Pain in poker: a former November Nine player has died – CodigoPoker

Pierre Neuville

The Belgian was born on January 2, 1943, in Montigny-le-Tilleul and discovered poker in 1957, although his professional career came many decades later. After studying at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, he created a board game based on the figure of the historic Belgian cyclist Eddy Merckx. He then founded a toy company that he sold in 1982 to Hasbro, where he worked for a decade as vice president.

He also had a phase as a consultant, with clients such as golfer Gary Player and actor Kevin Costner, before retiring definitively in 2008, when he began to dedicate himself more fully to poker.

The “Serial Qualifier” who reached glory

His first recorded live cash was only in 2007, when he finished 31st in a €1,650 tournament in Namur. Shortly after came his first big result: he was 18th in the 2008 PCA Main Event and cashed US$48,000. In 2009 he began to stand out in the European Poker Tour: he was ninth in San Remo and, months later, finished second in the EPT Vilamoura for €257,681.

Neuville, When He Was a November Nine in 2015.

But his specialty became satellites. In 2012 he was chosen “Online Qualifier of the Year” by PokerStars after qualifying for 23 consecutive EPT Main Events. Since then he was immortalized with the nickname “The Serial Qualifier.”

The most important moment of his career came only in 2015, when he advanced to the final table of the WSOP Main Event, becoming one of the nine November Nine who returned to Las Vegas to decide the champion.

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Neuville entered the FT fourth in chips but was eventually eliminated in seventh place. The prize: US$1,203,293, the only seven-figure cash of his career. “I am living a dream, the most beautiful dream for someone as in love with poker as I am,” he had said before returning to play the final table.

Neuville also came very close to winning a WSOP bracelet. In 2014 he finished second in the US$5,000 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Max tournament and won US$385,041. Two years later he was runner-up again, this time in the US$1,500 6-Max event.

He also made another WSOP final table in 2019, in the €2,500 Short Deck Hold’em at WSOP Europe, where he again finished seventh.

In total, he accumulated 91 recorded live cashes, with the 2015 Main Event as the highest point of a career that began when he was already over 60 years old.

His last public appearance in a tournament was at the 2025 PokerStars Open Namur.

Neuville leaves behind his wife, Claudine, his family, and an entire generation of European poker that made him one of its most beloved characters…

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