As if determind by fate, Eastgate started at the final table in second place with a 2 to 1 chip deficit to chip leader Gustavson and would enter the heads-up battle in the same position with the same deficit. Unfortunately for Eastgate, destiny was apparently getting tired and needed to go ahead and wrap things up and go to bed because that heads-up battle only lasted for seven hands before Gustavson laid claim to the EPT London title.

Even with a second-place finish, Eastgate takes strides toward placing his name among those to keep an eye out for on the international poker tournament circuit and not just some luckbox who managed to win the biggest prize in poker.

Here are the full EPT London final table results and payouts:

1. Aaron Gustavson – £850,000
2. Peter Eastgate – £530,000
3. Nikolai Senninger – £285,000
4. Martin Gudvangen – £227,000
5. Dominic Cullen – £173,000
6. Rui Milhomens – £124,000
7. Raymond Wu – £87,000
8. Karim Bennani – £50,100

If you want to travel to Europe and play in a major international poker tournament for millions of dollars, then qualify online for the EPT with the Bodog Flight Club promotion.

While not drawing in the thousands that Eastgate beat out in the 2008 WSOP, the EPT London does boast a very healthy field of 730. At time of publish, that number had been whittled down to just three remaining players, with Eastgate (7,630,000) second in chips behind Aaron Gustavson (9,145,000) and out in front of Nikolai Senninger (5,135,000).

On the line for Eastgate is the £850,000 ($1.35 million) first-place prize and an increasing amount of validation for 2008 WSOP victory. Eastgate won a $5,000 buy-in event at the PCA in January of this year and has cashed in two other EPT events in the meantime.

Obviously, play will continue until there is a winner, so stay tuned for more EPT London updates. If you want to travel to Europe and play in a major international poker tournament, then qualify online for the EPT with the Bodog Flight Club promotion.

While the WSOP Europe is scheduled to run from September 18 – Oct 1, the EPT London has attached itself to the end, taking advantage of all of the poker players who will be in town. The first event of the EPT London will be the three-day £20,000 High-Roller event, a popular event last year that was won by American Jason Mercier. The £5,000 Main Event – won by another American, Michael Martin, last year -  is expected to draw a large number of players and will consist of two starting days, October 2 and 3, with the final table scheduled for October 7. There will be 14 other events on the schedule, including the newly-added £1,000 6-Handed No Limit Holdem event, £1,000 Pot Limit Omaha 8-or-better event and the £2,000 European 8-Game Championship.

The series will take place at the London Hilton Metropole Hotel, a shift from last year's location at the Grosvenor Victoria Casino as organizers are expecting much bigger crowds and the Hilton can hold a much larger number.

This will be the third stop on the EPT tour this year, which kicks off in just four days with the EPT Kyiv and then continues onto Spain for the EPT Barcelona before heading north to London. Online poker players wanting to travel the world and play in some of the biggest poker tournaments in the most exotic locations can qualify online for the EPT with Bodog Poker and the Flight Club promotion.

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.

After two flights of Day 1 and then two combined days, the final table eventually got underway with Michael Tureniec leading the way. Also at the table were WSOP bracelet winner and noted UK poker pro Alan Smurfit and Frenchman Antony Lellouche, who was playing in his third EPT final table in under a year. However, the day was to belong to Michael Martin. He single-handedly took out half of the final table and then disposed of Tureniec in a 90-minute back and forth heads-up match.

Martin takes home £1,000,000 for the win and Tureniec received £525,314 for second. Here are the full final table results:

1. Michael Martin – £1,000,000
2. Michael Tureniec – £525,314
3. Marcin Horecki – £303,439
4. Eric Liu – £234,920
5. Philippe D'Auteuil – £195,766
6. Alan Smurfit – £153,351
7. Johannes Strassmann – £120,723
8. Antony Lellouche – £81,569

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.