57TH ANNUAL WORLD SERIES OF POKER

News

OLD WINES AND NEW VINTAGES: FRANCE CAPTURES 4TH WSOP GOLD BRACELET

Antonin Teisseire Toasts a WSOP Gold Bracelet Victory and $825,604 in Prize Money.
Jul 02 2011 06:44 PM EST
OLD WINES AND NEW VINTAGES: FRANCE CAPTURES 4TH WSOP GOLD BRACELET
If Antonin Teisseire were a bottle of red wine, he’d be a Grand Cru -- vintage 1966.

Teisseire, a full-bodied 45-year-old professional poker player from Tassin-la-Demi-Lune, France won the most recent World Series of Poker competition, held at the Rio in Las Vegas.

Teisseire busted out 816 other poker players who entered the $5,000 buy-in Triple-Chance No-Limit Hold’em championship.  It was the 50th of 58 gold bracelet events on this year's WSOP schedule.  First place paid a whopping $825,604 in prize money.  But the real prize that mattered most to Teissere was a ten-inch cylinder of gold representing ultimate supremacy in the poker world.

Teisseire was born in a town which is located in the heart of France’s famous Rhone Valley.  He now resides in Cote d’Azur.  It’s a robust region best-known for cultivating powerful cabernets and zinfandels. 

Indeed, when it comes to the finest things in life, Teisseire is a fruit bomb.  Within him are loads of cherries, rasberry, dark fruit and jam flavors.  There’s a twist of oak.  This grape resembles of black tea, spices, roses, anise and a hint of tar.  But things were not always this way.  The wine took time to mature.  Alas, the young Teisseire was fiercely tannic and bitter.  But with age, he became extraordinarily powerful with flavors of apple, cherry and smoke that were supremely gratifying to the palate.  Attempts to cultivate and grow this grape outside of the tiny region of Southern France have all failed. 

 
“If eating, drinking and partying were a sport, I’d be the Phil Ivey of the game,” Teisseire barked out via a interpreter, just moments after jumping into a crowd of supporters celebrating his victory.  “I love to eat!  I love to drink!  I love to live life!”

The three-day long tournament stretched into an unscheduled fourth day, due to some extraordinary play during the latter stages of the competition.  In the end, it was Teisseire who de-cantered everyone’s WSOP dreams.  Among the players who made it through the main course in this event were some of poker’s very best – including Eric Froehlich (4th), Ryan Young (21st), Barry Greenstein (27th), Vitaly Lunkin (28th), David Bakes Baker (32nd), Sam Stein (53rd), Ken Aldridge (60th), Pete Vilandos (63rd), Allen Bari (64th), Josh Arieh (69th) and Daniel Idema (70th).

No doubt, if Wine Spectator were rating all the players who cashed in this event, there would be a lot of 96s and 97s, and a even few 98s and 99s. 

But there would be only one perfect score of 100, which belongs to Antonin Teisseire.
 
Please return to WSOP.com soon for the complete official report.

© 2026 Bracelet IP Limited. WSOP is a registered trademark used under license by Bracelet IP Limited.
Unauthorized use is prohibited.

If you've ever watched the World Series of Poker and thought that could be me, you're not alone. Since 1970, the WSOP has been the place where that dream lives. Most people know the summer series in Las Vegas, where the $10,000 Main Event turns ordinary players into legends. But the WSOP calendar has grown well beyond that. WSOP Europe and WSOP Paradise now bring bracelet competition to international destinations, and dozens of Circuit events run year-round for players who want serious competition closer to home. Whether you're grinding a Circuit stop or taking your shot at the Main Event, the hardware means something. Winning a gold bracelet or Circuit ring is more than just a trophy. It's a permanent record that you are a champion. For players in Nevada, New Jersey, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, WSOP Online has become something worth paying attention to. It's the only platform in the US where you can win a poker tournament for official WSOP gold bracelets without leaving home! The WSOP also offers deposit limits and self-exclusion tools because the best poker rooms have always known that keeping poker players healthy keeps the game healthy. From your first Circuit event to a final table in Las Vegas, WSOP is still where you go to prove something.