Jeremy Cauchard Wins Winamax Poker Open Aix-les-Bains For Second Major Winamax Title (€135,000)
Jeremy Cauchard has emerged victorious after the final day of the 2025 Winamax Poker Open Aix-les-Bains here at Casino Grand Cercle d'Aix-les-Bains, earning his second piece of Winamax silverware, after defeating Mirand Murseli in a hard-fought heads-up battle.
Cauchard takes the trophy and €135,000 first-place prize, while Murseli must settle for a runner-up finish and career-best score of €92,000.
Cauchard's biggest cash remains his victory in March 2024 in the Winamax Poker Tour Grand Finale for €170,000. The 38-year-old insurance broker can now add a second Winamax trophy to his mantlepiece.
2025 Winamax Poker Open Aix-les-Bains Final Table Results
| Rank | Player | Country | Prize (EUR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jeremy Cauchard | France | €135,000 |
| 2 | Mirand Murseli | Switzerland | €92,000 |
| 3 | Nassim Rais | France | €68,000 |
| 4 | Amadou Gassama | France | €48,000 |
| 5 | Alexis Tremblay | Switzerland | €33,000 |
| 6 | Adrien Burgniard | France | €24,000 |
| 7 | Gus Hansen | Denmark | €16,899 |
Winner's Reaction
Cauchard was understandably overjoyed with his achievement, saying "I did it! I wanted to make people happy because everyone kept telling me,'you’re going to win the double'. I’m proud, I played better than the first time.
I can’t really believe it. The further it went, the more I wanted to pull off the feat. And on top of that, in such an incredible setting. It was a magnificent tournament."
Cauchard continued, “I kept telling myself, ‘Top 100 is good, then the semis, then the final’…I really shifted gears once we got three-handed, and on top of that I hit some hands. I made sure not to put myself in tough spots. It makes you want more."
"I wanted to bring poker back to the centre of my life. It's been my passion since I was 18, but I had kind of stepped away. A friend told me,'you know, a poker career is never really over', and that stuck with me, so I try to stay up to date. I can't quite believe I did it, I'll be back to win the next one!"
Day 3 Action
Cauchard was always among the middling stacks, but once he had navigated his way to three-handed he went through the gears and played for the win.
At the start of the day 18 players returned and there were immediate fireworks, as Benoit Pierrisnard busted in a flip to Murseli in the first hand. Alexis Tremblay started as the short-stack, and he came out of the traps hot, earning two quick double-ups. Tremblay would end up riding that momentum all the way to a fifth-place finish, eventually falling to Murseli.
The first of the Viel brothers, short-stack Julien Viel, was next to go after busting to Gus Hansen. The other, Eric Viel, then woke up with rockets to claim the scalp of Florian Chabert, but ultimately bust in eleventh. A fine achievement from the Viel family, both brothers making the final day of a 2,566-runner field.
After Steven Lamalle and Adrien Romeuf hit the rail, Nassim Rais then saw off short-stacked Florian Russo-Mangione in thirteenth.
After a break for the two-table redraw, Yacine Adamon quickly exited in twelfth, after failing to find a gutshot against Cauchard. Rais proceeded to go on a charge, waking up with cowboys to crack Viel's ace-king, and shortly after disposing of Nino Bellenger in tenth.
Murseli then went on a tear to set the final table, crushing Gadanho with a dominating ace-queen, and winning a 70/30 spot against start of day chip leader Tristan Vernay very shortly thereafter.
Murseli came into the final seven with the chip lead, just ahead of Rais, while Cauchard was in the middle of the pack with Hansen, and Amadou Gassama brought up the rear.
The Danish poker legend was first to bust in a brutal cooler against Murseli. Gassama significantly damaged Adrien Burgniard when he rivered a flush, and Burginard would depart in the next hand to Cauchard.
Murseli gathered tangible momentum again after the dinner break, quickly eliminating Tremblay, and severely denting Gassama with a better two pair. Rais finished off Gassama to set up a three-handed fight between Cauchard, Murseli and Rais.
The contest went on for three hours, the players battling hard and trading pots and chips, none prepared to budge an inch or lose patience in their pursuit of the trophy.
Something had to give, and momentum shifted to Cauchard when he doubled via Murseli, both players holding top pair when the money went in. That pot sent Cauchard into the chip lead, and he then found a great fold against Murseli.
Murseli won a flip against Rais to leave him with crumbs, and Cauchard put Rais to the sword in third for a career-best score.
The stage was set for the heads-up showdown, with Cauchard holding a reasonable lead over Murseli. It wouldn't be long before stacks ended up in the middle, and it was Murseli who secured the crucial double-up to prolong the contest after he got it in good and held.
The pot put Murseli in the lead, and the players battled for another 40 minutes before the crucial hands unfolded. First, Murseli turned two pair, but Cauchard rivered a flush to bring the stacks back to even.
Cauchard then dodged Murseli's flopped flush draw with top two pair to give him a significant lead, and he finished the job shortly thereafter with king-high against queen-high.
That concludes PokerNews coverage of the record-breaking 2025 Winamax Poker Open Aix-les-Bains, but be sure to check out our coverage of tournaments worldwide.