Bernhard Binder Defeated Jean-Noël Thorel Heads-Up In The $25K Super Main Event WSOP Paradise ($10M)

Who is Bernhard Binder?

A 27-year-old poker pro from Austria, a regular in high-stakes online MTTs. In February 2025, Bernhard Binder won the phased $10K GGMillion$ on GGPoker, earning $1.83M. In August, he won another regular GGMillion$, taking home $335.4K. In live tournaments prior to WSOP Paradise, he had $328K in total winnings, with a best cash of $64.5K for 24th place in the $25K Triton Jeju WPT Global Slam 2025.

Who is Jean-Noël Thorel?

A 78-year-old poker amateur, a regular in offline high-roller events, France’s all-time #1 by total winnings (over $27M after this tournament), a pharmacist, and the creator of micellar water — used daily by millions of women worldwide to remove makeup after a long workday.

Bluff vs Bluff vs Bluff: Binder and Thorel put on a fiery heads-up

The $25K WSOP Paradise Main Event heads-up was dubbed a “battle of generations”: Binder was the youngest player at the final table, while Thorel was the oldest. Before the heads-up began, many viewers expected Binder to close it out quickly — but that didn’t happen. The match lasted four hours. We’ve picked out the three most exciting hands from their duel.

6-high like a boss

Effective stack: 49 BB.
Thorel opens to 2.6 BB. Binder calls.
Flop 3 4 5 , 6 BB pot. Binder check-calls 2.5 BB.
Turn 10 , 11 BB pot. Binder check-calls 8.3 BB.
River 5 , 27.8 BB pot. Binder donk-bets 28 BB, leaving 9.5 BB behind. Thorel folds.

Binder bluffs with Q 6 ; Thorel folds A J .

5-high like a boss

Effective stack: 53 BB.
Thorel opens to 2 BB. Binder calls.
Flop 3 6 J . Binder check-raises to 6.25 BB.
Turn 3 , 17.5 BB pot. Binder bets 12.5 BB. Thorel calls.
River A , 42.5 BB pot. Binder checks. Thorel bets almost all-in for 29.1 BB, leaving 3.33 BB behind. Binder folds.

Thorel bluffs with 5 4 . Binder folds 8 4 .

One more bluff

After the previous hand, it seemed like Binder might be rattled — but that wasn’t the case. Confirmation came just 15 minutes later.

Effective stack: 36 BB.
Binder opens, Thorel calls.
Flop A 9 7 . Thorel check-calls 3.33 BB.
Turn 8 , 11.6 BB pot. Thorel check-calls 7.5 BB.
River 4 , 33.3 BB pot. Binder goes all-in for 28.8 BB. Thorel folds.

Binder bluffs with Q 10 ; Thorel folds the best hand, J 9 .

Despite all the action, the final hand was fairly standard — watch it on Twitter

In his post-win interview, Binder paid respect to Thorel — and he wasn’t the only one.

Final table payouts (2,891 total entries):

Position	Country	Player	Payout
1		Bernhard Binder	$10M
2		Jean-Noël Thorel	$6M
3		Belarmino de Souza	$4M
4		Terrance Reid	$3M
5		Eric Wasserson	$2.35M
6		Natasha Mercier	$1.8M
7		Peter Chien	$1.4M
8		Franco Spitale	$1.1M

The next WSOP Paradise series will take place in the Bahamas from December 1 to 18, 2026.