LIVE UPDATES FROM THE MAIN EVENT

Paul François Tedeschi has claimed the first €1,100 PokerStars Open Cannes trophy and the final live title of 2025 at the Palace of Festivals and Congresses of Cannes. He won top prize of €195,700 from a total prize pool of €1,153,920 after outlasting 1,201 other players.

Tedeschi describes Cannes as his poker ‘promised land’, having experienced some of the successes that launched his career here. Deep runs in the WSOPE Main Event and PPT Main Event back in 2012 cemented his professional standing and he said that he always tries to participate in events here. Today he has added another title to his extensive catalogue, bumping his total live winnings over $4 million.

Perhaps befitting the venue for the Cannes film festival, there was drama right at the start of the final table, as second-in-chips Nikolai Mamut eliminated both Michel Marcone and Adria Diez Dalmau in the same hand in the first level of play. Mamut’s pair of sevens held firm against the overcards in his opponents’ hands to boost his stack to the top of the counts, slightly over that of start-of-day leader Tedeschi.

Tedeschi responded by knocking out his compatriot and friend Julien Sitbon, setting him all in from the big blind with a monster hand – pocket kings. Button raiser Sitbon called all-in with a suited king-nine, and received no help from the board, collecting €51,730 for fifth place.

Action calmed down somewhat four-handed, with Tedeschi and Mamut skirmishing with each other (both with 12 million chips compared with Kamel Atoui and Axel Bayout’s six million apiece) but remaining roughly level. As the short stacks grew shorter, Bayout was the first to make an all-in preflop move with pocket sixes, running into the queens of Tedeschi and pushing the eventual winner into the chip lead.

Atoui then made his own stand with a big pocket pair – kings – three-betting Tedeschi pre-flop from the big blind. Unfortunately for him, Tedeschi flopped a flush, and after a long spell in the tank on the ace-pairing river, made the call that ended his run at the Cannes title in third place (€87,430).

Heads up play was to take nearly two hours, with Tedeschi’s elimination of the last two players having given him a nearly 2:1 chip lead at the outset. Mamut, a long-time cash game pro turned tournament enthusiast, gave him a run for his money, claiming several early pots.

Tedeschi eventually whittled his opponent’s stack down to around 15BB, however, at which point he set him in holding pocket tens; Mamut’s final hand of king-nine suited failed to improve and handed him the runner-up prize of €122,410.

“C’est juste magnifique,” said Tedeschi, speaking to pokerstars.fr after his win. “I’m very happy to win this trophy and, of course, the prize money that comes with it. Naturally, last night, I started to consider the possibility of winning the tournament, given my chip lead going into the final day. But I’m familiar with these situations, having experienced them for over 10 years. I tend not to get my hopes up too much, otherwise, you’re often disappointed in the end. Everything went well for the past two days, and naturally, I ran incredibly well to clinch this title.”

Tedeschi only bagged a flight to Cannes at the last minute, having been in Asia with his family, after finding a good flight deal; he is now looking forward to celebrating with them with the last PokerStars Live trophy of 2025 in hand.

Final table results:
1: Paul François Tedeschi, France – €195,700
2: Nikolai Mamut, Russia – €122,410
3: Kamel Atoui, France – €87,430
4: Axel Bayout, France – €67,250
5: Julien Sitbon, France – €51,730
6: Adria Diaz Dalmau, Spain – €39,790
7: Michel Marcone, France – €30,600

High Roller

Reporting by PokerStars Media Coordinator Jen Mason

Clément Delacroix has won the €2,200 PokerStars Open Cannes High Roller, seeing off the rest of the 64-strong Day 2 field to collect the trophy and €72,760. This is the professional piano salesman, mender and enthusiast’s biggest payday in the world of poker, and one he wasn’t expecting when he came on “a little trip with Nicolas Tytgat”.

A total of 162 entries generated a prize pool of €311,040, which was paid out among the top 23 finishers at the Palace of Festivals and Congresses in Cannes.

