An amateur player defeats a professional to win the WPO Exiles Main Event.

Amateur player Lucas Archeny defeated a field of 2,873 entries in the WPO Ex Lebanon €500 Main Event to win the €150,000 first-place prize. He defeated Etienne De Soultrait heads-up.

At the Casino Grand Cercle in Aix-les-Bains, in the French Alps, many expected players like Winamax Team Pros to win the €500 Winamax Poker Open Main Event. However, from a massive field of 2,873 entries (total prize pool of €1,185,974), local player Lucas Archeny—who prefers playing free-to-play tournaments at local clubs rather than high-stakes events—delivered an impressive performance and ultimately lifted the trophy.

The 23-year-old player took home the €150,000 champion prize after a fierce final table battle, defeating Etienne De Soultrait (second place – €105,000) in heads-up play, while streamer Mathieu Pontin took third place with €74,000.

2026 WPO Ex Leiban Main Event Final Table Results

From amateur to professional

Archeny's journey into poker may seem unusual to international tour followers, but it fits the profile of a typical Winamax tournament player: starting by playing for free at a local club at age 18, gradually progressing to low-stakes tournaments in the region, and eventually succeeding in challenging this main event.

"It's an unbelievable feeling," he said after his victory. "It's hard to explain, but it's something you've never really felt before. The adrenaline subsided a little, and the crazy pressure disappeared the moment I saw the river card. It was insane. I just multiplied my biggest prize by 15. I'll think about it later, but right now, I'm enjoying this moment to the fullest."

Despite being an amateur player, Archany, who works in the accounting department, showed no fear at the poker table, behaving like a much more experienced player. "I don't want to sound arrogant, but I have several years of experience in amateur poker club settings, especially on the first day against a lot of opponents, where there are often guys who aren't used to playing live. You can tell they're a bit nervous. So that helps me a lot in reading tells and makes me feel comfortable. For example, I think my opponent was under a lot of pressure at the final table. I just tried to stay calm, and I think I did."

Friends from his clubs, Bourg Hold'em Poker and ABC Poker de Saint-Denis-lès-Bourg, unsurprisingly became his first supporters. "I received 300,000 messages all day, and a little yesterday too, so I didn't have time to reply to anyone," Archeny added. Taking the trophy back to Friday's club game would be a good way to thank them.

With an extra €150,000 in his bank account, Archeny doesn't plan to drastically change his life. "I'll definitely put it into my poker bankroll and save some for safety. I'm not going to go crazy and start playing big live tournaments right away. If I play tournaments like €1,500, they're still within my bankroll, so it's fine. As for anything else, I really don't know. I don't know if I want to buy myself anything. It's unlikely to change what I'm going to do next."

One thing is certain: he will return in March for the Winamax Poker Tour Grand Finals, and if the WPO Ex-Lebanon event returns, he will come back next year to defend his title.

Final Day Match Results

It's best not to be late for the start of the final day, as five of the 17 remaining players are eliminated within the first hour. Things started with the very first hand: Nicolas Marin faced off against Etienne de Soultrait, both with AK and identical chip stacks. However, the board flushed on the river, and De Soultrait eliminated Marin (17th place – €6,300), who was later called at the cashier's counter by Dimitri Callonnec (16th place).

Boris Dupuis's AK ran into a K, finishing in 15th place. A coin toss then ended Raphael Bilger's run in 14th place. Sebastien Studer was then eliminated with pocket 3s, failing to improve his matchup against J, leaving only two tables remaining.

However, Maxence Vié didn't last long, as he allowed Paul Bigot to double up shortly before the redraw, leaving him with only 25,000. He survived once but was eventually eliminated in 12th place (€8,300). Bigot also didn't last long after hitting Nicolas Ehrath's A-4 with Nicolas Ehrath's A, while his tablemate Le Dissez heroically called to double up.

Hervé Ponthet also doubled up, but was eliminated when he went all-in for the second time (10th place – €11,000). The pace slowed slightly after his elimination, but not for long, as Aymane Mamoun flopped AK and hit two pair. Unfortunately, Mathieu Pontin held J-10 to make a straight, so Mamoun's journey ended in ninth place.

One more elimination was needed to reach the final table, and Leo Viales was the one who missed out, with his A-7 against K-10. D'Anfray flopped a 10, Viales hit an A on the turn, but D'Anfray found trips on the river, making it to the final table.

The final table started slowly, with Le Dissez running into Archeny's Ace two hours later, finishing in seventh place (€18,500). De Soultrait and Benjamin Goudard both doubled up in the next few hands, but in the hand immediately following his double, Goudard again found himself in danger with J against Q. He failed to find the J he needed and had to leave the table in sixth place (€25,500).

Nicolas Ehrath, who was now the shortest stack at the table, didn't last long, losing to AQ with A-2 and finishing in fifth place (€36,000).

Over the next three hours, there were seven consecutive all-in and calls, including a 60-minute dinner break, but no eliminations occurred, and three of the four remaining players doubled up once or twice. D'Anfray eventually found another opportunity to go all-in with Q-10, but he lost to De Soultrait's Q. As the chip leader at the start of the day, he finished with €51,500 in fourth place.

This elimination opened up the game, with Archeny doubling up against Pontin and then hitting trips on the flop to send him to heads-up play with a 3:1 chip lead.

However, De Soultrait narrowed the gap, heroically calling with third pair to save his tournament life and take the chip lead. But Archeny fought back, hitting a straight to regain the lead. The two players eventually went all-in a few hands later, with Archeny's K-7 maintaining the lead and winning him the championship.

A Winamax tournament isn't complete without a post-tournament championship party. But PokerNews' coverage of the 2026 WPO Ex Lebanon ends here.

In March, Winamax will travel to Aix-en-Provence for the Winamax Poker Tour Grand Finals, and may return next year for another WPO event. "I had coffee with the casino director. See you in Aix-en-Provence and Les Ban," Winamax's on-site tournament manager Matthieu Duran said into the microphone at the championship award ceremony.

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