The 2009 season of the European Poker Tour started off with a bang, with 619 players entering the Barcelona Open in Spain, and German Sebastian Ruthenberg taking the crown.

This was just an appetizer however, as a month later, the EPT jumped to London, for not only a major championship tournament, but a follow up high roller event with a guaranteed million pound prize pool.

The EPT 2009 in Retrospect: London

Those who didn't qualify through PokerStars for the London EPT event would have to pony up 5,200 pounds to play, but that was no problem for the 596 entrants which included 234 PokerStars representatives. The prize pool was over three million pounds, and the London event inspired some fierce competition. Some of the poker legends who made the pilgrimage to London included French cash game sensation David Benyamine, the "Italian Pirate" Max Pescatori, Internet sensation Sorel Mizzi and WSOP Main Event and H.O.R.S.E. champion Scotty Nguyen. In the end, it was American Michael Martin, fresh off his final table finish in the 2008 EPT championship, who collected the first place trophy and one million pounds.

The EPT 2009 in Retrospect: The London Million Pound Showdown

It's possible that many of the players who came to London were looking forward to this event more than the main event. The Million Pound Showdown was a high roller event with a 20,000 pound buy-in, attracting 85 of poker's elite. This created a stacked table that would be any poker fan's dream, which included WSOP Europe champion John Juanda, Internet phenom Michael Watson, cash game and tournament star Isaac Haxton, along with David Benyamine, Scotty Nguyen and Isabelle Mercier. The eventual winner was none of these, but rather young American pro Jason Mercier, who collected 516,000 pounds for the win.

The EPT 2009 in Retrospect: The Next Phase

Now that the EPT 2009 was in full swing, all eyes turned to the next event, the Hungarian open, where hundreds more players would compete in the historic city of Budapest for another massive European Poker Tour prize pool and the ability to host an EPT trophy.