David Graapkpdic Wins WSOPC Aix

Table Of Contents

• WSOP Circuit Aix-en-Provence Main Event Results
• Winner's Reaction
• Final Table Action

Coming for the first time to Aix-en-Provence, David Gradic had originally planned to enjoy a relaxing holiday on the French Riviera and recharge before the upcoming online poker series. But a stop at Pasino Grand for the €1,000 World Series of Poker Circuit Main Event, organized by Texapoker, turned into a successful detour as the Slovenian player emerged victorious from a field of 1,433 entries.

The WSOP Circuit gold ring and the top prize of €160,000 brought a huge smile to Gradic’s face, but his joy only grew when he learned he also secured a seat for the $10,000 WSOP Main Event this summer in Las Vegas, along with an entry to the WSOP Tournament of Champions next month in Los Angeles.

Gradic put on a dominant performance at the final table, eliminating six of his seven opponents. Among them were WSOP bracelet winner Julien Sitbon (6th - €26,000), Cécile Ticherfatine (5th - €33,500), Aliosha Staes (4th - €58,400), Axel Hallay (3rd - €79,250), and finally Thierry Amirault, whose unorthodox style helped him clinch runner-up for €110,500.

WSOP Circuit Aix-en-Provence Main Event Results

Winner's Reaction

“I dreamed about this ring, it’s amazing,” Gradic said, stars in his eyes, just moments before the winner’s ceremony. Primarily an online player who began his poker journey in 2017, Gradic is still relatively new to the live scene. Since playing his first live tournament, he had only recorded four cashes since 2023. But among them was a first-place finish last July.

With a WSOP Circuit stop taking place on the French Riviera, Gradic decided to take a detour from his holiday to chase a shot at glory in the Main Event. However, things didn’t go smoothly at first: “On my first bullet, I got in with aces against ace-eight and flop went blank, turn eight, river eight,” he recalled. Fortunately, his second entry went much differently. After building a big stack on Day 1b, Gradic stayed near the top of the chip counts all the way through. "I had a smooth sailing and also a good table selection. But from the last three tables, it was tough," he said.

Despite the increasingly tough field, Gradic quietly made his way through the tournament, only truly revealing himself when it was time to send an opponent to the rail. "I didn't need to play big pots. I was just more lucky than others at the right spots, and when I got it in, my hand held. One or two people cracked me, but that's it," he said modestly. That good run continued on the final table, where he came in with the second-biggest stack: "I had some maneuver space to not get myself into a danger zone, and it just went perfect."

As for what’s next, with EPT Monte-Carlo starting just a few kilometers away from Aix-en-Provence next week, will Gradic extend his holiday and take a shot at the prestigious event? “Maybe, but I need three or four days off just to realize everything. I came here for vacation, so I just wanted to play this one tournament and relax a bit before the online poker series starts on May 11,” he explained.

If Monaco is a tentative “maybe,” Gradic was more cautious when it came to plans for the summer World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. “It’s my dream to go to Vegas, but we’ll see. I want to have a bankroll big enough to play the events I want,” he said right before PokerNewsinformed him that his victory also came with a $10,000 ticket to the WSOP Main Event. “No way, that’s amazing!” he repeated, his eyes lighting up as he realized his dream could come true in just a few months.

Final Table Action

The final table of the Main Event started with a stark chip divide: four players holding massive stacks, and the other four sitting with 10 big blinds or less. In the short stack group was Staes, who quickly found a double-up through Farid Diaf to get back in contention. That hand left Diaf crippled, and although he doubled twice in a row, the Frenchman ultimately became the first player eliminated at the final table (8th - €20,400).

Winamax Team Pro Sitbon was the next to hit the rail not long after (7th - €26,000), almost immediately followed by Ticherfatine (6th - €33,500), who had previously secured a double-up through Hallay.

With the field now down to five players, the first break of the day arrived, and so did a noticeable slowdown in the action after the restart. Staes managed to double up again, and even scored a third double-up by flopping the nut flush against eventual winner Gradic.

Meanwhile, the start-of-day chip leader Julien Bolimowski saw his stack dwindle after clashing with Gradic, and later losing a flip to Hallay. With just two big blinds left, he cracked aces to stay alive for a moment, but his tournament run came to an end shortly after when his ace-queen was outdrawn by a three on the river. He finished in fifth place for €43,812.

Staes’ elimination in fourth place for €58,400 left Gradic holding a stack twice as large as his last two opponents. His lead continued to grow, and the cards kept falling his way like when he picked up pocket aces to eliminate Hallay with ace-queen (3rd - €79,250).

Heads-up play against Amirault (2nd - €110,500) then lasted only a few minutes before Gradic sealed the win, claiming the title of 2025 WSOP Circuit Aix-en-Provence Main Event champion.

That concludes the coverage here in Aix-en-Provence for the WSOP Circuit, but be sure to follow PokerNewsfor live updates and coverage on tournaments from all around the globe.