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In recent months, Italian grinder Manuel Ferrari has been making waves in Europe's tournament scene. In June of 2025, he won his first-ever PokerStars trophy in the PokerStars Open Malaga Main Event for just over €200,000. Half a year later, he scooped up a second piece of hardware by winning the PokerStars Open High Roller in Campione, but nothing could prepare him for his run in the 2026 PokerStars European Poker Tour Barcelona €5,300 Main Event.
Today, Ferrari trumped all his previous achievements, impressive as they may be. In the span of just five hours, Ferrari triumphed over the final six players in the iconic EPT Barcelona Main Event, awarding him his third Golden Shard trophy in just 14 months.
By conquering the field of 1,823 entries, Ferrari was awarded the massive prize of €1,002,488, a sum he mostly locked up after a three-way deal with eventual runner-up Lukas van Eeden and third-place finisher Jose Criado. The trio all secured payouts over €900,000, leaving €100,000 of the €8,841,550 prize pool and the coveted trophy to play for.
"I have yet to realize it. I'm super, super happy," Ferrari shared with PokerNews after his victory. "It was always a dream for me to win an EPT since I was very young, and I worked towards this goal, and it finally happened."
EPT Barcelona Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manuel Ferrari | Italy | €1,002,488* |
| 2 | Lukas van Eeden | Netherlands | €927,420* |
| 3 | Jose Criado | Spain | €910,642* |
| 4 | Xiaosheng Zheng | China | €471,250 |
| 5 | Michael Dwyer | Ireland | €362,500 |
| 6 | Nicolas Chouity | Lebanon | €278,950 |
| 7 | Gerard Carbo | Spain | €214,600 |
| 8 | Edward Pak | South Korea | €165,050 |
*Denotes three-way deal
Despite him being a relative newcomer to EPT Main Events — this was Ferrari's third EPT Main Event and his first-ever cash — Ferrari exuded confidence from the very start. This feeling was only strengthened by his boisterous rail. "I'm pretty confident in my chances, and I'm really optimistic usually in my life, so I think at the moment I register, I just thought, yeah, why not just win it? And [my friends] just supported me so much. I felt all the strength from the rail, and I guess that made me even more confident in my chances."
Ferrari's Road to a Deal
Ferrari started the final day as chip leader, a position he had held for three straight days. Despite the rapid pace of the final day, it was all but a walk in the park for Ferrari, as local favorite Criado knocked out the short-stacked Nicolas Chouity in the first few hands of the day, dashing Chouity's hopes of capturing a second EPT title.
Over the next couple of hours, Ferrari and Criado traded the chip lead multiple times. After Michael Dwyer was eliminated in fifth place, Criado busted Xiaosheng Zheng in fourth. Van Eeden subsequently doubled up during three-handed play, and after he won some additional pots, their stacks were nearly even, prompting the players to discuss a deal.
While the trio quickly agreed to an ICM deal, Ferrari initially had other ideas in mind. "My first thought [...] was to negotiate [a better deal], because I think I had an edge on both players. But I was less in chips, and I was just tired. So I was like, yeah, if I asked for 5k more, what's the difference? So I just accepted so we can move on with the thing and just win it," he stated.
Ferrari Finishes in First Place
After the deal had been made, Criado quickly became short and lost a flip to Ferrari, eliminating him in third place and allowing Ferrari to start the heads-up battle with Van Eeden with a three-to-two chip advantage.
During a short heads-up of roughly 30 minutes, Ferrari swiftly ground down Van Eeden's stack to just over 20 big blinds. Van Eeden decided to take a stand and open-ship with king-six on the button, and Ferrari happily called off with ace-queen. The board improved Ferrari to two pair, officially crowning him the newest EPT champion.
With Ferrari — who normally competes at the mid-stakes — completing his PokerStars trifecta and banking over a million in prize money, one might expect him to start tackling the higher stakes next. Ferrari is in no rush to climb the stakes, however. "I actually don't know yet. I give it probably a month until realizing a little bit what's next. But maybe in the future I will," he concluded when pondering his future.
That concludes the PokerNews coverage for the EPT Barcelona Main Event. The next and final EPT of the year will take place in Prague and will run from December 2 to December 13, providing a good opportunity for Ferrari to possibly dip his toes into the high-stakes scene. Until then, check out the PokerNews live reporting hub for the latest action from tournaments across the globe.