Notables making the money but not the final table included start-of-day chip leader Peter Da and Davidi Kitai, who finished 12th and 13th (both winning €6,320), Florian Duta (15th for €5,480), and Gerard Carbo (18th for €4,160). Carbo has already made his mark on the first PokerStars Open season, picking up a Super High Roller trophy this year in Namur, and finishing runner-up in the PokerStars Open Main Event in Malta for €264,650.

It took over a level for the final table to lose its first player, Kamel Atoui, during which time Clement Delacroix built a dominant chip lead. With nearly twice the stack of his nearest opponent, he picked up most of the sizeable pots and started to put pressure on the dwindling short stacks. Though Mikka Ylamaki busted Christian Peukert in 8th place (jacks vs. Peukert’s all-in-preflop pocket sevens), he himself was eliminated in 6th after most of those chips went to Delacroix.

In between, the final table lost Robbie Bull, UKIPT London 2013 Main Event champion and PokerStars regional tour serial finalist. Bull still picked up valuable PokerStars Live League (Medium Tier) points; he had started the day fifth overall, with a run at a top-three prize position still theoretically possible.

Five-handed became heads up in less time than it had taken to lose the first finalist; Delacroix was on a tear, and everyone else had too few chips to manoeuvre. Whether flopping a set to bust Jozef Cibicek, or shoving small to big blind with jack-seven and beating short-stacked Manuel Ferrari’s ace-five, it seemed that Delacroix was all but unstoppable.

“This guy! I can’t catch a break!” lamented Ferrari, as he congratulated Delacroix. With four million chips to his final opponent Romain Mahiou’s 500,000, Delacroix still had a battle on his hands, however. His fellow Frenchman put up a fight, doubling through three times, including in a hand that burnt most of Delacroix’s timebanks on the river; his third pair call no good against Mahiou’s turned pair of aces.

With stacks looking close to even, a nines vs. queens preflop match-up finally saw Mahiou take the €45,480 second place prize, while the 31 year old picked up the trophy and €72,760.

“I hadn’t planned to play it from the start,” admitted the new champion, “And I only came to Cannes for two days to share a little trip with Nicolas Tytgat. Having postponed my flight home until tomorrow morning, I’ll still need to buy an extra suitcase for the trophy. It’s magnificent, by the way, and it’s so rare to win live, that we’re not going to complain about having these kinds of details to manage.” Read more, if in the right region, on Delacroix’s victory here on the pokerstars.fr blog.

PokerStars Open Cannes €2,200 High Roller final table results:

1st Clément Delacroix, France – €72,760
2nd Romain Mahiou, France – €45,480
3rd Manuel Ferrari, Italy – €32,480
4th Gabriele Lepore, Italy – €24,980
5th Jozef Cibicek, Slovakia – €19,220
6th Mikko Ylamaki, Finland – €14,780
7th Robbie Bull, Scotland – €12,020
8th Christian Peukert, Germany – €10,020
9th Kamel Atoui, France – €8,340

Full High Roller results
Day 2 gallery

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL

Move aside, Monaco. There’s a new star-studded event in town: The PokerStars Open Cannes. Held in the Palace of Festivals and Congresses of Cannes, the same venue as the legendary Cannes Film Festival, there aren’t many places that offer the luxury and prestige of this resort town in the south of France.

So, when it comes to ending the year on a high, there’s no better place to be than Cannes, especially when we’ll be revealing the winners of the PokerStars League. Blend the area’s history of holding high-class events and PokerStars’ ability to organise epic poker action, and you’ve got a prestigious event that’s new on the circuit.

Calling all poker enthusiasts! This is sure to be an unforgettable experience of high stakes, luxury and culture. All you have to do is take your seat at the table.

