EPT Barcelona 2025: Thomas Eychenne Wins Third Largest €5,300 Main Event for €1,217,175

EPT Barcelona 2025 wrapped up today with the conclusion of the third-largest €5,300 Main Event in tour history under the lights of the feature table at Casino Barcelona in Catalonia’s capital.

The 2,045 entries generated a prize pool of €9,918,250, and it was France’s Thomas Eychenne who scooped the lion’s share of €1,217,175 for first place, their largest singular career score. The EPT regulars largest cash came in the Bahamas in the $25,000 PSPC NL Hold’em Championship, where he scored $801,000 for seventh place.

Eychenne bested Romania’s Sebastian Ionita in heads-up play, after the two struck an ICM deal to play for €100,000 and the coveted EPT Shard trophy. Because of the deal, Ionita banked €1,117,175 for second place, and this is also his largest career tournament score. His previous best score came earlier this year in Cyprus in a $2,200 No Limit Hold’em Event, where he finished 3rd for $177,000.

Without further ado, let’s have a look at today’s action.

How It Started

Play resumed with a field of six, having played down from the 11 that started yesterday’s play. The six that returned today were guaranteed a tidy €291,000 for their efforts over the past week. Coming in at the top of the pack was Romania’s Sebastian Ionita, who had 14,725,000, good for 59 big blinds. This is the 27-year-old’s third EPT and his first final table appearance, and he is guaranteed a career-best score. Ionita was 3rd in the overall counts on Day 4.

Hot on his heels was France’s Thomas Eychenne, who came into today with 11,375,000, 46 big blinds. Eychenne is an EPT regular and was last seen cashing for $200,000 in the WSOP Main Event, where he finished 47th.

The rest of the pack came in between the 30-40 big blind mark, and it was still anyone’s game due to the chip distribution. As we all know, one double up can change everything, as can losing one. Below is the seat draw and the chip counts at the start of today’s play.

Suarez Stacked First

Eychenne took the chip lead, having picked off a bluff from Colombia’s Julian Pineda. Pineda bluffed with 10 9 on A Q J A 7 and Eychenne called with Q J for two pair.

Chips went back and forth in all directions across the table, but ultimately, for Day 5 chip leader Anton Suarez, he was on the downtrend. He called two streets with K J versus Ionita, who had Q J across K Q Q 5 . On the A river, Ionita bet again and Suarez found the fold.

A few hands later, Suarez raised to 500,000 on the button with the blinds at 125,000/250,000 with a 250,000 big blind ante. Eychenne defended the big blind. The 10 5 3 flop was checked around, Suarez bet 750,000 on the Q , and Eychenne called. Suarez then bet 2,500,000 on the 5 river. Eychenne then put Suarez all in for 1,000,000 more. Suarez went deep into the tank, using three time banks before calling. He had A Q but Eychenne had 5 4 for trip fives. Suarez was eliminated and took home €291,800.

Ionita and Zaffagnini Chip Up

With the blinds increasing to 150,000/300,000 with a 300,000 big blind ante, Ionita took two pots from Eychenne, one three-bet and fold preflop, the other picking off a bluff. Eychenne bluffed the river for 1,000,000 with Q 9 on the double paired runout of A 2 K 2 A . Ionita called with K J after the flop and turn checked through.

Umberto Zaffagnini chipped up courtesy of Tomasz Brzezinski, who fired two streets before checking back on the river. He had K J and led for 450,000 on the A 7 6 . Zaffagnini called and Brzezinski barrelled again on the Q turn, sizing up to 1,350,000. Zaffagnini called before checking again on the 3 river. Brzezinski checked back and Zaffagnini showed A 5 for the nuts.

Ionita then took the chip lead before relinquishing that to Zaffagnini. Ionita limped A 4 from the small blind before calling a raise to 750,000 from Zaffagnini. Ionita check-called a bet of 300,000 on A 10 10 before the 7 was checked around. Ionita then bet 1,800,000 on the 5 river and Zaffagnini snap-called with A 8 , which gave him the chip lead.

