He was one of the players who rose to the top in a tournament full of big names in poker and quickly built a reputation.
Alexandre Villoumier of Switzerland, who was dedicated to the tournament just over a year ago, conquered a field of 207 of the game’s toughest opponents, event #2: a $25,000 high roller 6-hand no limit hold, his first World Series poker bracelet, and a $1,215,864 prize.
“Obviously the World Series is fantastic,” said the newly crowned champion after defeating Chance Kornuth in advance. “Taking up a bracelet is just the epitome of a poker career.”
Vuilleumier has entered the WSOP slightly in a row. He finished third in EPT London in November, which was his best score until today. He won a $10,150 six-handed competition in the Bahamas in February. And now he was the last man standing in one of the most talented tournaments in the poker calendar. The last seven months have been the time Vuilleumier has established himself as one of the best players in the game.
“I wouldn’t be as arrogant as saying that, but for me it’s definitely the year of my career. I’m really happy with everything that’s happened,” he said. “I’m not one of the best players. Like in chess, you have to be here for years. I’m definitely growing and excited to be in this tournament. I started the tournament in January 2022, so I’m not going to make any bold evaluations.”
Chess is another game that Vuilleumier knows all too well. He is an international master and has a high rating of 2,400 points. His background in chess, with results dating back more than 20 years, helped him prepare for the strict nature of being a professional poker player.
“There are many similarities. One of the best skills you learn in chess is that you can focus for a long time. So, even after 9 hours of concentration, I think I’m still at 90% of my ability, while others are at 60%. So, it’s definitely a great thing,” he said.
“In addition, it is possible to analyze backwards. We can think in the air and reconstruct games like we think abstractly in chess. In poker, OK, it’s important that he jumps from playing freeflops and making turns, and what does that mean? The mental gymnastics is certainly very similar to what’s happening in chess.”
The third day began at 1:30 p.m. local time with nine athletes chasing the prestigious WSOP Gold Bracelet.
Jake Schindler and Elior Sion fell within the first few minutes of the day, sending the field down to the unofficial final seven-man table.
Vuilleumier came in second on the chip with 5,200,000, behind Frenchman Axel Hallay’s 10,035,000. Sean Winter, one of the best players without a bracelet, got a huge double-up against Chris Moore and was in a position to shake off the difference when he threw four pitches to get Moore below a million. A few hands later, Moore picked up the jack and made it all 475,000 against Winter’s Ace Eight, but Winter flew an ace into the river to set up the official final table, which was gathered at the main feature table inside Las Vegas in Hosche and Paris.
Renlin double set up a set-over against Joey Wiseman on the second hand of the final table. Villoumier then called out Wiseman’s jack – three and a short stack push of kings split after flop trip 3, making the 2012 bracelet winner the first victim of the final table.
Villoumier then began taking the lead in the tournament after taking a pivotal hand against Winter. Villume led the pair with King Queen by 1,790,000 people. Winter held on to his Queen’s pair, and Bilyumie required 5,350,000 people to grab a huge chip lead, more than 1,600,000.
Winter was a big blind but sociable and joyful Lin repeatedly doubled when he finally gave in to fifth when Cornus made a quad out of pocket king. Harley, who started the day as an overwhelming chip leader, canceled the last 855,000 against Winter’s dominant king queen after losing to Winter’s King Ten by seven and was eliminated in fourth place.
Cornus, three-handed between three-time bracelet winner Villoumier and Winter, has cut the gap a little and doubled it to 9.63 million, avoiding back-to-back draws from Villoumier, who is still trying to grab the first. Winter’s hope for a miraculous “chip and chair” story was finally broken when he and Villoumier both folded the top pair, Villoumier dragged the pair together and Winter cancelled the last 3,250,000.
Villoumier led 1,980,000 to Cornus’ 1,130,000 at the start of a steamy play controlled by a Swiss professional team. When Cornus caught King-3, Villoumier was down to only 3,050,000 people, and Villoumier called with Queen Ace, and the board immediately denied Cornus’s fourth bracelet and had Villoumier secure the title.
Vuilleumier is proving himself to be a 6-max savant, all dating back to him playing a cash game. “I’m from a cash game so we like to play post-flops and obviously there’s more post-flops in 6-max,” he said.
He has now conquered one of the six toughest fields of the year. He will no longer be overlooked if he was overshadowed by legendary names at the beginning of the tournament.
Final Table Results
Place Player Country Goods (USD)
1 Alexandre Vuilleumier 스위스 $1,215,864
2 Chance Cornus US$751,463
3 Sean Winter U.S.$518,106
4 Axel Hallay France $363,326
5 Renlin China $259,220
6 Joy Weissman U.S.$188,219