In 2024, Max Deveson played until the early hours of the morning to win the World Series of Poker Circuit Marrakech Main Event. This year, Justin Tsui didn’t even wait until midnight to be crowned the 2025 winner.
Out of a record-breaking field of 1,523 entries, which generated a total prize pool of 19,421,500 MAD (approximately €1,877,955), Tsui navigated his way to the top, claiming his first WSOPC ring and a career-best cash prize of 2,700,000 MAD.
Spanish players Gandalf and Aitor Cruz secured second and third place, respectively. Meanwhile, Paul Tedeschi and French content creator Mathieu Choffardet fell short of bringing the ring back to France, finishing in fourth and fifth place.
2025 WSOPC Marrakech Main Event Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (in MAD) | Prize (in EUR) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Justin Tsui | Hong Kong | 2,700,000 MAD | €261,900 |
| 2 | Gandalf | Spain | 1,840,000 MAD | €178,480 |
| 3 | Aitor Cruz | Spain | 1,300,000 MAD | €126,100 |
| 4 | Paul Tedeschi | France | 965,000 MAD | €93,605 |
| 5 | Mathieu Choffardet | France | 720,000 MAD | €69,840 |
| 6 | Ina | Spain | 545,000 MAD | €52,865 |
| 7 | Dinesh Alt | Switzerland | 425,000 MAD | €41,225 |
| 8 | Mike Mcmanaman | Spain | 345,000 MAD | €33,465 |
| 9 | Volga Uyanik | France | 280,000 MAD | €27,160 |
Winner’s Reaction
Tsui’s relationship with Marrakech began when he visited as a tourist a decade ago. Since then, he hadn’t returned to Morocco—until this week: “I have friends who come to Marrakech every year, so this time, I told myself I would join them. I decided on Tuesday that I was going to come and play the tournament. I landed on Thursday morning, busted my first bullet, and reentered on Friday,” Tsui shared.
After navigating a “very smooth Day 2,” Tsui advanced to Day 3 with a strategy influenced by ICM dynamics.“From 15 players, there were so many short stacks while I was third in chips that I just had to keep folding because of ICM. Then, once we were three-handed and then heads-up, I started playing more aggressively to try to win the tournament,” he explained.
This calculated approach paid off, earning him the title that adds to an already impressive run in 2024. “The last 6-7 months have been crazy with a couple of big final tables, so it feels good to take the ring and the trophy,” he said moments after his win. “I’ve been playing poker for more than ten years, so it’s always been a dream to win a big tournament. And there were very good players here, so I feel very fortunate to win this one.”
In addition to the prize money, Tsui’s victory secured his entry into the next WSOP Tournament of Champions. “I didn’t know about that, but I was going to the US anyway,” he laughed. For now, he plans to return to Hong Kong in March and then “probably to the Irish Open in April”, to see if he can replicate his success in Marrakech in Ireland.
Final Day Action
Just 29 hopefuls remained heading into the final day, with Anthony Apicella leading the pack. However, a bad run of cards, compounded with an ace-queen vs. ace-king encounter, saw the series’ High Roller winner depart in 13th place.
Alone Zagury (10th – 230,000 MAD) ultimately bubbled the final table, which began with four out of nine players holding under ten big blinds. Volga Uyanik was the first to fall in 9th place (280,000 MAD) against Choffardet’s kings. Cruz then seized control of the table, participating in nearly every hand. Although he doubled up a few opponents, Cruz also eliminated Mike McManaman (8th – 345,000 MAD), Dinesh Alt (7th – 425,000 MAD), and Ina (6th – 545,000 MAD) before the dinner break.
Play resumed with a setup between Choffardet’s ace-king and Justin Tsui’s queens. The coin flip landed in Tsui’s favor, giving him the chip lead. Paul Tedeschi and Gandalf attempted comebacks, but Tsui ended Tedeschi’s run in 4th place (965,000 MAD) by calling the Frenchman’s shove with pocket sevens.
Aitor Cruz (3rd – 1,300,000 MAD) was next to fall to Tsui, and the heads-up play between Tsui and Gandalf was short-lived, as Tsui needed only a few hands to claim victory and be crowned the WSOPC Marrakech Main Event champion.