The stacks were now very tight and condensed, with little space between the top three.

Brzezinski Barrells into Eychenne

Eychenne was on the receiving end of two rounds of multi-street barrels from Brzezinski, which returned the Frenchman to the top of the counts.

Eychenne raised to 700,000 from under the gun, Brzezinski called from the big blind before check-calling a bet of 400,000 on the A J A . The 8 checked through before Brzezinski bet 900,000 on the 6 river. Eychenne called quickly with J 9 and Brzezinski tabled for Q 10 for the missed gutshot. The next hand, Eychenne got two streets from Brzezinski, as his A 5 couldn’t beat the K 6 on the K 9 5 9 3 runout. Eychenne bet flop and river in this limped blind v blind pot and Brzezinski was now on short stack duties.

Eychenne’s Stack Yo-Yo’s, Ionita Makes Hero Call

With those previous hands taken into account, Eychenne had put some breathing room between himself and Zaffagnini in second place.

Eychenne raised to 700,000 from the cutoff with K K . Zaffagnini and Lozano called in the blinds. The Q J J was checked around before Zaffagnini led out for 700,000 on the 10 turn. Lozano folded and Eychenne called. The 3 was checked down and Eyechenne’s Cowboy’s were good against the A 8 of Zaffagnini.

Eychenne then raised to 1,200,000 from the small blind. Ionita defended in the big blind. The Q Q Q flop saw Eychenne deploy a time bank before betting 1,300,000. Ionita called. The Q turn put four of a kind on the board; Eychenne used another time bank before checking. Ionita checked back before Eychenne fired a bet of 3,500,000 on the 2 river. Ionita burned through three time banks before making the call. And what a call it was. Eychenne had 5 4 and Ionita had best with K 4 , which propelled him to the top of the counts, demoting Eychenne to second.

Eychenne drew virtually even a few hands later as he made a straight from the big blind versus Pineda, who was on the button. The 10 9 6 flop was checked around before Eychenne fired 550,000 on the 8 turn. Pineda called before Eychenne bet 600,000 on the K river. Lozano called with Q 9 and was shown Q 7 , which had his pair beat. Eychenne then chipped down slightly before the second break of the day was reached.

Brzezinski Doubles Through Eychenne

A few hands in after the break with the blinds at 200,000/400,000 with a 400,000 big blind ante, Brzezinski moved all in from the small blind for 3,300,000 with K 5 . Eychenne made the call in the big blind with J 7 . Brzezsinski made two pair and faded a Broadway draw across the K 10 A 8 10 runout to secure the crucial double up and to leapfrog Pineda in fourth.

Pineda’s Main Event Melted by Snowmen

Chip leader Ionita opened to 800,000 from the button. Pineda responded with a three-bet jam of 5,225,000 from the small blind. Ionita snap-called with 8 8 and Pineda had K 4 . Ionita made two pair across the 5 2 5 Q Q runout send Pineda home with €379,350, his best tournament cash to date.

Brzezinski Busts Out

As the blinds increased to the current level of 200k/400k, the pace of play did too. Brzezinski, fresh off a double-up, was not hanging around. He open-ripped 6,000,000 from under the gun with A 9 . Zaffagnini snap-called in the big blind with 10 10 . The 10 8 J flop gave the Italian a set and the Polish national a straight draw, but the J turn upgraded Zaffagnini to a full house and left Brzezinski drawing dead. The 6 was a mere formality, and Brzezinski exchanged handshakes with his tablemates before departing the tournament area €403,250 richer.

And Then There Were Three…

As play reached three-handed, the levels have been reduced to last 15 hands each. Here is a look at the counts as play resumed after the departure of Brzezinski.

There weren’t many big moves over the following 15 hands, and the stacks stayed relatively the same. Pots were traded back and forth between the trio; all were reluctant to make big moves with the cards they were being dealt.

On the penultimate hand of the level, Zaffagnini raised 3 3 to 800,000. Eychenne defended the big blind. The K 6 K flop was checked around before the 9 turn was checked around as well. Zaffagnini then led for 400,000 on the 8 river. Eychenne then made it 1,600,000. Zaffagnini deployed a timebank before calling. Eychenne had Q 9 for top two pair and took the pot.

