Satellite Qualifier Mokni Becomes Latest French Poker Champion
After four days of action, only one player remained to become the 2024 €1,000 French Championship Main Event winner, here at Pasino Grand in Aix-en-Provence.
And after a long battle, Heni Mokni emerged as the winner from a field of 553 entrants, taking home the first-place prize of €75,000 and a €11,000 package for the next WSOP Main Event.
In the lead almost from the start to finish, Mokni only needed one hand in heads-up play to win against Hugues Girard, who finishes second again after he took the silver medal in the €1,000 Heads-Up Event earlier in the week.
€1,000 French Championship Main Event Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heni Mokni | France | €75,000 |
| 2 | Hugues Girard | France | €49,574 |
| 3 | Alexis Rozenblat | France | €35,400 |
| 4 | Rachid El Yaacoubi | France | €26,700 |
| 5 | Cecile Ticherfatine | France | €20,600 |
| 6 | Lionel Foulquier | France | €16,100 |
| 7 | Frédéric Delval | France | €12,800 |
| 8 | Axel Bayout | France | €10,400 |
Winner's Reaction
"It's a great pleasure to win because I was waiting for it for a long time," said Mokni after the winning ceremony" I started to do more live events for the last two years, so I knew it was coming. And I'm happy it happened now."
He explained that he started playing poker while studying business around 2007, when poker grew in France thanks to Patrick Bruel's TV shows about poker. He then continued to play, moving from cash game to tournaments, and decided a one and a half year ago to become a professional player: "I didn't like that much my work anymore and I was building my house, so I told myself that it was the right moment to do it."
Having qualified via €125 satellite online, Mokni was second in chips after Day 1a, Day 2, and Day 3 and arrived at the final table with confidence.
"It's a great pleasure to win because I was waiting for it for a long time"
"I wanted to stay focused and to observe my table. I think that it's one of my main strengths. And I knew that I was technically better than the other players because I'm more an online player than they are," he added. "But I respect them all, they are good players and they gave me a hard time. Especially Girard who took every aggressive spot he could."
The only little doubt Mokni had in his mind during the day was when all stacks were back to even at three left after he was the chip leader during the whole final table. But he managed to win and climb to the top step of the podium.
Final Day Action
Eight players started the final day of the 2024 French Championship, all aiming for the title. Frédéric Delval, who began the day with just 11 big blinds, managed to double up in the first hour, putting himself back in the race. Hugues Girard soon found himself at risk, but tripled up before the first break.
After Delval doubled up again through Rachid El Yaacoubi, Axel Bayout (8th - €10,400) became the first player eliminated from the final table when his kings were cracked by Lionel Foulquier’s flush.
Foulquier, who had been quiet at the start, scored another elimination before the second break, sending Delval to the rail with ace-ten against ace-nine. Jean-Noel Thorel's best friend Delval finished in seventh place, taking home €12,800. In between these two eliminations, both Girard and Alexis Rozenblat managed to double up.
At the top of the chip counts, Heni Mokni overtook El Yaacoubi, becoming the first player to reach 10 million chips. His stack grew even further when he called Lionel Foulquier's all-in with king-queen against Foulquier's aces. Two queens on the board gave Mokni the winning hand, eliminating Foulquier in sixth place for €16,100.
While Girard doubled up for the third time, Rozenblat hero called when El Yaacoubi jammed on the river to go on a dinner break as the chip leader.
If the pace of the first levels was pretty slow, everything sped up after dinner with Cécile Ticherfatine being eliminated in fifth place for €20,600 by Rozenblat's ace-queen. Moments later, Girard doubled up once again, then El Yaacoubi with queen-jack ran into Mokni's king-queen. The board didn't change anything and from chip leading at the beginning of the final table, he finished in 4th place for €26,700.
A long three-way battle began after this elimination, Girard closing the gap and even taking the lead after being short-stacked all day long. With three even stacks, one player needed a bit of help from the cards to unlock the situation. And it was for Mokni, who flopped trips to double through Rozenblat.
Girard was on the edge of elimination again after a new break, but the river allowed him to split. Rozenblat ultimately ran into Mokni's king to finish in third place (€35,400).
Finally, only one hand was needed to end the tournament between the two last players, Mokni triumphing over Girard to become the 2024 French Champion.
