Thomas Eychenne's Dream Becomes Reality in the EPT Barcelona Main Event
For his entire poker career, Thomas Eychenne would lie awake at night and imagine himself on a big stage, surrounded by bright lights and the blinding flash of cameras, as he hoisted a major trophy in the air. There were many opportunities for him to achieve that dream, but he always came up just a bit short. Still, he never gave up hope that it would happen one day.
Those hopes were realized today, as the 35-year-old Frenchman defeated Sebastian Ionita heads-up to win the PokerStars European Poker Tour Barcelona Main Event title and €1,217,175*. With it came his biggest career score after conquering the massive 2,045-player field, but also, just as importantly, his first-ever live tournament win.
EPT Barcelona Main Event Final Table results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thomas Eychenne | France | €1,217,175* |
| 2 | Sebastian Ionita | Romania | €1,117,175* |
| 3 | Umberto Zaffagnini | Italy | €641,200 |
| 4 | Tomasz Brzezinski | Poland | €493,250 |
| 5 | Julian Pineda Lozano | Colombia | €379,350 |
| 6 | Anton Suarez | Sweden | €291,800 |
| 7 | Marc Foggin | United Kingdom | €224,450 |
| 8 | Cesar Garcia | Spain | €172,700 |
*denotes heads-up deal
Winner's Reaction
“It feels just amazing. It’s my first tournament win. I obviously didn’t expect to win when entering a 2,000-player field. It’s tough to put words on such emotions. It’s incredible,” Eychenne, the confetti that was once just the stuff of dreams laying around him, said after lifting the PokerStars Golden Shard trophy.
"I was for many years sleeping and visualizing myself at some point winning a trophy"
“I was for many years sleeping and visualizing myself at some point winning a trophy and answering questions like I am doing now. It helped a lot. I knew it would come at some point. It was just a matter of time. My work paid off today. Obviously, I was very lucky, but it’s a great accomplishment.”
Eychenne was already established as one of the top pros on the high-roller circuit. He had more than $2.7 million in live earnings, including a run to 47th place at the WSOP Main Event this summer and seventh in the 2023 PSPC in the Bahamas. He entered the final table as the most accomplished player remaining in the field, first making a name for himself by streaming online bankroll challenges, running up €50 to €50,000 in 50 days, then turning €10 into more than €1,000,000. But he still didn’t have a win on his resume. Four times he had reached heads-up, only to finish second every time, including a €25,000 at EPT Monte Carlo in 2023 and a €10,000 6-Max at last year’s EPT Barcelona.
All those close calls wore on him, but finally finishing the deal today allowed it all to disappear. From now on, he won’t have to live with those unrealized expectations. “I think I will feel a bit less pressure, because at some point I was starting to feel, you know, when you can’t win and you end up second, second, it gets mental at some point. I think from now on I will play with less pressure, I would say,” he said.
Final Table Action
The final six players returned to the main stage inside the Casino Barcelona today to crown a champion. Ionita began atop the leaderboard, but Eychenne took the chip lead early when he called down Julian Pineda Lozano with two pair while Pineda Lozano could only show a missed straight draw.
Anton Suarez, seeking to join Stockholm neighbor Simon Brandstrom as an EPT Barcelona champion, lost most of his chips when Ionita flopped trip queens and fired out 1,800,000 on the river. Suarez went deep into the tank but eventually folded two pair, leaving himself with less than 5,000,000.
Just a few hands later, Suarez turned a pair of queens and bet 2,500,000 on the river. Eychenne, though, had spiked trip fives and moved all in. Suarez, with just 1,030,000 behind, eventually called off the rest of his stack and hit the rail in sixth place as Eychenne approached 20,000,000.
Umberto Zaffagnini, the Italian amateur who runs a manufacturing company, took the lead when he and Ionita both showed down a pair of aces, but Zaffagnini’s eight-kicker played to earn him the pot. Eychenne then tried a bluff for 3,500,000 on the river with the board showing four queens, but Ionita called with a king to retake the lead.
