EPT Barcelona 2025: Colillas Climbs, Champions Fall as Bubble Bursts on Day 3

Triple Bustout Ends Bubble in Brutal Fashion

Just two hands into hand-for-hand, three players hit the rail simultaneously, splitting a pair of min-cashes and walking away with €5,700 each — barely above the buy-in, but technically a profit.

• Merijn van Rooij lost a flip with A-J against pocket eights
• Alejandro Ganivet hero-called with K-K, only to face a full house
• Robert Kaggerud got it in with K-K vs. 10-9, and watched a suited runner-runner knockout unfold

From there, the eliminations came quickly — and so did the cashes.

Photo Credit: Danny Maxwell

Ramon Colillas Bags Big, Nielsen Leads the Way

With the bubble in the rearview mirror, Day 3 continued into the night until the field was trimmed to 103 players. At the top of the chip counts sits Martin Nielsen, who surged to 1,683,000 after busting Matas Cimbolas with quad kings — a stone-cold board cooler that shot him straight to the top.

Ramon Colillas, meanwhile, gave PokerStars fans something to sweat with a top-10 finish for the day. The former Platinum Pass winner and Spanish hometown hero will return with 1,110,000, well within striking distance of the leaders.

Photo Credit: Jules Pochy

Damien Gayer climbed into the top three thanks to the classic preflop cooler — pocket aces vs. pocket kings. Meanwhile, Matas Cimbolas was the unlucky victim of Martin Nielsen’s quad kings, after calling down with a pair of sixes only to see the nuts revealed on the river.

It was a rough day for former EPT champions, most of whom busted before the end of play. Steve O’Dwyer finished 115th for €17,250, joining the long list of legends cashing, but falling short.

Photo Credit: Danny Maxwell

Top 10 Chip Counts – End of Day 3 EPT Barcelona

Rank	Player	Country	Chips
1	Martin Nielsen		1,683,000
2	Julian P. Lozano		1,481,000
3	Damien Gayer		1,455,000
4	Rifat Palevic		1,442,000
5	Tobias Leknes		1,432,000
6	Lars Tungel		1,271,000
7	Artus Leyva		1,242,000
8	Matthew McEwan		1,240,000
9	Lauri Saaskilahti		1,237,000
10	Ramon Colillas		1,110,000

Remaining Payouts – EPT Barcelona Main Event

What’s Next?

Day 4 of EPT Barcelona kicks off at 12 p.m. on Thursday, August 28, with blinds at 6,000/12,000 (12,000 ante) and 90-minute levels on the agenda. With 103 players remaining and all of them guaranteed at least €17,250, the race to the final table — and that €1.4 million first prize — starts to heat up.