Jason Mercier, a PokerStars qualifier from the US, picked up $1,340,867 for his victory in the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour San Remo Championship on Saturday. Mercier, who moved to the top of the leader board on Day 2 and stayed near the lead throughout on his way to the title. In one of the fastest final tables in EPT history, Mercier took out Anthony Lellouche heads up, after a final table lasting less than three hours.
Team PokerStars member Dario Minieri started off the day as the chip leader, with Mercier close on his heels. The chip counts looked like this as the final table began:
Dario Minieri (Italy) — 1,832,000
Jason Mercier (USA) — 1,591,000
Anthony Lellouche (France) — 1,192,000
Gregory Genovese (Italy) — 694,000
Dag Palovic (Slovakia) — 585,000
Eric Koskas (France) — 449,000
William Thorson (Sweden) — 418,000
Marcus Bower (USA) — 278,000
Marcus Bower wasted no time getting his short stack in the middle, pushing all in over the top of Anthony Lellouche's preflop raise with
. Lellouche called with 
and spiked an ace on the river as the board ran out 
to send Bower to the rail in eighth place ($118,348).
Dag Palovic was next to fall when he tangled with chip leader Dario Minieri. Minieri limped in preflop and Palovic raised with pocket queens. Minieri called, and then checked as the flop came down
. Palovic pushed all in with his overpair, and Minieri called with a flopped set of threes. No help came for Palovic and he busted in seventh place ($172,507).
William Thorson found himself dominated when he got all his chips in preflop against Jason Mercier with
to Mercier's 
. The flop of 
left Thorson drawing to runner-runner, and the 
on the turn left him drawing dead. The 
on the river was irrelevant, and Thorson exited in sixth place ($216,946). Mercier's rush continued when he eliminated Gregory Genovese in fifth place ($290,855). Dario Minieri raised preflop, and Genovese re-raised. Mercier and Minieri both called to see a flop of 
. Mercier led out at the flop and Minieri folded, leaving Mercier heads up with Genovese. Mercier's top pair was ahead with 
, and Genovese was drawing thin with 
. The turn and river came down 
and 
, and Genovese departed.
Eric Koskas was Mercier's next victim when he found himself heads-up with Mercier on a flop of
. Both players checked to see a turn of 
, and Koskas fired at the pot. Mercier called, and the came on the river. Koskas moved all in on the river, and Mercier made the call with 9-5 for two pair. Koskas finally revealed 10-3 for a bluff, and headed to the rail in fourth place for $345,015.
Dario Minieri raised preflop in the very next hand, finding a re-raise from Mercier. Minieri called to see a flop of
. Minieri led out at the pot, and Mercier moved all in over the top with . Minieri quickly called with 
and was ahead in the hand. The 
on the turn gave Mercier more outs, and the on the river gave Mercier the flush and sent Minieri to the rail in third place ($443,767).
Mercier took a 4:1 chip lead into heads-up play against Anthony Lellouche, and he wasted no time getting a ton of chips in the middle. On just the second hand of heads-up play, the raises went back and forth until all of the chips were in the pot. Lellouche tabled
to Mercier's , and the flop gave a commanding lead to Mercier, coming down 
. No help came for Lellouche on the turn or river, as they came down and 
to bust Lellouche in second place ($779,215). Jason Mercier picked up $1,340,867 for his victory in the PokerStars.com EPT San Remo Championship.
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