WITH COVID-19 restrictions apply to almost all of Europe, there was no place for Arthur Conan to play in a live poker tournament. With limited options for the 24-year-old Frenchman, he decided to trek across the Atlantic to South Florida to play the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown in Hollywood. The series was huge, with 3 $, 500 World Poker Tour figure 2 main event, 482 players set a record for the largest field in tour history, nearly quadrupling the $2 million guarantee.

But despite the vast fields, it was Conan who stood out, making quite an impression during his time in the Sunshine State.

Within about a week, Conan won $ 855,355. His first was a head-to-head victory in the $ 100,000 Super High Roller for $ 733,320. He followed this up with a deep run in the main event, taking 10th place for $ 111,035. more than doubled his career earnings, which now stand at just $1.6 million.

That's quite an impressive tally for a 24-year-old, especially in the modern era of poker, where the level of competition is at an all-time high. However, despite his age, Conan is not new to the game. He's been playing since he was a teenager.

“I started playing poker at 18, but I knew the rules beforehand,” said Conan. “My father played a little and my brother played. So I started playing with my family and then I moved online. "

Artur's brother Marius, who is two years younger, is also a good player. In fact, the younger Conan beat his brother in 2017 WPT DeepStacks High Roller event in Cannes. The two siblings finished heads-up to take home most of the prize pool.

Conan cut his teeth in online poker, however. But thanks to European gambling laws that allow 20-year-olds to play in casinos, it was the live event that got Conan to grind full-time. In July 2015, Conan played the €1, 100 France Poker Series no-limit hold'em main event. Even with minimal experience at the time, especially at these stakes, Conan made it to the final table and finished fourth for €45,000.

"I used to play, but I wasn't 'playing a lot'," Conan said of his poker career at the time. “I started playing poker professionally shortly after this result. About two or three months later I started playing for a living. It was one of my first tournaments, so at that moment it was a very important result for me. "

Conan continued to spend most of his time in online tournaments, playing live events from time to time. He was still looking for a way to navigate the world of poker and even changed his preferred type of game several times before finally finding his comfort zone.

“I started with tournaments early in my career and then switched to cash games after about a year and a half,” said Conan. “After about a year and a half, maybe two years, I went back to online tournaments and now only play online tournaments. I will play some live cash games but mostly tournaments. "

Since he started playing in the virtual felt, Conan's transition to the live arena, from a basics point of view, was very easy. In Conan's eyes, the game looked completely different, but the players who played mostly live poker lacked the technical understanding he had accumulated after hundreds of thousands of hands played.

"We found it easier than online at the same buy-in levels," he said. “But the game was completely different than live. It wasn't necessarily easier, but it was completely different. "

For the first three years of his professional poker career, Conan stayed in Europe. He wasn't 21, so he would be playing illegally at most tournament stops in the States. But it developed into a solid regatta across Europe's stops and garnered a consistent stretch of deep runs and wins.

In 2018, however, he was finally old enough to make his first trip to Las Vegas and play a full schedule at the World Series of Poker.

“I was very, very excited to go to WSOP in Vegas,” Conan said. “I just turned 25 so I wanted to play as much as I could. I stayed for the whole series and it was very good. I didn't have many points, but it was very fun. "

Conan made one deep run on his first summer series, finishing 15th in $ 888 Crazy Eights non-limit hold'em event, adding another $ 34,577 to his bankroll.

“This was my deepest run ever WSOP up to that point and it was very exciting,” he said. “But in the end it ended up pretty bad. I lost a huge pot as a big favorite so it was tough. But then it was fine. The next day I had to go to other tournaments, so that's it. That's just how the game goes sometimes. "

While he wouldn't admit that it was easier to play live tournaments in Europe than online, he said that American courses are much softer than courses he's encountered before.

"I've heard from other Europeans that it will be easier," said Conan. "I think it was a little easier than in Europe."

After his first stint in Las Vegas, Conan took his game to the next level. He made his first cash in €5,000 in a tournament with a buy-in at the stop in Barcelona and has consistently played higher buy-ins ever since.

It was more of the same in 2019. He achieved solid, consistent results, including a win in WPT DeepStacks Marrakesh Main Event for $ 83,918. But he has yet to score a big career-changing score. He spent his second summer in Las Vegas on WSOP and then returned to Europe for the rest of the year before COVID – 19th pandemic halts most live poker tournaments in 2020.

