button in Safari
Seat 3: Roman Stoica, 31, St. Petersburg, Russia, represents Moldova – 3,200,000
Roman Stoica has been building steadily over the past year to this EPT final table appearance. He was 16th in Malta last year and 27th at EPT Prague in December. He is now sitting at the first EPT final of his career.
Originally from Saint Petersburg, the Russian player began his tournament poker career in Sochi, playing low buy-in events before becoming a regular on the EPT circuit starting with the 2024 stop in Cyprus. Stoica also holds a Moldovan passport and chooses to represent the country at the EPT, giving him the chance to become the nation’s first champion.
Stoica is mostly a live player and now boasts more than $1.6 million in live tournament earnings. The largest chunk of more than €360,000 came with his victory in the €3,250 Mystery Bounty event at EPT Barcelona in 2025
Player bios courtesy of Jan Kores/Florenze Mazet/Howard Swains/PokerStars
Career statistics
The Hendon Mob Earnings: $1,682,267
EPT Main Event cashes: 3
Best result: 16th, 2025 EPT Malta (€33,850)
Tournament progression
Day 1: 116,000 (41/111, 1A)
Day 2: 350,000 (25/151)
Day 3: 801,000 (13/48)
Day 4: 2,480,000 (3/20)
Day 5: 3,200,000 (5/8)
Key hands
Stoica was all-in and at risk against Jose Malpelli on the final level of Day 4, with his higher kicker holding for a double-up.
Not much later, Stoica was the final nail in Thomas Eychenne’s coffin, rivering a flush against Eychenne’s set to double up again and leave the former chipleader with crumbs