Nicolas Levi

Originally born in Paris, Nicolas Levi’s poker journey had modest beginnings. He came across the game while he was at university studying computer science, with the combination of psychology and mathematics appealing to the logical thinker in the Frenchman. However, since he didn’t have the funds to head to a casino and dive straight into expensive games (what student ever does?), he started playing poker online with play money. Two weeks on, he made a minimal deposit of €15 playing under the pseudonym ‘CrocMonsieur’. Less than two years later, Nicolas took to playing the game full-time and became known as one of the most well-rounded French poker players of his generation.

Formerly sponsored by French poker site Winamax, Levi racked up earnings playing poker whichever way he could – whether it be online, live, in cash games or tournaments. One year into his professional career, he was seated at the 2007 EPT €5,000 Main Event in Dortmund with an almost seven-figure payday for first. Though the Parisian was not able to win the title on this outing, his seventh-place finish earned him $112,299.

Another year on and the Frenchman could check another goal off the poker must-do list – make a WSOP final table. This accomplishment came in the $2,500 No Lmit Hold’em event. Unfortunately, the gold eluded him but Levi was rewarded with a healthy sum for the deep run regardless.

Over the next couple of years, having deep runs in major tournaments became something of a pattern for Nicolas. In 2010 at the WSOPE £10,000 Main Event in London, he made the final table after getting past the likes of Viktor ‘Isildur1’ Blom and Phil Ivey. Sadly, Levi fell short of the title once again and had to settle for $321,062 in change.

2011 marked the closest that Levi would come to getting his hands on a major trophy, when he finished third at the EPT Prague Main Event for a huge $361,509.

In recent years, Levi has shifted his focus from poker to the tech industry – going back to his computer science roots. He co-founded the software company Trixir that explores gamification possibilities in corporate environments. Given his combined background in poker and programming, this venture seems to be a perfect marriage of his different skill sets.