Israel's Gabi Livshitz has won the €2,200 PokerStars Open Aix-en-Provence High Roller, taking home €50,440 and the trophy. PokerNews reported the result on November 5, 2026. Livshitz outlasted 101 opponents, with 102 entries including re-entries creating a €195,840 prize pool shared by the top 15 finishers.
The win came at the penultimate PokerStars Open series of 2026, which had started four days earlier. By the time the High Roller ended, six players had already won trophies at the festival, which is a reminder of how busy the Open schedule can be.
Final Table Results
| Rank | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gabi Livshitz | Israel | €50,440 |
| 2 | Adil Kassou | France | €32,300 |
| 3 | Timothee Rey | France | €22,250 |
| 4 | Simon Wiciak | France | €16,300 |
| 5 | Adem Agoudjil | France | €12,600 |
| 6 | Jason Wheeler | United States | €10,200 |
| 7 | Thibaud Martin | France | €8,550 |
| 8 | Dan Wilson | Ireland | €7,300 |
| 9 | Adrian Chabbi Ipina | Spain | €6,300 |
The article's body text gives slightly different figures for the winner (€50,400) and third place (€22,500); the table above uses PokerNews' result table. The field and the money finishers were mostly French, which is natural for a regional stop, but the final table also featured players from Israel, the United States, Ireland and Spain.
The Players Behind the Result
Gabi Livshitz
Livshitz has more than $2.3 million in career live earnings. His previous No-Limit Hold'em win came in March 2023, and he also won a €5,200 Pot-Limit Omaha event in Malta in October 2025. That combination of NLHE and PLO titles suggests a player comfortable in different formats, an increasingly valuable trait as high-roller fields get tougher.
The runner-up
Adil Kassou finished second for €32,300, the largest live payday of his young career. Beating a field of 102 to reach heads-up at a €2,200 buy-in is a significant achievement, even if the trophy went elsewhere.
Familiar names on the money bubble
Several recognisable players reached the money. Timothee Rey finished third, and PokerNews notes it was the eighth five-figure prize of his 2026 season. Simon Wiciak, the 2023 EPT Barcelona Main Event champion, finished fourth for €16,300. Jason Wheeler, who won the PokerStars Open Barcelona Main Event in August for a career-best €731,000, finished sixth for €10,200. Dan Wilson, a former Irish Open champion, took eighth for €7,300. Thibaud Martin, who reached the final two tables of the PokerStars Open Barcelona last year, was seventh for €8,550.
Bruno Fitoussi was the first to return a profit, finishing 15th for €4,400, and Manuel Neiva de Sousa went out 10th when the minimum payout was €6,300.
What the Numbers Tell Us
A top-heavy structure
With 15 places paid out of 102 entries, roughly 14.7% of the field cashed. First place earned €50,440, about 25.8% of the €195,840 prize pool. The minimum cash was €4,400, or just over twice the buy-in. That is a fairly typical live high-roller structure: the top three or four places take the largest share, and the bottom of the money offers a modest profit.
Small fields, big edges
A field of 102 is small by festival standards. The Battle of Malta main event we covered this week drew 5,368 entries. Small-field high rollers play differently: fewer players means fewer weak opponents, stacks are deeper relative to blinds and there is less variance from a lot of short-term all-in confrontations. They reward players with strong postflop skills. Our high stakes page looks at how this level of play differs from the average tournament.
Repeated final-table appearances
Rey, Wiciak and Wheeler all reached the final nine, and each has an established record. In small-field events, the same names turn up more often because there are fewer entrants and the skill gap is more visible. That does not mean a recreational player cannot win, but it does explain why consistent high performers accumulate results.
The PokerStars Open Series
The PokerStars Open is a touring live series. The Aix-en-Provence stop has a €1,100 Main Event. After Day 1a, Vincent De Luca led with 368,000 chips, followed by Krzysztof Zapolski (268,000) and Baptiste Chauvin (246,000). 209 players entered Day 1a and 67 advanced to Day 2. Day 1b was a turbo flight with 50 entrants and 20 advancing, with Jerome Collomb the largest stack at 137,400. Two Day 1 flights were still to come when PokerNews reported.
Stops like this are often tied to satellites on PokerStars online. The networked structure helps recreational players qualify for live events at a fraction of the buy-in. For more on how online satellites work, visit our tournaments page and online poker vs live poker comparison.
Strategy Lessons From a High-Roller Final Table
While PokerNews did not publish detailed hand histories, the structure of the event offers a few useful lessons.
Bubble play matters. With 15 places paid and minimum payouts above the buy-in, the bubble is a tense point. Players with short stacks must choose between waiting for a premium hand and taking risks. Learn about the maths in our what is ICM entry.
Stay adaptable. Livshitz's career includes titles in both NLHE and PLO. Being comfortable in multiple formats helps in mixed fields and prepares you for varied tournaments. If you want to branch out, our Omaha and Texas Hold'em guides are good starting points.
Manage your bankroll for variance. A €2,200 buy-in with 102 runners and a 15-place payout means the majority of entrants lose their buy-in. Treat high-roller entries as part of a diversified schedule rather than a single bet. Our bankroll management guide gives practical rules.
Use satellites. If you want to play bigger events without paying full price, satellites can cut costs substantially. Sites like BetOnline and Americas Cardroom run their own satellite structures for US-facing players, and the tournaments toplist shows where to find large guaranteed events.
What This Means for Players
If you are a recreational player, high-roller results like this can feel remote, but they illustrate several useful truths. Skill matters, but so does variance. Small fields can be tougher than large ones. And long-term results come from consistent play across many events rather than one big score.
If you plan to attend a PokerStars Open or similar live event, check the schedule early, look at satellites and consider the full cost of travel. The final PokerStars Open of 2026 is coming soon, and the 2027 calendar will bring more stops.
For Livshitz, the €50,440 is another solid addition to a career that now spans multiple titles and formats, and a reminder that experience in different games is a real asset.