Sturm Breezes Past Coleman & Lonis to €100K Barcelona Title
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The €100,000 EPT Super High Roller at Casino Barcelona, part of the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona, has crowned a new champion as Germany’s Leon Sturm conquered a 47-entry field to win one of the most prestigious titles of the series.
Sturm locked up a career-best score of €1,450,385 after a heads-up deal with David Coleman, which left €200,000 and the trophy still in play. For Coleman, who collected €1,148,755, it marked an incredible fourth runner-up finish of the festival. The American pro had already taken second in the €30K Super High Roller Warm-Up (€332,900), the €20K Single Day High Roller (€292,398), and the €10K Mystery Bounty (€83,077).
The three-day event generated a prize pool of €4,559,940, with the final six players taking home a share. “Yeah, new high score unlocked,” Sturm said with a smile. “That’s very nice, always very cool to win a trophy. I think that’s more important than the score in the end.”
Jesse Lonis capped another strong showing in 2025 by finishing third for €706,800. “I just kind of feel lucky to have gotten lucky right now,” Sturm added.
€100,000 EPT Super High Roller Final Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leon Sturm | Germany | €1,450,385* |
| 2 | David Coleman | United States | €1,148,755* |
| 3 | Jesse Lonis | United States | €706,800 |
| 4 | Espen Jorstad | Norway | €524,400 |
| 5 | Aleksejs Ponakovs | Latvia | €410,400 |
| 6 | Punnat Punsri | Thailand | €319,200 |
*denotes heads-up deal
Winner's Reaction
One hand that swung the momentum came when Sturm was all in against Coleman with ace-king versus ace-king. The board brought a four-card flush for the German, giving him the chip lead for the first time.
“After that, I felt like I had a substantial lead and I could just do anything and all the spots worked out incredibly well,” he said. “Obviously, I was fortunate that my opponents didn’t pick up cards after that, but momentum definitely shifted in that moment, and I kind of just overtook. This one’s super, super brutal for David, of course.”
Sturm also reflected on the dynamic at the final table, which featured plenty of banter despite the high stakes. “It’s nice to play against friends and people that you know more so than if you play against unknowns,” he explained. “Here, all pros were definitely a good atmosphere. But yeah, we were also just rocking the shades, literally everyone, five people staring into each other’s sunglasses, so there’s room for growth in terms of table talk.”
Looking ahead, the German already has his next events lined up. “Yeah, the Main is on right now. I’ll play after. And other than that, there’s a 50K and a big 10K, so exciting stuff,” he said.
Sturm's Rollercoaster RIde
The final table got off to an electric start as Thailand's Punnat Punsri hit the rail on the very first hand. Coleman jammed from the small blind with a weak ace and Punsri snap-called with cowboys, only to see an ace-high flop crush his hopes and send him out in sixth place.
Coleman’s dream start just continued to get better as he dominated the early levels, dragging in pot after pot while barely putting a foot wrong. Sturm, meanwhile, found himself on the ropes, bleeding chips and sitting at the bottom of the counts with less than half the stack of his nearest rival when the first break arrived.
The start-of-day chip leader, Espen Jorstad, also struggled on the felt as his bluffs kept getting picked off, plus with his opponents relentlessly raising and reraising him. At one point, Lonis windmilled a bluff across the table at him. Still, the world champion stayed composed and didn’t let the setbacks tilt him.
Sturm’s turning point came with five players left when he found himself all in with big slick against Coleman in a hand that would decide the chip lead. Coleman held the same hand, and the two laughed, expecting a chop. But the monotone flop gave Sturm a flush draw, and when he completed it on the turn, the final table momentum shifted entirely in his favor.
With the chip lead for the first time, Sturm ramped up the aggression, putting the middling stacks of Coleman, Lonis, and Jorstad in ICM prison by repeatedly open-shoving, while Aleksejs Ponakovs clung on with fewer than ten big blinds. Ponakovs fell in fifth, and Jorstad soon followed in fourth. Three-handed play began with Sturm holding around 60 percent of the chips, leaving Coleman and Lonis nearly even.
After a level of tussling between the trio, it was Lonis who came up short, taking the bronze position on the podium. He correctly called off with ace-nine and had Coleman’s nine-eight dominated, but an eight on the flop was another dream for Coleman. Once the board ran out without an ace, Lonis was gone, and the tournament entered heads-up.
The moment Coleman and Sturm reached heads-up, they quickly agreed to a deal that left €200,000 and the trophy to play for. Sturm began with nearly a 2:1 advantage and extended it early with well-timed aggression and by picking off a bluff from Coleman.
In the final hand of the Super High Roller, Coleman had been ground down to about twenty big blinds when Sturm shoved from the button to put him at risk. Coleman called with ace-five, but was in bad shape against Sturm’s ace-nine. The board helped neither player, and Sturm’s kicker played to win him the pot, the trophy, and €1,450,385.
