Seat 4: Thomas Eychenne, 35, from France, resides in Malta (11,375,000)
Thomas Eychenne started playing poker online while he was at business school, trying nearly every format before realising that heads ups and short-stack play suited him best. So he specialised in those.
Originally from Lyon, France, Eychenne moved to Malta in 2011 and has since enjoyed its vibrant poker and social life, and met his longtime girlfriend there. The couple got engaged last year.
The hard-working Eychenne has always been highly regarded in French poker circles, and these days he not only develops his own game but also helps others. For a while, Eychenne ran a coaching and a staking team, where he mentored young players.
During the COVID pandemic, he decided to record a bankroll challenge, building from €50 to €50,000 in only 50 days, all while streaming on Twitch, and continuing until he reached €100,000. Then, in 2021, he launched an even harder challenge, this time aiming to run up €10 to €1 million. When he was around 20 or 30 percent of the way, he figured he could play live to achieve it faster. A seventh-place finish in the PSPC 2023, worth $801,000, pushed him across the goal line.
The result ignited a new passion for live tournaments, and he has become an EPT regular over the past couple of years as he continues to study to improve his game. It seems to be working. He finished 47th in the WSOP Main Event this summer and has now reached the final table in the third biggest EPT Main Event in history.
Player profiles courtesy of Jan Kores/PokerStars
Tournament Progression
Day 1: 73,500 (207/424, 1b)
Day 2: 396,000 (32/313)
Day 3: 959,000 (17/103)
Day 4: 1,610,000 (16/29)
Day 5: 9,595,000 (2/11)
Day 6: 11,375,000 (2/6)
Career Statistics
Career earnings: $2,738,721
EPT cashes: 2
Best EPT result: 75th, 2024 EPT Barcelona
Key Hands
On the last hand of Day 5, Eychenne had nearly all of his chips in the middle with two queens but ran into Joao Webber's aces. The flop brought a miracle queen as Eychenne came from behind to score the knockout and catapult up among the chip leaders.
Eychenne scored the first knockout at the final table, calling Youssef Zereg's shove with two sixes and ending up with a full house to bust Zereg in ninth place.