| Rank | Player | Career Earnings |
| 1 | Jean-Noel Thorel | $28,148,504 |
| 2 | Bertrand Grospellier | $15,617,811 |
| 3 | Benjamin Pollak | $13,065,948 |
| 4 | Antoine Saout | $10,401,332 |
| 5 | Alexandre Reard | $9,587,938 |
| 6 | Rui Cao | $9,259,206 |
| 7 | David Benyamine | $8,462,348 |
| 8 | Sylvain Loosli | $8,449,855 |
| 9 | Thomas Santerne | $7,554,275 |
| 10 | Johan Guilbert | $7,380,446 |
The latest iteration of the PokerStars European Poker Tour Paris recently wrapped up in the French capital, with over $42 million in total prize money awarded from Feb. 18 through March 1. While foreign visitors to the City of Light captured plenty of titles and hefty paydays during the 34-event festival, the locals definitely held their own.
Jean-Noel Thorel
Among the many French players to secure a big score was the nation’s all-time money leader: Jean-Noel Thorel. The 78-year-old pharmacist and biologist was hugely successful in business after founding the NAOS skincare company. He first appeared on the live tournament scene in 2008, but in the past decade has become a fixture in the highest-stakes events. Thorel finished fourth in the EPT Paris €100,000 super high roller for $319,780. That brought his lifetime poker earnings to more than $28.1 million, giving him a more than $12.5 million lead over second-ranked Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier on the French money list.
Thorel has six seven-figure paydays on his résumé, including the massive $6,000,000 score he earned as the runner-up in the 2025 World Series of Poker Paradise $25,000 super main event. All but one of his cashes for a million or more came in second-place finishes.
Jean-Noel Thorel’s Seven-Figure Scores
| Date | Event | Place | Payout |
| Dec 18, ’25 | WSOP Paradise $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em Super Main Event | 2 | $6,000,000 |
| Mar 16, ’24 | Triton Super High Roller Series Jeju $100,000 No-Limit Hold’em | 2 | $2,875,000 |
| Aug 07, ’23 | Triton Poker Super High Roller Series London $125,000 No-Limit Hold’em | 2 | $2,830,000 |
| Feb 02, ’23 | PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $250,000 No-Limit Hold’em | 2 | $2,137,100 |
| Oct 25, ’19 | World Series of Poker Europe €100,000 No-Limit Hold’em | 2 | $1,490,129 |
| Oct 26, ’23 | Triton Super High Roller Series Monte Carlo $210,000 No-Limit Hold’em Invitational | 4 | $1,390,000 |
Thorel has accumulated his massive haul across just 104 in-the-money finishes. That makes his average cash worth nearly $271,000. He currently boasts four titles, with his biggest payday in a win being the $568,731 that came with his triumph in the 2024 EPT Barcelona €30,000 high roller.
‘ElkY’ Remains One Of France’s Most Decorated Champions
Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier
Grospellier’s $15.6 million in career earnings comes from 181 lifetime cashes. He is the only French player to win poker’s triple crown, with two WSOP gold bracelets to go with main event triumphs on the EPT and World Poker Tour. The 45-year-old former StarCraft professional won the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in 2008 and the WPT Festa Al Lago Classic later that same year.
His two bracelets came eight years apart. The first saw him take down the 2011 $10,000 stud championship. He later came out on top in the WSOP Europe €550 Colossus event.
Grospellier’s largest cash also came in a bracelet event. He fell just short of the gold in the 2017 WSOP $111,111 One Drop High Roller, earning nearly $2.3 million after losing heads-up to Doug Polk.
‘Elky’ has been less of a fixture on the live scene in recent years. He did not record a cash in 2025, with his most recent victory being a $372,250 payday for a win in an Asian Poker Tour Taipei high roller in the spring of 2024.
Benjamin Pollak and Antoine Saout Round Out France’s Eight-Figure Performers
Benjamin Pollak secured $3.5 million of his $13 million overall haul in a single event. The 42-year-old Parisian placed third from a field of 7,221 entries in the 2017 WSOP main event to walk away with that multi-million-dollar haul. Pollak is far from a one-hit wonder, though. He has seven career titles and 121 recorded cashes to his name, including a win in the 2018 EPT Barcelona €50,000 high roller for over $1.1 million.
Pollak added to his haul with one final-table appearance at the 2026 EPT Paris, finishing third in a €10,200 pot-limit Omaha six-max event for $97,704.
Like Pollak, Antoine Saout’s status as an eight-figure earner is due in large part to his success in poker’s largest event. Unlike Pollak, though, Saout managed to make the final table of the WSOP main event multiple times. He finished third in 2009 for just shy of $3.5 million, then joined Pollak in making the final table in 2017 (pictured below). Saout finished fifth that year, earning another $2 million for his incredible achievement.
Saout has over $10.4 million in total earnings across 162 cashes, which means he’s added more than $4.9 million outside of his two deep runs in the big dance. The 41-year-old came within one spot of winning an EPT main event title in 2022, finishing second in Prague for $840,000.
Other Top French Contenders
Several other top players from France are fast approaching eight figures in earnings, including two-time bracelet winner Alexandre Reard ($9.6 million) and high roller regular Rui Cao ($9.3 million). Cao captured a huge portion of his career haul with a $3.4 million win in the 2019 Triton Montenegro short deck championship.
Johan ‘YoH Viral’ Guilbert
WPT champion and bracelet winner David Benyamine has accrued nearly $8.5 million despite often focusing on the cash game scene. Sylvain Loosli took the Pollak-Saout route to millions, placing fourth in the 2013 WSOP main event for nearly $2.8 million. He also took down a €50,000 high roller at EPT Barcelona in 2015 for over $1.4 million.
Rounding out the top ten are Thomas Santerne ($7.6 million) and Johan ‘YoH Viral’ Guilbert ($7.4 million). Santerne’s top score is a $1.7 million payday for a runner-up finish in the 2024 Triton Montenegro $100,000 high roller. Guilbert broke through to win his first bracelet and over $1.5 million in December of 2025. His victory came in a $25,000 turbo event at the WSOP Paradise.
Photo credits: PokerStars / Danny Maxwell, WSOP.