KEY FESTIVAL DATES

December 16-21, 2025

Happy Hour Drinks and Nibbles: December 16-20

PokerStars Open Main Event: December 17-21 – €1,100 (€1,000,000 GTD)

High Roller: December 16-17 – €2,200

Mystery Bounty Cup: December 20-21 – €400

Second Chance: December 19-20 – €550

Check out the full tournament schedule here.

LIVE LEAGUE LATEST

With just PokerStars Open Cannes left on the live calendar, things are really heating up in the inaugural PokerStars Live League.

Here’s a look at how things stand after EPT Prague:

HIGH

Last updated: Monday, December 15 (09:30)

1. Enrico Camosci (Italy) 4,025 pts
2. Klemens Roiter (Austria) 3,778
3. Aleks Ponakovs (Latvia) 2,040
4. Jesse Lonis (USA) 1,755
5. Christopher Nguyen (Austria) 1,628

MEDIUM

Last updated: Monday, December 15 (09:30)

1. Gerard Rubiralta (Spain) 3,464 pts
2. Kenny Hallaert (Belgium) 2,793
3. Petre Ionescu (Romania) 2,783
4. Jon Kyte (Norway) 2,468
5. Robert Bull (Scotland) 2,276

LOW

Last updated: Monday, December 15 (09:30)

1. Steinn Du Karlsson (Iceland) 997 pts
2. David Docherty (UK) 938
3. Andreas Froehli (Switzerland) 929
4. Soraya Estrada (Spain) 903
5. Thomas Clack (UK) 593

WHAT IS THE POKERSTARS OPEN?

A new era of live poker in Europe began in 2025 with the launch of the PokerStars Open, an exciting tour consolidating PokerStars’ popular and prestigious regional tours under one dynamic banner.

The PokerStars Open combines the best elements of the UK and Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT), Eureka Poker Tour, Estrellas Poker Tour (ESPT), and France Poker Series (FPS) to create a schedule of unmissable events across some of Europe’s most vibrant destinations. 

So far, the PokerStars Open has visited Campione, Namur, Monte Carlo, Malaga, Barcelona, and Malta.

All events take place at established partner casinos and will feature PokerStars’ industry-leading dealers and floor staff, seamless registration processes, unmissable player activities, an informative Live app, and a fun and friendly atmosphere at every stop.

Each festival is headed by a €1,100/£1,100 (or €1,650 if at an EPT) PokerStars Open Main Event with €1M/£1M guaranteed, supported by a large side-event schedule and tons of fun activities. Players can expect the world-class live event experience PokerStars is known for.

Each stop will feature a wide range of online satellites, offering more players the chance to qualify. You can also use your Power Path Silver Passes to play PokerStars Open events.

The PokerStars client provides more information on qualifying routes. 

Head to the official PokerStars Open site for more information on upcoming stops.

POKERSTARS OPEN MAIN EVENT WINNERS

Adrian-Sorel State (Romania) – €363,000 (Campione, March 2025)

Jon Kyte (Norway) – €340,000 (Monte Carlo, May 2025)

Jean-Vincent Lehut (France) – €238,000 (Namur, May 2025)

Manuel Ferrari (Italy) – €206,300 (Malaga, June 2025)

Alexis Nicolai (France) – €772,000 (Barcelona, August 2025)

Scott Margereson (UK) – €423,700 (Malta, October 2025)

Tuan Le (United Kingdom) – £149,200 (Manchester, October 2025)

Yulian Bogdanov (Bulgaria) – €398,135 (Prague, December 2025)

EVERYTHING ELSE

POKER NEWS LIVE UPDATES
Our live reporting partner is offering hand-by-hand updates from the Main Event.

POKERSTARS OPEN CANNES OFFICIAL SITE
The PokerStars Live official page has everything you need to know about the tournament series in Cannes.

FULL TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
The full PokerStars Open Cannes schedule can be viewed here.

DOWNLOAD THE POKERSTARS LIVE APP
All the info you need on your mobile device from the Apple iStore or Google Play for Android.

POKERSTARS BLOG ON TWITTER
Follow us on Twitter.

Back to Top