Winamax

Estelle Cohuet, alias Dourbie

Patrick BruelShe became the first woman ever to win the Top Shark Academy after a final that she dominated from start to finish. This Frenchwoman, who has lived in Spain for over thirty years and is a MTT specialist capable of playing long sessions, is about to live the dream for a whole year.

Sometimes poker can change a life. For Estelle Cohuet, that may well be the case. Originally from Millau, the Frenchwoman has now spent more than half her life breathing the sweet Balearic air. Shortly after her 20th birthday, she decided to move to Mallorca, where she has lived for the past 30 years, working in various jobs related to the tourism sector. A mother in her early fifties, "Dourbie" - named after the river that flows into the Tarn at her home in Millau - had no idea that poker, and especially the Top Shark Academy, would open a new chapter in her life.

“I hope that winning the Top Shark Academy will result in many new experiences for me that I could never have imagined in my wildest dreams, especially at my age and after so much time spent playing online," she says. Online gaming has a lot of good points. It offers a certain freedom and the possibility to progress from the lowest limits. But at the same time it can restrict your social life. It looks like the latter is about to change!"

But let's not skip any steps. Estelle entered the Academy in the first week and passed the various practical and theoretical tests one by one to win her place in the final. This was enough to make her part of the competition's history, as the first female finalist, French and Spanish editions combined... and even more so after winning it! And after having dominated her two opponents from start to finish, no less.

"I don't like to think of myself as special at this level, although I do understand how it's out of the ordinary. I'm one of those people who thinks that poker is a mental game where men and women compete on equal terms. For me, the fact that a woman won is just a detail... although I'm happy to be first out of pride!"

However, Estelle's profile is very different from the three previous winners of the Spanish Top Shark Academy: two Expresso regulars like Borja Gross and Álex Hernandez and a fast-rising MTT player like Álex Romero. Today, Estelle is following in their footsteps, after many years of battling at the mid-range tables. A succession that she takes as a challenge as well as a heavy responsibility. "All those who won before me were and still are excellent players, each in their own way. I would sign up right away to have similar results to Álex [Romero] for example."

Estelle's journey to join Team Winamax from the Academy has been a smooth one... until the last week before the final. Lack of experience and a bit of stress played a bad trick on her when she appeared in front of the camera during the streaming event. This led her to the nomination box at the worst possible moment, to face one of the favourites, Borja 'SummuNNN' Domingo, in the repechage vote. Just when she thought her adventure would end, Estelle received unexpected support from the community. A huge wave of encouragement from the social networks carried her through to the final of the Top Shark Academy. Galvanised by so much energy coming from all over Spain, nothing could stop Estelle from leaving with the contract, won with style.

This came fifteen years after she discovered poker, a game she first heard about on an investment forum. Her interest grew gradually, as did her (virtual) cards in hand. By 2010, she was earning about €300 a month, which she used to indulge in small whims, but still considered the game a pure hobby. Two years later, poker became her main activity. This decision was facilitated by the restructuring that her company underwent. She was offered redundancy with compensation or a move to the UK to continue working for them. She chose the first option, using the cheque she received as her first ever professional bankroll. From then on, the 12-14 hour sessions she was already doing on and off became a daily occurrence, until in 2015 when the site she was then exclusively playing on discontinued its tournament offering. Estelle then returned to a traditional job, whilst continuing to play online in her spare time.

In 2018, having become a clear winning player, she decided to put her work aside again to refocus on the online tables, which she continues to do today. In five years, Dourbie has accumulated several impressive results on our €5 to €50 tournaments, with notably a victory on the Go Fast and podium-finishes on the Pour la Daronne and Tea Time. If the big performance is still to come, the confidence built up throughout the Top Shark Academy could serve as a springboard. A major result that could just as easily happen in live events, where Estelle has already made several appearances... but never in tournaments of the scale she is preparing to play this year.

By joining Team Winamax, she will discover the European Poker Tour and the World Series of Poker. Two great experiences that Estelle is preparing with great enthusiasm. "I needed this. To be able to get out of my routine and participate in the biggest festivals in the world. I can't wait for that to happen, as well as meeting the other members of the Team. To be able to look at Davidi Kitai, Mustapha Kanit, Adrián Mateos or Leo Margets, players I have followed from afar for years, as my teammates... It's amazing!"

Today, Estelle fondly remembers an anecdote from 2012, when a work colleague came to her to tell her that he had won €2,000 on an online tournament. It was an eye-opener for her and the community. Being able to talk and share with people she had just met allowed her to grow until she made the crazy bet to join the Top Shark Academy. And from there, the best team in the world.


Winamax sur Twitter


  •      Tournament accomplishments on Winamax

    01/2023 Tea Time - €20 3th - €1,591
    01/2023 Tea Time - €20 2th - €2,094
    02/2021 Go Fast - €50 Winner - €2,315
    01/2021 Monster Stack - €10 2th - €1,837
    11/2020 Pour la Daronne - €5 2th - €2,669

     


Photo gallery



 

Back to the Winamax « Team »