As the winner of PokerStars�� first Dare to Stream competition, we were all able to witness Gilles Simon��s first foray into professional poker back in 2019. Back then, when he was predominantly known by his Twitch handle, ��Ghilley��, Simon��s average buy-in (ABI) was a modest $10 �C a far cry from the $25,000 buy-in PokerStars Players Championship (PSPC) he��d just won entry to.
Fast forward to 2023, and Simon (��TaxationIsTheft�� on PokerStars) has enjoyed a breakout year in online poker, first cashing a $215 online event for a staggering $257k, then taking down his first World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) title with a $109 Phase win for $115k.
But what about those years in between? We don��t know as much about that period in Simon��s career by design. ��I was like, OK, I��m young, and with this Platinum Pass, I have an opportunity to keep on growing and building myself as a poker player,�� he says.
So Simon left Twitch behind and threw himself into studying and playing poker. He was taken in by a group of experienced players who coached him and backed him, rocketing his ABI up to $200. He moved to the poker hotbed of Vienna. And for the next two-and-a-half years, he put in the reps until the big scores arrived (and arrive they did).
But Simon has yet to capture a breakout live score, something he hopes to change here at EPT Cyprus. He says it would be ��an insane win�� to have on his poker resume.
