From the Main Event with massive participation, to luxurious high rollers, and even the new Spin & Go Championship Live. The new EPT season kicked off in Barcelona with a bang, as confirmed by the numbers – over 20,000 entries across nearly 70 events, distributing more than €57 million in prizes, making EPT Barcelona 2025 one of the biggest poker festivals in history.
The Third Largest Main Event in History
The festival's Main Event with a €5,300 buy-in attracted 2,045 entries, marking it as the third largest Main Event in EPT history. This tremendous turnout generated a prize pool of €9,918,250, and after seven days of battles, the title was claimed by Thomas Eychenne from France. For the 35-year-old pro, who already had many deep runs, this was paradoxically his first live event win – and rightfully a prestigious EPT trophy.
Massive Field in the PS Open
Even the festival's opening event – the €1,650 PokerStars Open Main Event – indicated the records waiting to be set in Barcelona. A total of 5,036 entries registered for the tournament, generating a prize pool of €7,251,840. After eliminating thousands of opponents, the winner was Alexis Nicolai from France, who turned his €1,100 buy-in into €772,000.
Interestingly, Nicolai wore his lucky fishing hat throughout the tournament. He jokingly promised his son that he would win a trophy with the hat – and that's exactly what he did. Although he began the finale as a short stack and faced a significant chip deficit in heads-up, constant all-ins with the shout, "My friend, all in!" eventually turned the duel in his favor, allowing him to crown the winning trophy with his famous hat.
New Spin & Go Championship Live
The absolute novelty of the EPT Barcelona 2025 program was the live Spin & Go Championship, first introduced last year in Prague. It's a live version of the popular three-player Sit & Go tournaments, with 81 qualifiers competing in a multi-table format on three-player tables. The fast and fun format with a €550 buy-in guaranteed a €275,000 prize pool, originally allocating €100,000 for the winner.
The Barcelona event attracted great interest, featuring several famous faces and even being broadcast live. The victorious story was written by Guilherme Kleist from Brazil, who traveled to Barcelona with his wife – both secured their participation through online qualifiers. Kleist took home €75,000 from the final and emotionally declared: “It’s amazing, I had an incredible run throughout the tournament. Of course, the money is great, but the symbolism of this title means more to me.”
Famous Names on the Podium
Aside from the main events, the EPT Barcelona 2025 festival was bursting with numerous other tournaments, many of which recorded record attendance. Several trophies were taken home by star players from the global poker scene:
- Leon Sturm – The young German phenomenon triumphed in the prestigious €100,000 Super High Roller tournament, taking home €1.45 million for first place.
- Jeremy Ausmus – The American professional and WSOP bracelet holder dominated the €20,000 High Roller, where among 63 entries, he had no equal, earning €318,606.
- Kayhan Mokri – Kayhan Mokri won the €50k Super High Roller, marking his fourth EPT Barcelona title in the past three years.
- Benny Glaser – The British mixed games specialist claimed his 10th EPT event trophy, triumphing in the €5k TORSE event, outperforming a field of 42 entries to take home €70,250.
I won the EPT Barcelona €5k TORSE event! 😀
— Benny Glaser (@BennyGlaser) August 30, 2025
For €70,250 (and my 10th EPT spade 🏆)
It was a really nice event, with 42 runners.
And a great morale win for the festival, before next heading to Vancouver in 3 days for WCOOP! 😊 pic.twitter.com/Dm4ypDedBg
At EPT Barcelona 2025, both veterans and fresh faces shone brightly. Beyond the mentioned triumphs, we met dozens of other champions. Records were broken not only in player counts but also in diversity, once again confirming Barcelona's legendary status on the EPT calendar and setting a high bar for future stops.
Finally, we bring you a glimpse of the tournament scenes' atmosphere. In the following photo gallery, you'll find snapshots from EPT Barcelona 2025 – from packed Main Event tables, to the emotional victories of champions with trophies, and behind-the-scenes looks at players and fans in the casino. Enjoy the photos that perfectly capture the energy and unique poker fever of this festival!
(Source: Flickr/PSLive, Danny Maxwell, Eloy Cabacas, Manuel Kovsca, Jules Pochy)
