A massive 21,500 pot had been amassed preflop when David Roche got his stack of 17,600 in from the cutoff against Blaz Zerjav in the small blind on the 7♦10♠4♥ flop.
David Roche: 10♦10♣ 
Blaz Zerjav: 8♥7♥
Zerjav's pair was in dire shape against Roche's set. The J♣ turn provided some outs, but the 6♣ river remained clean for Roche to double up.
Erik Lindqwist raised to 500 from the hijack and was instantly three-bet to 2,000 by his countrymate Niklas Astedt in the cutoff. Lindqwist called.
Lindqwist check-called a bet of 800 from Astedt on the 2♦10♦5♦ flop, then did the same for 4,000 on the A♠ turn.
The J♥ river saw Lindqwist check for a third time. Astedt gave it some thought before checking behind.
Lindqwist tabled A♦Q♣ for top pair, but Astedt had him outkicked with A♥K♠ to take the pot.
With about 9,000 going into the pot preflop, Arian Kashani checked from the big blind on the A♣4♥2♦ flop, with Eldiyar Janiev in middle position and David Belaich in the cutoff checking behind.
Kashani fired a delayed continuation-bet of 3,700 on the 9♣ turn, and only Janiev stuck around with a call.
The Q♥ river didn't slow Kashani down as he threw out 11,000. Janiev deliberated briefly before making the call for over half his remaining stack.
Kashani had the goods with A♦A♠ for top set, taking down the pot and leaving Janiev with under a third of the starting stack.
Four-way to the monotone Q♠J♠6♠ flop, Lev Margolin and Eldiyar Janiev checked from the blinds, allowing John Driver to bet 1,000 from the hijack. Hugo Gotuzzo called on the button before Margolin check-raised to 4,500. Janiev and Driver got out of the way, but Gotuzzo responded by jamming for about 20,000. Margolin called.
Hugo Gotuzzo: A♠9♦
Lev Margolin: 5♠4♠
Despite having the best hand with a flopped flush and the covering stack, Margolin was the one out of his seat as he waited to see if he could dodge another spade.
The 8♣ turn and 4♦ river were no help to Gotuzzo, sending him to the rail in the first level of the Main Event.
Romain Locquet had open-raised in the hijack when Rens Feenstra three-bet to 1,200 in the cutoff. Adam Martinsson called cold on the button, and Locquet came along as well.
The trio checked through the 10♣8♣8♦ flop, prompting Locquet to bet 1,800 on the 4♣ turn. Feenstra called before Martinsson folded. Locquet then announced a bet of 4,800 on the Q♥ river.
Feenstra quickly looked it up but was unable to beat Locquet's 9♥8♥ for flopped trips and mucked his cards in defeat.
The 2026 PokerStars European Poker Tour has arrived at its biggest stop of the season. Every year, thousands of poker players head to Casino Barcelona to try their luck in Europe's premier poker tour. It has been 22 years since the EPT debuted in this very place, and it has appeared on the calendar every year since. While the festival has been in full swing for a while already, the flagship €5,300 Main Event is just about to begin, with Day 1a's "shuffle up and deal" sounding at noon local time.
Last year in Barcelona, French grinder Thomas Eychenne made his dream of winning a major tournament a reality by conquering the massive field of 2,045 entries, walking away with €1,217,175 in prize money after a heads-up deal with Sebastian Ionita. Ionuta also took home a seven-figure score, while future EPT winner Tomasz Brzezinski and regulars Anton Suarez and Marc Foggin also made a final table appearance.
| 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
The EPT Barcelona Main Event promises over a week of constant poker action. Following the by-now-classic EPT Main Event structure, Day 1a will be the first of two starting flights, with Day 1b taking place on August 23. Although late registration will remain open until the start of Day 2, every player will have to carefully deliberate when to enter, as they are allowed only two entries in total.
Everyone who sits down from the start will begin with 300 big blinds, kicking things off in 100/100 (100) with a starting stack of 30,000. Both starting days will play ten 60-minute levels, ending in 600/1,200 with a big blind ante of 1,200. Breaks will occur after every two levels, with a 75-minute dinner break scheduled after Level 6, around 6:40 p.m. local time.
| Level | Small Blind | Big Blind | Big Blind Ante | Duration (Min) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 60 |
| 2 | 100 | 200 | 200 | 60 |
| Break | 20 | |||
| 3 | 100 | 300 | 300 | 60 |
| 4 | 200 | 400 | 400 | 60 |
| Break | 20 | |||
| 5 | 200 | 500 | 500 | 60 |
| 6 | 300 | 600 | 600 | 60 |
| Dinner Break | 75 | |||
| 7 | 400 | 800 | 800 | 60 |
| 8 | 500 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 60 |
| Break | 20 | |||
| 9 | 600 | 1,200 | 1,200 | 60 |
| 10 | 600 | 1,200 | 1,200 | 60 |
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As always, PokerNews will be covering the EPT Barcelona Main Event live from start to finish, so stay as the cards will go into the air shortly.
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