After his impressive win at the 2008 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event, John Juanda was dangerously close to taking another major title, literally less than one week later.

His second opportunity came during the the European Poker Tour London ?1 Million Showdown and despite a field that included top pros like Chris Moneymaker, Gus Hansen, Chris Ferguson, Phil Ivey, Scotty Nguyen, Patrik Antonius and Daniel Negreanu, he was able to get within one spot of pulling off the near impossible. Unfortunately for Juanda, that last spot was held by Jason Mercier and he was unwilling to give it up.

85 players reportedly played in the EPT high roller event, according to the PokerStars.net EPT Tournament page, which means Jason Mercier was able to claim a top prize worth ?516,000 (nearly $1 million USD). A well earned reward for beating many of the world's best.

John Juanda's second netted him ?327,000 which (if added to the ?868,800 from the WSOPE win) means Juanda has earned almost $2 million dollars for two weeks work.

The final table finish positions for the 2008 EPT London "high roller" event were as follows:

1st. Jason Mercier- ?516,000
2nd. John Juanda- ?327,000
3rd. Michael Watson- ?241,000
4th. Peter Jetten- ?189,000
5th. Scotty Nguyen- ?137,500
6th. Isaac Haxton- ?103,000
7th. Masaaki Kagawa- ?86,000
8th. David Benyamine- ?59,000
9th. Isabelle Mercier- ?51,500

Story by Mark Anderson