Coming for the primary time to Aix-en-Provence, David Gradic had initially deliberate to get pleasure from a soothing vacation on the French Riviera and recharge earlier than the upcoming on-line poker collection. However a cease at Pasino Grand for the €1,000 World Sequence of Poker Circuit Primary Occasion, organized by Texapoker, become a profitable detour because the Slovenian participant emerged victorious from a subject of 1,433 entries.
The WSOP Circuit gold ring and the highest prize of €160,000 introduced an enormous smile to Gradic’s face, however his pleasure solely grew when he discovered he additionally secured a seat for the $10,000 WSOP Primary Occasion this summer time in Las Vegas, together with an entry to the WSOP Event of Champions subsequent month in Los Angeles.
Gradic placed on a dominant efficiency on the ultimate desk, eliminating six of his seven opponents. Amongst them have been WSOP bracelet winner Julien Sitbon (sixth – €26,000), Cécile Ticherfatine (fifth – €33,500), Aliosha Staes (4th – €58,400), Axel Hallay (third – €79,250), and at last Thierry Amirault, whose unorthodox model helped him clinch runner-up for €110,500.
WSOP Circuit Aix-en-Provence Primary Occasion Outcomes
Winner’s Response
“I dreamed about this ring, it’s superb,” Gradic stated, stars in his eyes, simply moments earlier than the winner’s ceremony. Primarily a web based participant who started his poker journey in 2017, Gradic remains to be comparatively new to the reside scene. Since taking part in his first reside match, he had solely recorded 4 cashes since 2023. However amongst them was a first-place end final July.
With a WSOP Circuit cease going down on the French Riviera, Gradic determined to take a detour from his vacation to chase a shot at glory within the Primary Occasion. Nonetheless, issues didn’t go easily at first: “On my first bullet, I received in with aces towards ace-eight and flop went clean, flip eight, river eight,” he recalled. Happily, his second entry went a lot in a different way. After constructing an enormous stack on Day 1b, Gradic stayed close to the highest of the chip counts throughout. “I had a easy crusing and likewise a great desk choice. However from the final three tables, it was robust,” he stated.
Regardless of the more and more robust subject, Gradic quietly made his manner via the match, solely really revealing himself when it was time to ship an opponent to the rail. “I did not have to play large pots. I used to be simply extra fortunate than others on the proper spots, and once I received it in, my hand-held. One or two individuals cracked me, however that is it,” he stated modestly. That good run continued on the ultimate desk, the place he got here in with the second-biggest stack: “I had some maneuver house to not get myself right into a hazard zone, and it simply went good.”
As for what’s subsequent, with EPT Monte-Carlo beginning just some kilometers away from Aix-en-Provence subsequent week, will Gradic lengthen his vacation and take a shot on the prestigious occasion? “Perhaps, however I would like three or 4 days off simply to comprehend all the pieces. I got here right here for trip, so I simply needed to play this one match and calm down a bit earlier than the web poker collection begins on Might 11,” he defined.
If Monaco is a tentative “perhaps,” Gradic was extra cautious when it got here to plans for the summer time World Sequence of Poker in Las Vegas. “It’s my dream to go to Vegas, however we’ll see. I wish to have a bankroll sufficiently big to play the occasions I need,” he stated proper earlier than PokerNews knowledgeable him that his victory additionally got here with a $10,000 ticket to the WSOP Primary Occasion. “No manner, that’s superb!” he repeated, his eyes lighting up as he realized his dream might come true in just some months.
Ultimate Desk Motion
The ultimate desk of the Primary Occasion began with a stark chip divide: 4 gamers holding large stacks, and the opposite 4 sitting with 10 large blinds or much less. Within the quick stack group was Staes, who shortly discovered a double-up via Farid Diaf to get again in rivalry. That hand left Diaf crippled, and though he doubled twice in a row, the Frenchman finally turned the primary participant eradicated on the ultimate desk (eighth – €20,400).
Winamax Crew Professional Sitbon was the subsequent to hit the rail not lengthy after (seventh – €26,000), nearly instantly adopted by Ticherfatine (sixth – €33,500), who had beforehand secured a double-up via Hallay.
With the sector now down to 5 gamers, the primary break of the day arrived, and so did a noticeable slowdown within the motion after the restart. Staes managed to double up once more, and even scored a 3rd double-up by flopping the nut flush towards eventual winner Gradic.
In the meantime, the start-of-day chip chief Julien Bolimowski noticed his stack dwindle after clashing with Gradic, and later shedding a flip to Hallay. With simply two large blinds left, he cracked aces to remain alive for a second, however his match run got here to an finish shortly after when his ace-queen was outdrawn by a 3 on the river. He completed in fifth place for €43,812.
Staes’ elimination in fourth place for €58,400 left Gradic holding a stack twice as giant as his final two opponents. His lead continued to develop, and the playing cards stored falling his manner like when he picked up pocket aces to eradicate Hallay with ace-queen (third – €79,250).
Heads-up play towards Amirault (2nd – €110,500) then lasted just a few minutes earlier than Gradic sealed the win, claiming the title of 2025 WSOP Circuit Aix-en-Provence Primary Occasion champion.
That concludes the protection right here in Aix-en-Provence for the WSOP Circuit, however make sure to comply with PokerNews for reside updates and protection on tournaments from throughout the globe.