Blinds Up, Ionita Chipping Up

On the first hand of Level 36, with the blinds at 250,000/500,000 with a 500,000 big blind ante, Ionita opened to 1,200,000 from the small blind with 10 6 . Zaffagnini defended the big blind with Q 10 . Ionita led for 1,100,000 on the 2 5 3 flop, which Zaffagnini called. Ionita then led for 2,300,000 on the 4 turn. Zaffagnini then deployed a time bank before raising to 5,500,000 with a stone-cold bluff. Ionita, with the second nuts, used a time bank as well, before three-betting to 8,500,000. Zaffagnini then deployed two more time banks before folding. With that pot, Ionita extended his lead at the top of the counts.

Eychenne Ends Zaffagnini’s Journey

Ionita opened to 1,000,000 with A 8 . Zaffagnini moved all in for 11,250,000 with 5 5 . Eychenne then moved all in over the top with A J . Ionita folded and the players showed down. Zaffagnini was ahead until the river of the 8 10 K 7 Q which gave Eychenne Broadway.

After Zaffagnini’s departure, Eychenne and Ionita immediately went into discussions about an ICM deal that would see both players bank over €1,000,000 each for their efforts, leaving a percentage of the money on the table that will be played for in heads-up, as well as the trophy.

Eventually, a deal was made that saw both players lock in a whopping €1,117,000 each. As per EPT rules, they have to leave a portion of the prize pool on the table, and it was decided that they will play for €100,000 and the trophy.

Heads Up

The players took a quick break before returning to the felt for the €100,000 heads-up battle and the bragging rights of being an EPT Main Event Champion. Ionita came into play with a slight advantage, having a stack of 32,300,000. Eychenne had 29,050,000.

The first key hand in the duel came with Eychenne drawing near to parity with Ionita. Ionita raised to 600,000 from the small blind with 2 2 . Eychenne three-bet to 4,500,000 with Q 2 . Ionita called before Eychenne led for 900,000 on A 10 10 . Ionita called before the 9 turn was checked down. The Q received another round of knuckles and Eychenne took the pot at showdown.

Eychenne Gets There Again to Take Chip Lead

Eychenne opened K 2 from the small blind. Ionita defended the big blind with Q 4 . He check-called a bet of 1,000,000 on the flop of 6 Q 10 before the 3 turn was checked around. Eychenne then spiked the K river. Ionita checked, and Eychenne wagered 4,000,000. Ionita took a moment before flicking in the call. This took the Frenchman to 36,700,000, and Ionita with 24,650,000.

He continued applying pressure and running pure and soon reached the 40,000,000 point, giving him a 2:1 lead for the first time in the heads-up.

Eychenne Elevated to EPT Champion

Eychenne had eroded Ionita’s stack over the course of the heads-up, and it wasn’t long until his 2:1 advantage became almost 4:1. Just before that deficit could be reached, all the chips found the middle. Ionita limped in for 600,000 A 6 in the small blind. Eychenne raised to 2,400,000 with A K . Ionita then jammed for 14,450,000. Eychenne snap-called and was in phenomenal shape to win the title there and then. His run good continued as he spiked a king on the river of the 3 5 9 Q K to cement his place in the history books as the 2025 EPT Main Event Champion. Eychenne’s rail erupted and the Frenchman and Ionita exchanged a hug, a handshake, and kind words.

Final Table Payouts

Place	Player	Country	Payout
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	Colombia	€379,350
6	Anton Suarez	Sweden	€291,800
7	Marc Foggin	United Kingdom	€224,450
8	Cesar Garcia	Spain	€172,700
9	Youssef Zereg	France	€132,800

*Denotes heads-up deal

What’s Next?

That concludes the coverage of the 2025 EPT Barcelona Main Event. Stay tuned on social media for an interview with the latest EPT Barcelona Main Event Winner, Thomas Eychenne.

That’s all for now, folks. Until next time.