"I've been less distracted during the pandemic," Conan said. “I moved to London so I just played more than I used to and took all my grind online. I just played for eight months directly on the internet with a lot of volume during that time. "

Conan racked up 10 cashes online WSOP in the midst of his clamor. But in the end, the desire to play live poker was too much and he decided to leave London and go to the USA

Crossing borders during the pandemic has not been the easiest process for him and his friend and fellow traveler Sonny Franco, who finished fourth at $3,500 WPT main event in $ 438, 500.

"We had to spend two weeks out of Europe," Conan said. “We couldn't go directly to the United States from Europe, so we did two weeks in Morocco beforehand. Then we flew from Morocco to New York and from there to Miami."

Ultimately, the process was so cumbersome that he doesn't think many foreign professionals will make the trek to America until border regulations are relaxed.

a bit complicated, so I don't think many European pros will do the same," said Conan. "For WSOP (scheduled for October), of course there will be Europeans, but I think it may be reopened by then. "

When Conan arrived at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, he began to play at stakes he had never tried before. One of the first events he registered for was the $ 50,000 Super High Roller no-limit hold'em event. Although he had never played a tournament with such a large buy-in before, he had some experience playing high-stakes live tournaments.

“This was my first $ 50K buy-in,” admitted Conan. “I had played the $ 25K [PokerStars Players Championship] two years ago, but this was my first $ 50K. I was a little nervous, but after a few hours of play it was fine. "

He made his way through the 42nd entrance and secured a place at the final table. He was joined by several high-stakes regulars, including runner-up Sam Soverel, Christopher Brewer, Seth Davies, Sean Winter and Jeremy Ausmus.

The final table wasn't soft at all, but the absence of some of the high-profile international professionals who normally play these stakes made Conan feel more comfortable than he would normally expect at a final table.

"All the top American pros were on the field, and the Canadian and European professionals who are used to these types of events were gone," he said. "So I think the field was pretty soft [for a $50K] but still tough."

It wasn't smooth sailing at the Conan final table. With four players left, he decided to make a massive bluff with Davies, who was one of the top two stacks. It didn't end well.

"He raised quite a bit from the small blind and I called from the big blind with 9-7 out of the suit," recalled Conan. “The flop came Q-10-6 with a flush draw. He bet two-thirds [the size of the pot] and I called. The turn was a jack for a backdoor flush draw. He raised on the turn, but it was very small. I raised and he called. River was a blank but brought a flush draw on the front door. He checked and I [moved] all-in except for one big blind. He smoked and called me with two pairs. "

The failed bluff left Conan with only one 25,000 denomination chip worth just one big blind, and he will be forced to take half of the small blind on the next hand. Given the situation, he was definitely the favorite to finish fourth and earn $ 203,700.

However, what followed was one of the greatest comebacks in poker history. On the next hand from the small blind, Conan doubled up four times, then doubled again a few hands later. Before he knew it, he turned that single chip into 20 - a big blind stack.

“I think I had some hope when I got to 10 big blinds,” said Conan. "So after two or three doublings I knew it was possible to win again. When I only had one blind, I knew I was almost busted. "

Brewer eliminated Davies in fourth and Conan sent Brewer packing in third, leaving only Soverel standing in his way. Conan eventually won a pocket fives flip against K-9 Soverel to finish the job and take home $ 733, 320 first place prize.

But he's not finished yet. The day after winning the Super High Roller, Conan jumped up to 3 $, the 500th main event. He played for a few more days, making his way across the huge field, and before he knew it, he was running to a second final table in a row.

“After this win, I had a lot of confidence in the main [event],” said Conan. "I was just playing my game...and watching what happened."

What happened was another deep run and eventually finished tenth after losing a flip with AQ against Erik Cajelais and his pocket jacks. He took another $ 111.035 for his efforts.

“I think [the money] can be an incentive to continue playing high buy-in events,” Conan said of his new capital. "But I'm not sure if I'll play them all just because of the score. I will definitely play more with $ 10,000 buy-in. Money doesn't change my career much, but it's nice to get a shot and [get some attention] from the media.

With his capital inflated, Conan left South Florida but did not return to France. Instead, he decided to head west to Las Vegas where he will continue to play live for the next few months while Aria, Venetian and Wynn plan to host tournament series throughout the summer.

"I'll play some $ 10 Ks and maybe some $ 25 Ks at Aria," said Conan.

Watch out players, Arthur Conan has arrived.

Photo credits: World Poker Tour / PokerGO / Seminole Hard Rock