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WSOPC Paris 2026: Pierre Chevalier Wins Record-Breaking Main Event

By Mrinal Gujare

3 hours ago

Mrinal Gujare 3 hours ago

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Pierre Chevalier won the 2026 WSOP Circuit Paris Main Event, earning €260,000.
The €1,500 Main Event drew a European record 1,282 entries at Partouche Pasino Club.
Omar Lakhdari won two circuit rings; thirteen rings were awarded overall.

Image Credit: Pokernews

Pierre Chevalier won the 2026 WSOP Circuit Paris Main Event for €260,000 after defeating Hervé Gouzil heads-up. The €1,500 event drew a European Circuit record 1,282 entries, while Omar Lakhdari captured two rings during the festival at Partouche Pasino Club.

Pierre Chevalier claimed the biggest result of his poker career at the 2026 WSOP Circuit Paris, winning the €1,500 Main Event for €260,000 at the Partouche Pasino Club.

The festival concluded on September 14 after two weeks of competition at the Paris venue, with 13 WSOP Circuit rings awarded.

The Main Event attracted 1,282 entries, setting a record for the largest WSOP Circuit Main Event field ever recorded in Europe and generating a €1,661,472 prize pool.

Chevalier defeated Hervé Gouzil heads-up for the title, while Luca Bernardi completed the top three. Following the victory, Chevalier indicated that he planned to step away from poker.

Every ring winner at the Paris stop also received a $5,000 package for WSOP Paradise in the Bahamas.

The 2026 WSOP Circuit Paris was held at Partouche Pasino Club, located at 10 Avenue de la Grande-Armée, close to the Arc de Triomphe.

The venue opened in May 2026 and the Circuit festival represented its first major poker series. The gaming complex spans nearly 5,000 square metres across four levels within a five-floor property and includes dining areas and a dedicated poker room.

Paris had previously hosted a WSOP Circuit stop in 2024, when the €1,200 Main Event at Stade Jean-Bouin attracted 1,056 entries.

For the 2026 edition, the move to Partouche Pasino Club and the increase in the Main Event buy-in to €1,500 resulted in a 21 percent rise in entries and a 56 percent increase in the prize pool compared with the previous Paris stop.

Chevalier entered the final day as one of 11 remaining players and faced a line-up that included three-time WSOP bracelet winner Davidi Kitai, Unibet Open Paris champion Luca Bernardi and Natasha Mercier.

Chevalier described his tournament approach as a balance between aggression when holding a large stack and patience when his chip position was weaker.

Maxime Doki-Thonon was the first of the final 11 to be eliminated. His ace-queen ran into ace-jack as he exited in 11th place.

Ankit Ahuja followed in 10th, becoming the final-table bubble and reducing the field to nine. Hervé Gouzil gained early momentum at the official final table after his pocket jacks cracked pocket aces, giving him a double-up and moving him into the chip lead.

Natasha Mercier became the first finalist eliminated. A river bet against Chevalier ran into a full house, sending Mercier out in ninth place for €20,500.

Valentin Blot was eliminated in seventh by Bernardi, who was building a stack that briefly established him as the chip leader. Tristan Clemencon followed in sixth after his king-jack came up against ace-king.

Davidi Kitai's run ended in fifth place in a confrontation with Chevalier. Kitai held pocket queens against Chevalier's ace-king, but an ace on the flop moved Chevalier ahead. Kitai collected €63,000 for fifth.

Chevalier then eliminated Mathieu Selides in fourth place, worth €87,000, before ending Bernardi's run in third.

Bernardi earned €123,000. His elimination also ended his opportunity to win another major tournament at Partouche Pasino Club after previously capturing the Unibet Open Paris at the same venue in May.

The result left Chevalier and Gouzil heads-up for the WSOP Circuit ring.

Chevalier entered heads-up play slightly behind Gouzil in chips but gradually reduced the deficit. A major pot involving a flush shifted the balance further in Chevalier's favour and gave him a commanding advantage.

The tournament ended soon afterwards. A king on the river gave Chevalier two pair in the final hand, securing the title and the €260,000 first-place prize.

Gouzil received €175,000 as the runner-up. The final table included Pierre Chevalier of France, Hervé Gouzil of France, Luca Bernardi of Italy, Mathieu Selides of France, Davidi Kitai of Belgium, Tristan Clemencon of France, Valentin Blot of France, Alberto Ah Line of France and Natasha Mercier of Lebanon.

