Sometimes he is in Las Vegas, sometimes in Monaco or in Dublin; Paul Testud travels the world in search of tournaments. On the 15^th March he touched down in Lyon for the third Super Satellite of the Partouche Poker Tour, where he created a stir by finishing 10^th and winning himself a ticket for the Main Event in Cannes. In Lyon “Paulo” proved that he is definitely a member of the French poker elite. It is not over yet for this world poker player.

Joseph Joubert said: “amazing things only amaze once, but what is admirable is to be admired more and more”. Around a poker table, Paul Testud is the kind of player one cannot stop looking at. He has luck, craziness, talent, wisdom as well as good humour. In Lyon, at the third Partouche Poker Tour Super Satellite, Paul Testud had a broad smile as he collected his chips. And one could understand why…he was the chipleader by far with a big pot within his reach. Paulo arranged his chips in a huge pyramid while his opponents desperately tried to catch a glimpse of it, all the while keeping an eye on the game. It was a surreal situation, a real treat for the spectators.

“Often a winner and a good loser”

When he loses Paul Testud still keeps his good humour, even if he hardly enjoys it. In Lyon he was the main chipleader, but a bad round strongly compromised his place at the final table and then François Tardieu knocked him out of the race for good: “When there were only 13 players left playing I had a pair of queens, I decided that I should do something. I raised big so that I would not be bothered by ace-king or ace-queen. The person before me went all in so I called it. And you know the rest… he had a pair of aces. Having said that, it would never have happened if in the end there was a prize of 1,000,000 euros. I would never have paid!” After this terrible round, Testud’s chip count was considerably decreased. François Tardieu finished the job with Ace-king against Testud’s Ace-2. But Paulo still left smiling, satisfied with his tournament and his fun night of poker.

“An impressive list of wins”

But Paulo is not only a fun player to watch and he is not just happy to be sitting at a poker table. No, he is in actual fact a giant starved of chips! This lover of 7 Stud, his preferred version, has one of the longest list of wins in France today (even if it is not the actual longest) and it is growing month after month. He has been travelling around the world for nearly 10 years to win his opponents’ chips and has so far won 10 tournaments around the world of different versions of poker. From these wins combined he has made 1,077,131 dollars, or close to 850,000 euros. His best performances were in the United States, notably in Las Vegas. He made 69,985 dollars by winning the Bellagio Cup III in June 2007, came second in the World heads up Championship in May 2007 winning 19,397 dollars and he even won 75,485 dollars in April 2005 by coming 17^th in the Five-Star World poker Classic. Not forgetting of course his many side tournament wins in Europe, which according to him always contain the best poker players in the world. It is not surprising that in our January – February season of “live poker”, he was ranked the 10^th best player in France…

“A poker monster”

However when he is asked what his favourite memory is, he replies: “There are so many! I remember a tournament in Montpellier of 100 players. I had won the tournament and its 30,000 francs prize - a very good memory. I have other funnier memories which are also just as eventful. In Dublin, during the Irish Winter Tour, I had a double pair of Ace-Jack. My opponent had a 3 and 4 and kept playing his 4 (laughs). I continued to attack until I went all in. I did not regret a thing when I saw that he had a four (laughs)”. Out of all his amazing achievements, he has only held onto these anecdotal moments which define the Grand Paulo throughout his long years of poker playing. Paulo is one of a kind, a monster of poker who always impresses. That is why this old veteran of the green table will scare more than one at the Palm Beach in Cannes next September. We are already rushing to be there!

Because the Partouche Poker Tour is always offering you more, a new Super Satellite has been added to the PPT calendar: Andernos. Located in the south west, a few kilometres south of Bordeaux, Casino le Miami will, on the 10^th August, host the seventh and last Super Satellite of the season for no less than 200 players. It’s your last chance!

The PPT will therefore conclude its long tour around France at Andernos, with an exceptional Super Satellite and new side tournaments. Other high quality casinos in the area will also open their doors to players from the 21^st to 7^th August. The casinos are as follows: Andernos, Arcachon, Roche Posay, Salies de Bearn. Make sure you are there and good luck!