EPT Barcelona 2025 Recap: Sturm’s Statement and a Near-Full House for the Main

Leon Sturm Wins €100K Super High Roller with A♠ 9♦ — and a Bit of History

Germany’s Leon Sturm picked up more than just a trophy in the €100,000 EPT Super High Roller — he added €1,450,385, his first major live title in Europe, and a line in the EPT record books as the first player born in the 2000s to win a flagship EPT High Roller.

The 24-year-old, known online as “Rumukulus,” outlasted David Coleman in a heads-up duel that started after the two agreed to a deal, leaving €200,000 up top.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing. Six players returned for the final day from a 47-entry field, and Sturm began somewhere in the middle of the pack.

Final Table Line-Up (Start of Day)

Seat	Player	Country	Chips
1	Jesse Lonis		1,130,000
2	Leon Sturm		1,430,000
3	David Coleman		2,365,000
4	Punnat Punsri		760,000
5	Aleksejs Ponakovs		1,280,000
6	Espen Jorstad		4,785,000

The action was immediate: on the very first hand, Punnat Punsri moved in with kings, and David Coleman made the call holding A 5 . The board ran out with an ace, sending Punsri out in sixth for €319,200.

Coleman climbed further with an early run of pots, but his momentum hit a speed bump in a key pot against Sturm. Both players held A-K — Sturm had the A K , Coleman the A K — and Sturm made a runner-runner flush to double up.

Latvia’s Aleksejs Ponakovs was the next to fall. He jammed K J and ran into Espen Jorstad’s A K , busting in fifth for €410,400. But Jorstad’s dominance was already fading.

Coleman doubled through the Norwegian in a big hand, and then Sturm pulled into the lead. Jorstad eventually shoved and lost to Jesse Lonis, collecting €524,400 for fourth.

Three-handed, Sturm held nearly twice the chips of his two opponents combined, and Lonis soon found himself all-in with A 9 against Coleman’s 9 8 . The flop brought the 8 , and Lonis hit the rail in third for €706,800.

Heads-Up Deal

• Leon Sturm: ~8M chips
• David Coleman: ~4.15M chips
• Blinds: 60K/120K

They agreed to flatten the variance:

• Sturm locked up €1,250,385
• Coleman secured €1,148,755
• €200,000 left to play for

It didn’t take long. The final hand saw Sturm open-shove with A 9 and get called by Coleman’s A 5 . A clean runout gave Sturm the pot — and the title — just past 6:30 p.m.

Final Results – Event #23: €100,000 Super High Roller

Place	Player	Country	Payout
1	Leon Sturm		€1,450,385*
2	David Coleman		€1,148,755*
3	Jesse Lonis		€706,800
4	Espen Jorstad		€524,400
5	Aleksejs Ponakovs		€410,400
6	Punnat Punsri		€319,200

*denotes deal

EPT Main Event Day 1b Brings 1,213 More Entries, Kraous Leads

Monday’s Day 1b of the €5,300 Main Event saw another 1,213 entries, pushing the total to 1,928 across two flights. With late registration open until the start of Day 2, it would take just 47 more entries to pass last year’s tally — and 25 to hit the 2,000 mark.

Photo Credit: Manuel Kovsca

The top stack belonged to Anton Kraous (330,000), who flopped a straight to bust Ivo Bartoletti late in the day. Other strong finishes came from Jerry Odeen (302,500), Jakub Sterba (291,000), and Steve O’Dwyer (266,000).

Day 1b Chip Counts – Top 10

Rank	Player	Country	Chips
1	Anton Kraous		330,000
2	Jerry Odeen		302,500
3	Jakub Sterba		291,000
4	Cesar Garcia		277,500
5	Olivier Fazio		276,000
6	Steve O’Dwyer		266,000
7	Aleksei Savenkov		257,000
8	Rifat Palevic		254,500
9	Fabio Peluso		254,000
10	Candido Cappiello		253,000

Former champions Stephen Song (88,000), Simon Wiciak (85,000), Dominik Panka (44,000), and Sebastian Malec (76,000) all advanced — as did Team PokerStars’ Alex Romero (173,000), Alejandro Lococo (73,500), and Marle Spragg (46,500). Benjamin Spragg squeaked through with just 11,000.

Photo Credit: Danny Maxwell

Among the short stacks: Kalidou Sow (30,000), Boris Angelov (28,500), and fresh off his SHR title, Leon Sturm (22,500).

Day 2 kicks off Tuesday at noon with four 90-minute levels on the schedule. The bubble might not burst just yet — but we’re getting close.

Alexis Nicolai Wins Record PokerStars Open for €772,000

Alexis Nicolai became the third consecutive French winner of the PokerStars Open Main Event in Barcelona, beating Mengshi Tian heads-up after entering the final day 7th in chips — and falling to dead last during the final table.

The event attracted 5,036 entries from 2,286 unique players, setting a new prize pool record of €7,251,840. Nicolai’s €772,000 first prize is the largest in the tournament’s history.

His path to the title included a survival flip versus Jakub Sterba, a preflop cooler against Kazuhiko Yotsushika, and a series of knockouts — including Daniele Cuomo, Chin Wei Lim, and Ben Zech.

PokerStars Open Final Table Results

Place	Player	Country	Payout
1	Alexis Nicolai		€772,000
2	Mengshi Tian		€482,290
3	Ben Zech		€344,560
4	Chin Wei Lim		€265,200
5	Daniele Cuomo		€203,910
6	Jakub Sterba		€156,830
7	Kazuhiko Yotsushika		€120,610
8	Joseph Taieb David		€92,770

Photo Credit: PokerStars