Austria-based Dutchman Gilles "TaxationIsTheft" Simon won the 2023 European Poker Tour (EPT) Cyprus Main Event almost exactly two years ago. This result put him on the poker map and earned him $1,042,000. Last night, Simon added to his glowing reputation by coming out on top in the 2025 PokerStars WCOOP $10,300 NLHE Main Event, leaving a trail of superstars in his wake and banking the $736,327 first-place prize.

Some 407 players bought into this Main Event for $10,300, creating a guarantee-busting $4,070,000 prize pool that the top 48 finishers shared. Only nine players returned for the final day, with Simon occupying second place, narrowly trailing Ukraine's "ardonaS."

The eventual finishing positions were not too dissimilar to the start-of-the-final-table chip counts. Mexico's "4435GoldenBoy" bowed out in ninth for $83,544 before Matthew" mjw006" Wakeman, an Australian now living in Indonesia, saw his WCOOP Main Event run finish in eighth place for $108,863.

"AchoBogdanov" of Bulgaria busted in seventh for $143,047, with the 2023 WCOOP Main Event champion Ivan "ILS007" Stokes coming close to being a two-time Main Event winner, but ultimately having to make do with the $187,965 sixth-place prize.

Fifth place and $246,988 went to Preben "prebz" Stokkan, Mexico's "sebasnato" joined the list of eliminated players in fourth, a finish good for $324,545, before Renan "Internett93o" Bruschi ran out of steam and crashed by the wayside in third. Bruschi's latest deep run earned him $426,455.

Simon battled one-on-one with "ardonaS" for the title of World Champion of No-Limit Hold'em and a nearly three-quarters of a million top prize. Simon got the job done and sent his Ukrainian opponent to the rail; the runner-up banked $560,366. That final elimination meant Simon was the $10,300 WCOOP NLHE Main Event champion and recipient of $736,327.

$10,300 NLHE Main Event Final Table Results

Tags: Gilles SimonPokerStarsWCOOP