Ludovic "Sir Cuts" Lacay  

As one of the most popular players to emerge from France, Ludovic Lacay has the results and support from the French poker community to become one of its biggest stars.

Born on September 12, 1985, Ludovic Lacay hails from the town of Tarbes, France, which is near Lourdes. He grew up seeking challenges, and the Internet was his connection to the world from his small community. It was online that he found Counter Strike, a competitive and strategy-based Internet video game. He became so skilled that he played on a French team with a successful record.

Lacay went on to university and graduated, ultimately pursuing a law degree, with a specialty in business law. But it was during his time in school that he became familiar with poker. With his video game past, it was no surprise that he was intrigued by poker, and he immediately began to play online to familiarize himself with the game.

That online play led to success and the construction of a bankroll, with the help of video game friend Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier. And by the age of 23, Lacay was prepared to enter the live circuit and follow the footsteps of his friend. He immediately decided to take his game to the live tournament tables, where he found success.

Lacay’s first major tournament cash came when he played the World Poker Tour Spanish Championship in Barcelona. He took second place in the €7,500 event for €295,200, and he was quickly noticed by the French poker company Winimax. He was signed to a sponsorship deal soon after.

With momentum and confidence, Lacay went on to play numerous European Poker Tour events. After 11th place in Dublin and a min-cash in Budapest, he made an EPT final table at the Polish Open in Warsaw, finishing the €5,400 Main Event in eighth place for €32,843.

In 2009, Lacay scored his first victory when he won a €1,500 NLHE event at the Barriere Poker Tour stop in Toulouse, for which he won €40,000. From there, he continued on to cash in the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo and three World Series of Poker events in Las Vegas. One of those cashes, however, was a deep run in the $10,000 NLHE World Championship Main Event, and he received $500,557 for his 16th place finish.

Back across the ocean, he played in the World Poker Tour event in Marrrakech, and he made the final table of the €4,500 Main Event, ultimately finishing in third place for €164,789.

Lacay, then scored two deep runs at the 2010 WSOP, one being eighth place in the $10,000 NLHE Heads-Up Championship for $94,956, and the other a fourth place finish at the final table of the $10,000 PLO Championship for $262,208.

With NLHE as his specialty, Lacay continues to broaden his game by learning other variations and traveling the circuit around the world with friends like Grospellier. And with more than $1.8 in live earnings through the first half of 2011, it seems he is only getting started.