Bodog Beat

Poker pros Isabelle Mercier, David Benyamine, Scotty Nguyen, John Juanda and Isaac Haxton were all at the final table of the EPT London £1 Million Showdown. (Image courtesy of europeanpokertour.com)

As a kind of decadent dessert for those with discerning taste, and plenty of discretionary income, the EPT London £1 Million Showdown kicked off as the EPT London event was wrapping up. Boasting a hefty buy-in of £20,000, the tournament attracted the best of the best looking to take home a very nice chunk of change. In the end, it was rising star Jason Mercier who took home the trophy and the £516,000 ($ 944,847) first-place prize.

This is the second EPT title this year for the American, and his fourth major tournament final table. After winning the EPT San Remo back in April, Mercier cashed three times over the summer at the 2008 WSOP in Vegas. He then went on to place sixth at the EPT Barcelona and final tabled the £5,000 Pot Limit Omaha event at the 2008 WSOP Europe. His 2008 cashes now total over $2.7 million.

Of the 85 players who bought into the event, many of them were household poker names, including Phil Ivey, Joe Hachem, Daniel Negreanu, Gus Hansen, Barry Greenstein, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, Tom "durrrr" Dwan and Bodog poker pro David Williams.

By the time the field had shrunk down to the nine who would make up the final table, the story had become whether or not poker pro John Juanda could double up in London by winning the 2008 WSOP Europe Main Event and the EPT London £1 Million Showdown. Of course, there was plenty of talent at the final table hoping to stop that from happening. Poker pros Isabelle Mercier, David Benyamine, Scotty Nguyen and Isaac Haxton were all at the final table of the EPT London £1 Million Showdown - Mercier took out Juanda to end that run - but the day was to belong to Mercier and his relentless run at the moment.

The European Poker Tour heads next to Budapest, Hungary, at the end of the month for the inaugural  €4,350 buy-in four-day No Limit Holdem EPT Hungarian Open. After succesful launches in Prague and Warsaw, the EPT is expecting this event to attract similar numbers to yet another beautiful and historic city. If you want to qualify online for the EPT, then head over to the Bodog Poker room and check out the $12,000 Player's Choice package promotion.