They started the day at the top of the standings of the European Poker Tour’s Main Event stop in Barcelona, and they would end the day as the final two men. After battling for several hours, France’s Thomas Eychenne and Romania’s Sebastian Ionita finally reached the point where a deal was hammered out, with each man scoring a million Euro payday. Once the money was taken care of, Eychenne would go on to beat Ionita on the felt to capture the championship of the 2025 EPT Barcelona, picking up the Spade Trophy.
Six Started, But Only One Could Reign
The regular EPT final table is eight-handed, but play was so quick on Day Six that officials allowed the players to reduce the number to the final six men. At the start of Day Seven action, Ionita was on top of the standings, while Eychenne joined him as the only players over ten million chips at the table. Julian Pineda Lozano, Umberto Zaffagnini, Anton Suarez, and Tomasz Brzezinski were the four players who were looking to punch their way into the upper echelons, but each would fail in their efforts.
With the large stacks, the players had to be tactical in their moves, which resulted in about an hour of little action. That changed when Suarez put out a button raise, and Eychenne looked him up in the big blind. A 10-5-3 flop brought no action from either player, but a Queen on the turn got Suarez to fire a 750K bet after an Eychenne check, which Eychenne called. A second five came on the river, and Suarez decided this was the spot to make a stand, betting out 2.5 million chips after Eychenne checked.
Eychenne shifted uncomfortably in his seat (as shown on the PokerStars YouTube channel) and even used a time extension to ponder his action. Eventually, Eychenne decided on a raise to five million chips, which would put Suarez to the test for his remaining stack. Now it was Suarez’s turn in the tank as he utilized three extensions before deciding to call off his final million chips and change. Suarez put out his A-Q for two pair (Queens up), but Eychenne caught a miracle on the turn of another five for trips with his 5♥ 4♥, knocking Suarez out in sixth and shooting Eychenne to the top of the ladder.
Ionita did not take kindly to losing his lead, and it would show as the Romanian clawed chips from Eychenne’s stack to retake the lead. Eychenne would strike back, however, chopping a sizeable chunk of Brzezinski’s chips from him to once again top Ionita. The duo would continue to flip-flop the lead as the other participants suffered in comparison.
Lozano would be the next departure from the tournament, taking an inappropriate tack to an Ionita raise. After Ionita made it 800K to go, Lozano took an aggressive approach with an all-in for his last five million or so in chips. Ionita did not hesitate in his call, and Lozano had to turn up his bluff:
Ionita (button): pocket eights
Lozano (big blind): K♦ 4♦
At least Lozano was alive, looking for a King, but no help would come on the 5-5-2-Q-9 board, sending Lozano out in fifth place. After Zaffagnini took down Brzezinski in fourth in what was an interesting hand (Zaffagnini flopped a set of tens and turned a boat, crushing Brzezinski’s open-ended straight draw), the final three were left.
Up From the Bottom
At the start of three-handed play, Eychenne was the one facing steep odds. He was behind both Ionita (27.15 million) and Zaffagnini (23.725 million) with his 10.675 million chips, but Eychenne began a slow grind to work up the leaderboard. He was helped by Ionita taking a chunk off Zaffagnini before Eychenne knocked Zaffagnini out of the tournament in third place in what was an extremely dramatic hand.
After a raise from Ionita, Zaffagnini made an all-in move from the small blind for his remaining chips. Eychenne could have just let it go (he had more chips than Zaffagnini) but instead settled on jamming HIS stack to the center. That was enough for Ionita to let his holdings go, sending Zaffagnini and Eychenne off to the races:
Zaffagnini (small blind): pocket fives
Eychenne (big blind): A-J
The K-10-8 flop missed both men, but it actually increased Eychenne’s chances by offering him draws to a Broadway straight along with his over cards. The seven on the turn was innocuous, but the hammer fell with a Queen on the river, much to the surprise of the rail. With one card, Zaffagnini was out in third place, and Eychenne moved to heads-up play with Ionita.
Although Ionita had a three-million-chip lead over Eychenne (32.3 million to 29.05 million), the duo immediately set about discussing a deal to ensure each man a guaranteed million-euro payday. They would eventually settle on each player receiving €1,117,175 out of the remaining prize pool. They left €100,000 on the table beside the EPT Barcelona trophy to play for, and the duo resumed hostilities. Over a forty-five-minute battle, Eychenne slowly worked out to a lead over Ionita before the final hand closed the night. Ionita limped out of the small blind, but Eychenne kept the pressure on with a raise out of the big. Ionita responded with an all-in three-bet, and Eychenne would beat him to the pot with the call as the cards were turned up:
Ionita (small blind): A-6
Eychenne (big blind): A♣ K♣
Eychenne would face no serious challenges over the run of the board. The 3-5-9-Q flop and turn changed nothing, and the King on the river only improved Eychenne’s already superior position, ending the tournament and crowning Thomas Eychenne the champion of the 2025 EPT Barcelona Main Event:
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 Lozano (Colombia), €379,350
6. Anton Suarez (Sweden), €291,800
7. Marc Foggin (United Kingdom), €224,450**
8. Cesar Garcia (Spain), €172,700**
* – results of deal in two-handed action
** – eliminated on Saturday night, part of official EPT final table
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