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Pierre Chevalier Set to Quit Poker After Taking Down WSOP Circuit Paris Main Event (€260,000)
For most poker players, a big win in a tournament offers the chance to play more tournaments and at higher buy-ins. This is not the case for Pierre Chevalier, who already plays just "once or twice a year" and now plans to "almost stop playing poker" after taking down the €1,500 WSOP Circuit Paris Main Event at Partouche Pasino Club.
But what could be a better moment to stop than with a win out of a field of 1,282 entries, the largest ever recorded in a WSOP Circuit Main Event in Europe? From a prize pool of €1,661,472, he earned €260,000, his first WSOP Circuit ring and a €5,000 package for the next WSOP Bahamas.
To triumph just a few meters away from the Arc de Triomphe, he defeated a five-star lineup at the final table, including Hervé Gouzil (2nd, €175,000), Luca Bernardi (3rd - €123,000), Davidi Kitai (5th - €63,000) and Natasha Mercier (9th - €20,500).
2026 WSOP Circuit Paris Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pierre Chevalier | France | €260,000 |
| 2 | Hervé Gouzil | France | €175,000 |
| 3 | Luca Bernardi | Italy | €123,000 |
| 4 | Mathieu Selides | France | €87,000 |
| 5 | Davidi Kitai | Belgium | €63,000 |
| 6 | Tristan Clemencon | France | €46,500 |
| 7 | Valentin Blot | France | €35,000 |
| 8 | Alberto Ah Line | France | €26,500 |
| 9 | Natasha Mercier | Lebanon | €20,500 |
"It's a good moment to stop"
Facing a final table packed with top players, Chevalier wasn't the obvious favorite to win the tournament, but his aggression and management of his stack paid off. "There were only great players," he said. "I need to watch it again on TV because I feel like I was extremely aggressive when I had chips, but when I didn't have chips, I was quite patient. I think I managed to alternate between the two really well. Anyway, if we're still here after three days, it means we managed to alternate between the two well. That's always my goal," he added.
Looking back at his tournament, Chevalier had two key hands in mind that propelled him to victory: "There was the call against Natasha Mercier, which I don't think was the worst call in the world, but I'm really happy with the call against the Italian. I think it was a turning point in the tournament because I went from 4 million to 20 million, which allowed me to be hyper-aggressive."
But for the young dad who had to change his train to play the final table today, this win felt like the perfect way to bow out, as he decided to step away from poker despite having put together strong results over the years.
"Of the 15 or 16 tournaments I've played in my life, I think I've cashed in 13 or 14 of them," he recalled. "But I think it's time to stop, and I was looking for this win to do it. I might play one or two more tournaments, but less and less frequently. I think you can get caught up in it and get drawn into that world, but that's not me at all. I'm happy with my friends and my little family," he concluded before apologizing to the reporters around him: "I'm sorry, but you're going to see me less and less!"
Final Day Action
11 players came back on Day 3 of this Main Event, hoping to win the prestigious WSOP Circuit ring. However, these hopes of success quickly came to an end for Maxime Doki-Thonon, who ran his ace-queen into ace-jack to be the first player eliminated of the day (11th - €15,786).
Meanwhile, second to last in chips Tristan Clemencon doubled up against Pierre Chevalier. Ankit Ahuja tried to double through the eventual winner a few minutes later, but it didn't go as well for him as it did for Clemencon, and he bubbled the final table, earning €15,786 for his tenth-place finish.
Once at the final table, Hervé Gouzil had a dream start by cracking aces with jacks to double his stack. Natasha Mercier could have doubled up too if her "all-in" on the river had not been caught by Chevalier, who hit a full house on the river. Instead of building a big stack, she finished in ninth place for €20,500.
After another hour, it was Alberto Ah Line's turn to find himself at risk, but his ace-queen failed to improve against pocket eights, and he was eliminated (8th - €26,500). Valentin Blot (7th - €35,000) followed shortly after against the same Bernardi, who kept increasing his chip lead.
Moments before the next break, Tristan Clemencon was next to fall with king-jack against ace-king. In his return to the circuit, he finished in sixth place for €46,500 and was followed by former teammate Davidi Kitai (5th - €63,000) shortly after the break. The Belgian player had to win a flip to survive, but his queens didn't hold when Chevalier flopped top pair with ace-king.
Chevalier scored the next elimination as well by sending Mathieu Selides to the rail (4th - €87,000) before taking care of the chip leader at the beginning of the day, Luca Bernardi (3rd, €123,000), who won't go back-to-back at Partouche Pasino Club after his Unibet Open win in May.
Despite eliminating all these players, Chevalier began heads-up play slightly behind Hervé Gouzil, but he closed the gap and eventually found a massive double-up with a flush to take a commanding lead. Cards went on their backs again almost immediately after this hand and, thanks to a lucky river, Chevalier was crowned the 2026 WSOP Circuit Paris Main Event champion.
This concludes the PokerNews coverage of the WSOP Circuit Paris Main Event in Paris, but Texapoker will soon offer another chance to win a ring by organizing WSOP Circuit Malta at Casino Malta from September 25 to October 5.
PokerNews will, of course, be on site to follow all the action from this next WSOP Circuit event!