Another day is in the books for the 2025 European Poker Tour stop at the Casino Barcelona. On Wednesday, the money bubble popped, and some of the €9 million-plus prize pool began to be distributed. After a full day of action, 103 players are still in contention for the top prize of €1.4 million at the 2025 EPT Barcelona Main Event, and the Faroe Islands’ Martin Nielsen has the inside track to getting that award with his 1.683 million in chips.
Tense Run to Money Bubble Popping
313 players return to the Casino Barcelona for Day Three of the 2025 EPT Barcelona Main Event, and the tension could be felt. With only 303 players earning a cash from the tournament, players were on edge, especially if they were in danger of being eliminated. Walking away from a poker tournament after three days of work is one of the worst feelings in the game, and ten players were going to experience that, if not for the first time, again.
It is also the time when players with a sizable stack can take advantage of their shorter opponents. Early in the day’s proceedings, Erik Hellman raised a pot, only to have Ryuta Nakai three-bet the action. Hellman would call to see the A-K-J rainbow flop, check-calling a 10K bet from Nakai. The turn Queen put plenty of danger on the board, and Hellman took advantage of it by opening the action to 20K. Nakai came along but, after an innocuous six came on the river, Hellman put Nakai to the test with an all-in move; Nakai pondered his decision for a notable bit of time, eventually dropping his cards in the muck rather than becoming one of the players who wouldn’t make any money.
One of the cruel realities of poker is that you can sometimes make the right decisions and get the wrong outcomes. This is what happened to Amir Ghafouri, who committed his final chips against Yidi Ni. Ghafouri was in a dominant position, with an A-J ruling over Ni’s Q♥ J♥, and things looked good on the 10-8-6-4 flop and turn. The river Queen, however, dashed Ghafouri’s hopes of a double short of the money bubble as Ni raked in the chips.
In the end, three eliminations occurred on the bubble, with those three players splitting the 303rd and 302nd place monies (each worth €8,550, meaning each player would receive €5,700). A flush of Tero Laurila cruelly smashed Robert Kaggerud’s pocket Kings; Alejandro Ganivet met a similar fate when a full house of Albert Grane ran down his pocket Kings; and Merijn van Rooij couldn’t connect on the board with his A-J to best Jon Sataoen’s pocket eights to complete the trifecta of knockouts.
On to the Money!
With that series of eliminations, the money started to flow at the 2025 EPT Barcelona Main Event. Such notables as Juha Helppi, Day 1A chip leader Daiki Shingae, and Kenny Hallaert would all be a part of the min-cash club, while Volodymyr Pashchetnyk, Aram Zobian, and Dimitar Danchev all made the next money jump (€9,800). The player formerly known as ‘Hollywood’ Dave Stann pulled in a €11,300 payday, and Day Two chip leader Jacob Amsellem and the U.S.’s Marle Spragg took home a €13,000 bounty. More top names, such as Day 1B chip leader Anton Kraous and former EPT champions Steve O’Dwyer and Dominik Panka, would fall before the final elimination of the night brought the field to 103 players.
Nielsen began his run to the top with a post-dinner break rumble with Matas Cimbolas. In a hand that was heavily contested to the river, Cimbolas would call a final bet from Nielsen with two Kings on the board, turning up pocket sixes for two pair. Nielsen had him crushed as he unveiled pocket Kings for a nearly unbeatable four of a kind. After scooping up the remnants of Cimbolas’ stack, Nielsen would cruise to the lead of Day Three over the remaining players.
1. Martin Nielsen (Faroe Islands), 1.683 million
2. Julian Lozano (Colombia), 1.481 million
3. Damien Gayer (France), 1.455 million
4. Rifat Palevic (Sweden), 1.442 million
5. Tobias Leknes (Norway), 1.432 million
6. Lars Tungel (Denmark), 1.271 million
7. Artus Giminez (Spain), 1.242 million
8. Matthew McEwan (USA), 1.24 million
9. Lauri Saaskilahti (Finland), 1.237 million
10. Ramon Colillas (Spain), 1.11 million
If you are looking at wagers on the potential players at the final table, Gayer has been on a steady climb to the top of the standings. Saaskilahti has been in the Top Ten for the past couple of days, and Colillas has demonstrated that he can navigate large-field poker tournaments rather well in his own right. The Top Ten are tightly packed together, making Day Four of the 2025 EPT Barcelona Main Event one to watch through the PokerStars YouTube channel on Thursday!
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