September in Sydney: Everything You Need to Know About WPT Australia 2026
21 May 2026Read More
Pierre Chevalier Wins Record WSOP Circuit Paris Main Event for €260,000
- Pierre Chevalier wins 2026 WSOP Circuit Paris Main Event for €260,000.
- Event draws European-record 1,282 entries at Partouche Pasino Club.
- Omar Lakhdari secures two Circuit rings during 13-event festival.
Image Credit: Pokernews
Pierre Chevalier won the 2026 WSOP Circuit Paris Main Event for €260,000 after topping 1,282 entries at Partouche Pasino Club. The €1,500 event generated €1,661,472, while Omar Lakhdari captured two rings during the 13-event festival across two weeks.
Pierre Chevalier won the 2026 WSOP Circuit Paris Main Event at Partouche Pasino Club, defeating a record European Circuit field to collect €260,000 and his first WSOP Circuit ring.
The €1,500 Main Event attracted 1,282 entries and generated a €1,661,472 prize pool. The turnout represented the largest field recorded for a WSOP Circuit Main Event in Europe. Chevalier defeated Hervé Gouzil heads-up, with the runner-up receiving €175,000.
The tournament formed part of the WSOP Circuit Paris festival, which ran at the recently opened Partouche Pasino Club and concluded on September 14.
Thirteen Circuit rings were awarded during the series, with each ring winner also receiving a $5,000 package to WSOP Paradise in the Bahamas.
Record Turnout for WSOP Circuit Paris Main Event
Partouche Pasino Club opened in May 2026 near the Arc de Triomphe on Avenue de la Grande-Armée.
The gaming complex covers nearly 5,000 square metres and includes dining areas and a dedicated poker room.
The WSOP Circuit stop represented the venue's first major poker series. The tour had previously visited Paris in 2024, when the €1,200 Main Event at Stade Jean-Bouin attracted 1,056 entries.
The move to Partouche Pasino Club coincided with an increase in the Main Event buy-in to €1,500.
Compared with the 2024 edition, the 2026 tournament recorded a 21 percent increase in entries and a 56 percent rise in the prize pool. Texapoker and PMU Play co-organised the festival alongside Partouche.
Chevalier returned for the final day among 11 remaining players. The group also included Luca Bernardi, Davidi Kitai, Natasha Mercier, Mathieu Selides, Hervé Gouzil and Ankit Ahuja.
Bernardi began the day with the chip lead, while Chevalier entered fourth in chips.
Maxime Doki-Thonon was the first player eliminated on the final day, exiting in 11th after his ace-queen ran into ace-jack. Ahuja followed in 10th place to set the nine-player final table.
Gouzil made an early move at the final table after his pocket jacks cracked pocket aces, allowing him to double and move into the chip lead.
Natasha Mercier became the first finalist eliminated. Her river aggression ran into Chevalier's full house, ending her tournament in ninth place for €20,500.
Alberto Ah Line followed in eighth for €26,500 after his ace-queen failed to overcome pocket eights. Valentin Blot was eliminated in seventh for €35,000 against Bernardi, who continued building his stack.
Tristan Clemencon departed in sixth place for €46,500 after running king-jack into ace-king.
Three-time WSOP bracelet winner Davidi Kitai then lost a key race against Chevalier. Kitai held pocket queens against ace-king, but Chevalier paired his ace on the flop and eliminated the Belgian in fifth place for €63,000.
Chevalier continued his run by eliminating Mathieu Selides in fourth place for €87,000 before sending Bernardi out in third for €123,000.
Bernardi had previously won the Unibet Open Paris at Partouche Pasino Club in May, but his third-place finish ended his attempt to win another major tournament at the same venue.
Gouzil entered heads-up play with a slight chip advantage over Chevalier. Chevalier recovered the deficit and eventually moved into a commanding lead after making a flush during a significant heads-up pot.
The tournament ended shortly afterwards when a king on the river gave Chevalier two pairs in the final hand.
Gouzil collected €175,000 as runner-up, while Chevalier secured the €260,000 first prize, a WSOP Circuit ring and a $5,000 WSOP Paradise package.
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 |
Who is Pierre Chevalier?
Chevalier is a French recreational tournament player and former professional handball player. Rather than maintaining a regular tournament schedule, he has said he generally plays poker only once or twice each year.
