Jason Mercier Wins the 2008 EPT San Remo Event

The PokerStars.com European Poker Tour stop at San Remo, Italy has been won by 21-year-old American Jason Mercier, who took home €869,000. Mercier qualified for this €5,000 buy-in event online at PokerStars and it was only his second live tournament.

The EPT’s first stop in San Remo sold out, attracting 701 players, and it was the first major international tournament to be held in Italy. Many international professionals made the final table, where they faced off with the eventual champion. Five different countries were represented among the final eight players.

Here is how the final table looked when things got started:

Seat 1: Gregory Genovese (Italy) — 694,000
Seat 2: William Thorsson (Sweden) — 418,000
Seat 3: Eric Koskas (France) — 449,000
Seat 4: Jason Mercier (United States) — 1,591,000
Seat 5: Anthony Lellouche (France) —1,192,000
Seat 6: Dario Minieri (Italy) —1,832,000
Seat 7: Dag Palovic (Slovakia) — 585,000
Seat 8: Marcus Bower (United States) — 278,000

The short-stacked American, Marcus Bower was the first to make an exit; he earned €76,700 when he moved all-in for 155,000 against a raise of 70,000 from Anthony Lellouche. The Frenchman called with A-J and he hit an ace on the river to crush Bower’s pocket fours and send him home in eighth place.

Dag Palovic was the next player to hit the rail in seventh place. He moved all in with pocket queens on an 8-3-2 flop, but Dario Minieri held pocket threes to make a set. Palovic took home €111,800 for his strong showing.

Swedish superstar William Thorsson then busted in sixth place for €140,600, when he moved all-in with A-Q. Mercier called him down and revealed a dominant A-K. No queen came to help Thorsson and he was out of contention. Gregory Genovese was out next in fifth place, and he took home €188,500. Mercier was the grim reaper once again when he made a pair of aces to eliminate his Italian opponent.

Another PokerStars qualifier in the field, Eric Koskas, was eliminated in fourth place, and he took home €223,600 when he tried to bluff with 10-high. The board read J-6-5-8-8 when Koskas made his power play, and Mercier went into the tank for a couple of minutes before making the correct call. He turned up a five to take down the pot and claimed his third victim in a row.

Minieri, who was the crowd favorite to take home his first EPT title in his home country, fought hard during the final table, but he fell next in third place. Minieri shared the chip lead with Mercier when the two clashed in a massive hand that proved fatal for the young Italian. The pot held 719,000 when the flop rolled out 8 7 2. Minieri bet 200,000, Mercier raised all-in, and Minieri snap-called all-in right behind him. Minieri turned up pocket queens and he was ahead of Mercier, who held A 4. A diamond on the river shocked the hometown crowd when it gave Mercier an ace-high diamond flush, and sent Minieri to the rail in a cruel and unusual way. Minieri did take home €287,000, which will provide some small consolation.

The heads-up match only lasted two hands, and on the final hand Lellouche pushed his remaining chips into the middle with pocket sevens. Mercier called with K-Q, and a queen fell on the flop to give Mercier the lead. Lellouche received no help on fourth or fifth street, and Mercier came from behind to win his first EPT title. Lellouche took home €505,000 for his second-place finish, while Mercier took home the grand prize of €869,000.

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