Table short stack Tomasz Brzezinski shoved for his last 3,300,000 from the small blind with king-five and Eychenne called with jack-seven. Brzezinski hit a king on the flop, while Eychenne picked up a straight draw but didn’t improve and Brzezinski doubled up. Pineda Lozano then got his last 5,225,000 in with king-four against Ionita’s pocket eights. The board offered no reprieve, and Pineda Lozano was sent back to Colombia with €379,350 for his fifth-place finish.
Brzezinski’s hopes of getting back into contention didn’t last long as he shoved for 6,000,000 under the gun and Zaffagnini called with pocket tens in the big blind. Zaffagnini spiked a set on the flop, then improved to a full house on the turn to leave Brzezinski drawing dead and heading to the rail in fourth place.
Eychenne became the short stack with less than 10,000,000 during three-handed play. Zaffagnini, nearly tied with Ionita for the chip lead, attempted a bluff with queen-high and raised to 5,500,000 on the turn, but Ionita had made a straight and put in a reraise to 8,500,000 that eventually chased Zaffagnini away and gave him a big advantage.
After Ionita opened on the button, Zaffagnini moved all in for 11,225,000 in the small blind. Eychenne reshoved in the big blind and Ionita folded, leaving his two opponents heads-up with Eychenne having most of his stack at risk as well. It was a race, pocket fives against ace-jack, with Ionita folding an ace to take away one of Eychenne’s outs. The flop gave Eychenne a straight draw, while the turn left Zaffagnini a card away from a double up. He could barely look, covering his face with his scarf as the dealer turned over the river, which came a queen to make Eychenne’s straight and send Zaffagnini to the rail in third place.
Ionita and Eychenne had similar stacks at the start of heads-up play, with Ionita leading slightly, 32,300,000 to 29,050,000, and they agreed to an even chop for €1,117,175 each while leaving €100,000 for the champion. Ionita took the first three hands of heads-up, but Eychenne hit the river twice to take the chip lead.
During deal discussions, Eychenne mentioned to Ionita that this was his specialty. He had played countless hours of heads-up and understood the format in ways that, he was sure, Ionita did not. Ionita didn’t protest, and Eychenne knew then that he had the advantage.
“I definitely knew I had an edge when he didn’t say anything when I told him I was a heads-up specialist. It’s normal. I played lots of hands heads-up, whether it’s PLO4, PLO5, Hold’em. I have a better understanding. I’ve played a bunch more than him,” Eychenne said. “I was confident I would win most of the time, but obviously it’s, not a crapshoot, but we play 10-15 hands per level so it’s still very high variance. So, if I had an edge, it was a small one in such a structure.”
Eychenne’s experience showed over the coming hands, as he took down nearly every pot to open a sizable lead. On the final hand, Ionita limped the button before Eychenne raised to 2,400,000. Ionita shoved for 14,450,000 and Eychenne snap-called with ace-king. Ionita’s ace-six was dominated, and the king on the river served only to seal the victory for Eychenne.
Ionita took the loss in stride, even staying behind to snap a photo with Eychenne holding the trophy. For someone who has long dreamed of becoming a professional poker player and saw this tournament as the stepping stone he needed, the life-changing money was a nice consolation prize.
The EPT began right here in Barcelona two decades ago. Photos of the past champions adorn the walls in the hallway of Casino Barcelona, serving as a reminder that, over 20 years, this has become one of the largest and most prestigious titles in poker. Eychenne is now part of that storied history
“That’s just crazy. A friend of mine won it a few years ago, Simon Wiciak. I’m very happy to be along him. I will definitely come back to defend the title. I love this stop. I like the food, the sun, the beach, everything. The people, the organization. It’s just amazing," he said.
For someone who often dreamed of what it would finally feel like to win a major tournament, Eychenne picked a nice place to start a trophy collection.
