Sacha Cohen Steps Out of His Father’s Shadow with 2026 Winamax Poker Tour Victory (€180,000)
With the chip lead at the start of the final table and a large rail behind him, Sacha Cohen came in with big expectations. And after a hard-fought heads-up battle, he didn't disappoint by capturing the sword trophy of the 2026 Winamax Poker Tour Grande Finale.
From a record-breaking field of 3,610 entries, Cohen takes home the €180,000 top prize from a total prize pool of €1,524,864 after defeating Lucien Cervettaz, who earns €130,000 for his runner-up finish.
Among the favorites on the final day, Samuel Fournier finished in third place for €95,000, while Hervé Gouzil fell short of a second title this week but still collected €70,000 for fourth place.
Winamax Poker Tour Finale Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sacha Cohen | France | €180,000 |
| 2 | Lucien Cervettaz | France | €130,000 |
| 3 | Samuel Fournier | France | €95,000 |
| 4 | Hervé Gouzil | France | €70,000 |
| 5 | Quentin Pauly | France | €55,000 |
| 6 | Bertrand Vizioz | France | €40,000 |
| 7 | Nicolas Antouard | France | €30,000 |
| 8 | Guillaume Anthonioz | France | €24,000 |
| 9 | Samuel Bifarella | France | €18,000 |
Winner's Reaction
Quickly surrounded by his rail after securing the win, Cohen, with tears in his eyes, struggled to process what he had just achieved. “I’m very grateful and feeling a lot of emotions right now. I’m on cloud nine,” he said at first.
This victory was a moment he had been chasing for a long time. While he had already won smaller regular tournaments in the past, he was still hunting for the big one. The 27-year-old came close in 2025, finishing runner-up twice, including in a WSOP Circuit ring event, but one step was always missing. “I dreamed about titles. Maybe not a sword, but trophies.”
Those trophies, “PyroSC” had already collected some in a previous career as an esports player and commentator, notably on Call of Duty. But the poker bug eventually took over, following in his father’s footsteps. Back in 1997, Claude Cohen won the second-ever French WSOP bracelet and also took down a tournament in Marrakech earlier this week. “My dad is in my head, in my heart today,” Sacha said spontaneously while holding his sword for the first time.
And the father was proud, as shown in a message he sent to his son this morning. “The most important thing is that our last name is no longer associated with the same first name,” Sacha revealed to Winamax.
His transition to poker has been successful, with him steadily climbing the ranks to become a renowned professional player on the French circuit. As a member of the Winamax “Stream Gang,” he recently became head coach of the French women’s poker team “Queens Squad,” created by Cécile Ticherfatine. She was on his rail during the final table, alongside players like Julien Sitbon, Malcolm Franchi, Virgile Turchi, and many other friends who cheered him on loudly. “This rail was amazing. They’re not only my friends at the final table, but they’re also always there. We win as a family.”
That support proved crucial during the final table, where Cohen felt “in the zone.” “I had a low-variance strategy, and it worked well until heads-up, where I became more aggressive. But it didn’t pay off at all,” he explained. Indeed, the final duel didn’t start well, with Cervettaz catching him bluffing several times, including with a hero call with king-high.
“After that, I adjusted my strategy and got a bit lucky,” Cohen added. Now, his plan is to chase a WSOP bracelet to go alongside his sword, starting with a trip to Prague in the coming days, before a break ahead of the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas this summer.
Final Table Action
The final table started with nine players, and with an average stack of 20–25 big blinds, short stacks were expected to move all-in quickly. That’s exactly what happened, with the shortest stack, Guillaume Anthonioz, who doubled up after just two hands. Samuel Bifarella also took his chance early but wasn’t as fortunate and was eliminated in 9th place (€18,000).
Nicolas Antouard then managed to double through Anthonioz, who moved all-in again a few orbits later. This time, however, Lucien Cervettaz’s pair held, and Anthonioz’s deep run came to an end in 8th place.
Fifteen minutes later, Antouard’s ace-ten failed to improve against Sacha Cohen’s ace-queen, and he exited the final table in 7th place, sending the remaining six players on their first break of the day.
After the restart, Quentin Pauly doubled through Bertrand Vizioz, who was left on fumes. Forced all-in from the blinds in the next hand, he couldn’t do much with four-deuce and exited in 6th place (€40,000).
Meanwhile, Lucien Cervettaz won a flip against Hervé Gouzil before making Pauly double up. But despite getting back in contention, Pauly saw Cohen hit a straight on the turn while at risk and was eliminated.
Gouzil was next to follow. He doubled up but ran his fours into jacks moments later, finishing in 4th place for €70,000 added to his €25,300 Battle Royale win earlier to cap off a fruitful week.
Now three-handed, Cohen, Cervettaz, and Samuel Fournier held roughly equal stacks until Fournier called Cervettaz’s all-in with top pair. Cervettaz held two pair, sending Fournier to the rail and starting the heads-up battle with a slight chip lead.
Cohen first won a few pots to regain the lead, but Cervettaz didn’t back down and caught him bluffing several times. The heads-up then escalated from serious to chaotic after Cohen doubled up, evening the stacks. From that point, they kept doubling through each other, with Cohen eventually securing a massive double-up that left Cervettaz with just five big blinds.
Cervettaz fought back, doubling twice more to stay alive, but a third attempt proved fatal, crowning Cohen as the new Winamax Poker Tour champion.
Cohen’s victory wraps up this PokerNews coverage of the 2026 Winamax Poker Tour Grande Finale. The organizers have announced that “the 2027 edition will take place at the Pasino Grand Partouche Aix-en-Provence once again.” With this information, the only remaining mystery is the schedule of the freeroll stops leading up to the event, during which players can compete for free for next year’s sword.
As always, be sure to follow PokerNews for future events all across the world!