Before the Paris festival, Chevalier had 16 recorded live tournament cashes worth $191,942 and stood 803rd on France's all-time money list. His previous largest recorded cash was $40,834 for finishing 14th in the 2015 WSOP Europe Main Event in Berlin.
His previous results also included cashes in European Poker Tour Main Events in Monte Carlo and Malta.
Chevalier had played only around 15 or 16 tournaments by his own count and said he had cashed in approximately 13 or 14 of them.
Despite that strike rate, he had not previously won a tournament title. The €260,000 result in Paris comfortably surpassed his previous best tournament cash and more than doubled his recorded live earnings entering the event.
Chevalier had also changed his train home in order to play the final day. Following the victory, he indicated that he planned to step away from poker and spend more time with his family.
Omar Lakhdari Completes Two-Ring Series
While Chevalier claimed the Main Event, Omar Lakhdari was the only player to win two rings during the Paris festival.
Lakhdari first won the €500 WSOP Circuit Mystery Bounty, collecting €119,340 in total prize money. He later added the €2,500 High Roller title and another €110,000.
The High Roller attracted 220 entries and generated a €475,200 prize pool. Lakhdari defeated Florian Duta heads-up, while Benoit Grobocopatel finished third.
Lakhdari was born in Algeria and is based in Morocco, although much of his live poker career has been played in France. His recorded results in the Paris poker scene date back to at least 2009.
Following the festival, his recorded live tournament earnings stood at $4,319,675 across 269 cashes. He ranked first on Algeria's all-time money list and 688th globally.
His largest individual recorded cash remained the €206,000 earned for winning the Belgian Poker Challenge Main Event in Namur in May 2023.
Other previous victories included the November 2019 Unibet Open Paris for €89,070 and the February 2020 WPT DeepStacks Brussels Main Event for €92,000.
Lakhdari subsequently won WPT Prime Cyprus in March 2025 for $200,830, two Chamada Main Events seven weeks apart in 2025 for $140,000 and $148,000, the WSOP Circuit Middelkerke Main Event in November 2025 for €118,000, and the BPT Deauville Main Event in April 2026 for €50,512.
His two victories in Paris marked the first time he had collected two WSOP Circuit rings at the same festival.
Thirteen Rings Awarded in Paris
The WSOP Circuit Paris festival began on September 1 with the €500 Mini Main Event. Emmanuel Barre topped a 1,118-entry field to win €76,000.
Juliane Papazian captured the €550 Seniors event for €28,000, while Thibaut Picard won the €300 Colossus for €53,000. The Colossus was played across seven starting flights between September 3 and September 10.
Margaux Ponnelle won the €300 Ladies event for €7,350, Kamel Atoui took the €500 Omaha for €25,500 and David Guetta claimed the €750 Knockout for €20,300.
Carledj Boudaoud won the €1,000 Deepstack for €75,500. Brazil's Felipe Gonsalves collected €58,500 for winning the €3,500 Super High Roller, while Yves Hallague won the €500 Bigstack for €34,500. The festival also included an online ring event on PMU Play, won by Raphaël Bsiri 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 |
Upcoming Events
21 September 2026
European Mixed Poker Championship 2026 Poker
Tallinn to Host Inaugural European Mixed Poker Championship 2026 This October
Battle of Malta Autumn Edition 2026 Poker
What to Expect from the Battle of Malta October 2026 Autumn Edition
APT Championship Taipei 2026 Poker
APT Championship Taipei 2026 Set to Ignite Asia Poker Arena with TWD 165M GTD Main Event
30 October 2026
Poker EventsStarts in
Latest News
-
WPT Australia 2026 -
Unibet Open MarrakechMoroccan Autumn: Unibet Open Marrakech 2026 Announces 11-Day Schedule14 Jul 2026Read More
-
Jeju eventAsian Poker Tour Announces Ten-Day APT Jeju 2026 Festival at LES A Casino02 Jun 2026Read More
-
$125K GTDStake Showdown Set for September 27 With $125,000 Guarantee10 Sep 2026Read More
-
EMPC 2026Tallinn to Host Inaugural European Mixed Poker Championship 2026 This October17 Jun 2026Read More
