Jason “treysfull21″ Mercier has finally been slowed down. As the clock ran out on the end of the fourth level of play for the day the tournament officials have sent the remaining 17 players out of the Casino at the Empire on their 90 minutes dinner break. In the last hour after the redraw only Sandor Demjan was eliminated, falling in 18th place for 31,198 GBP when he rivered top pair on a J-6-2-T-Q board with his AQ but found the AK of Praz Bansi.

In that hour of play Mercier continued to pad his stack and a cursory glance as they headed out for dinner break puts him at the 1.5 million mark and gives him a hefty chip lead on his closest competitor who is Markus Ristola who “only” has around 850k.

More action after the dinner break, stay tuned as they battle it out for a spot at the World Series of Poker Europe presented by Betfair final table of 9 players.

• September 30, 2009 -- Take Your Pick: WSOPE Down To Final 9
• September 30, 2009 -- A Legend Gone, A Legend Making
• September 30, 2009 -- Merciless
• October 1, 2009 -- The Mighty Has Fallen: Mercier 4th