In one of the toughest fields you'll find in any poker tournament, it was a rising star that stole the show and secured his first illustrious World Series of Poker gold bracelet.
Swiss chess player-turned-poker tournament prodigy Alexandre Vuilleumier bested the field of 207 entrants to win Event #2: $25,000 High Roller six-Handed No-Limit Hold'em, and $1,215,864 for his efforts.
Vuilleumier is relatively new to the poker scene in comparison with his chess exploits. His first live cash came in 2018 right here at the World Series of Poker at the Colossus. Since then, he's amassed over $2 million in tournament earnings, and now he's a World Series of Poker champion.
Event 2: $25k High Roller six-handed NLH results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
| 1 | Alexandre Vuilleumier | Switzerland | $1,215,864 |
| 2 | Chance Kornuth | United States | $751,463 |
| 3 | Sean Winter | United States | $518,106 |
| 4 | Axel Hallay | France | $363,326 |
| 5 | Ren Lin | China | $259,220 |
| 6 | Joey Weissman | United States | $188,219 |
Promoted to a king
Vuilleumier really only started taking tournament poker seriously at the start of 2022. However, he has played cash games for longer.
Six-max tournaments are notoriously difficult to navigate, especially against the best of the best. You must get in there and battle much more often, maneuvering post-flop play against the world's elite.
Vuilleumier did that and more, battling Chance Kornuth heads up for the bracelet and coming out victorious. Kornuth had hopes for the fourth bracelet of his career, but was denied by the newcomer.
On the biggest stage, in the biggest spot of his career, there would be no blunder to leave him wanting. Vuilleumier rose to the task and closed out the second tournament of the summer slate.
A fitting representation of the WSOP
We've crowned two champions at the 2023 WSOP so far. One was Peter Thai, a table games dealer from California. Now, we have Alexandre Vuilleumier, perhaps better known in the chess community than among the poker crowd. That may change as of today.
Such is the dream afforded by the WSOP. Anyone can come and battle with the world's best. If you put up the money, battle through the tough field, and come out on top, the sought-after gold bracelet could be yours, too.
Many may have counted out the Swiss early in the tournament, that was a mistake. Vuilleumier was one step ahead of everyone in the building today. And now, he has a bracelet to prove it.