Chevalier Scores Career-Best Result

Chevalier entered the tournament with $191,942 in recorded career earnings and a previous best live cash of $40,834.

The French player, a former professional handball player, does not compete in poker on a full-time basis and said he generally plays only once or twice each year.

Before the Paris festival, his record included 16 live cashes and placed him 803rd on France's all-time money list.

His previous largest result came from the 2015 WSOP Europe Main Event in Berlin, where he finished 14th for $40,834. His subsequent results included cashes in European Poker Tour Main Events in Monte Carlo and Malta.

Chevalier estimated that he had played only 15 or 16 tournaments in his life and had cashed in approximately 13 or 14 of them without previously securing a tournament title.

He had also changed his train home in order to return for the final day in Paris. The €260,000 victory more than doubled his previous lifetime tournament earnings in a single result.

Chevalier said after the win that he had a young family and had been looking for a victory before stepping away from poker.

Omar Lakhdari Wins Two WSOP Circuit Rings

While Chevalier captured the Main Event, Omar Lakhdari was the only player to win multiple rings during the Paris festival.

Lakhdari first won the €500 WSOP-C Mystery Bounty, collecting €119,340 in total prize money.

He later added the €2,500 WSOP-C High Roller title for another €110,000, completing a two-ring series across different formats and buy-ins.

Lakhdari was born in Algeria, is based in Morocco and has spent much of his poker career competing on the French circuit.

Following the Paris festival, Lakhdari had $4,319,675 in recorded live tournament earnings across 269 cashes. He ranked first on Algeria's all-time money list and 688th globally.

His largest individual tournament cash remained the €206,000 he earned by winning the Belgian Poker Challenge Main Event in Namur in May 2023. Lakhdari also won the Unibet Open Paris in November 2019 for €89,070 and the WPT DeepStacks Brussels Main Event in February 2020 for €92,000.

WSOPC Paris Main Event - Final Table Payouts

Place	Player	Prize
1st	Pierre Chevalier	€ 2,60,000
2nd	Hervé Gouzil	€ 1,75,000
3rd	Luca Bernardi	€ 1,23,000
4th	Mathieu Selides	€ 87,000
5th	Davidi Kitai	€ 63,000
6th	Tristan Clemencon	€ 46,500
7th	Valentin Blot	€ 35,000
8th	Alberto Ah Line	€ 26,500
9th	Natasha Mercier	€ 20,500

Thirteen Rings Won in Paris

The festival began on September 1 with the €500 Mini Main Event, which generated 1,118 entries. France's Emmanuel Barre won the tournament for €76,000. Juliane Papazian captured the €550 Seniors event for €28,000.

Thibaut Picard won the €300 Colossus for €53,000. The tournament featured seven starting flights between September 3 and September 10.

Lakhdari's €119,340 Mystery Bounty victory followed, before Margaux Ponnelle won the €300 Ladies event for €7,350.

Kamel Atoui captured the €500 Omaha for €25,500, while David Guetta won the €750 Knockout for €20,300. Lakhdari later secured his second ring in the €2,500 High Roller for €110,000.

Carledj Boudaoud won the €1,000 Deepstack for €75,500 and Brazil's Felipe Gonsalves captured the €3,500 Super High Roller for €58,500.

Yves Hallague won the €500 Bigstack for €34,500, while Raphaël Bsiri secured the €250 PMU Play online ring event on the final day of the festival for €19,373.

WSOP Circuit Paris 2026 Ring Winners

Event	Tournament	Winner	Prize
1	€500 Mini Main Event	Emmanuel Barre	€ 76,000
2	€550 Seniors (50+)	Juliane Papazian	€ 28,000
3	€300 Colossus	Thibaut Picard	€ 53,000
4	€500 Mystery Bounty	Omar Lakhdari	€ 1,19,340
5	€1,500 Main Event	Pierre Chevalier	€ 2,60,000
6	€250 Online (PMU Play)	Raphaël Bsiri	€ 19,373
7	€300 Ladies	Margaux Ponnelle	€ 7,350
8	€500 Omaha	Kamel Atoui	€ 25,500
9	€750 Knockout	David Guetta	€ 20,300
10	€2,500 High Roller	Omar Lakhdari	€ 1,10,000
11	€1,000 Deepstack	Carledj Boudaoud	€ 75,500
12	€3,500 Super High Roller	Felipe Gonsalves	€ 58,500
13	€500 Bigstack	Yves Hallague	€ 34,500