he bought them a car. They wouldn't take more.

"It's his money," his mother said. "He won it, not us."