PokerStars Open Main Event Tops 4,333 Entries in Barcelona
The €6.24 million prize pool is smaller than last year, with Maor Zaharagi leading Day 2 and several big names still alive.
The €1,650 PokerStars Open Main Event at EPT Barcelona finished its eight Day 1 flights with 4,333 entries and a €6,239,520 prize pool. A total of 648 players moved on to Day 2, and Maor Zaharagi led the survivors with 864,000 chips.
The numbers were down from last year. PokerOrg said the 2025 version drew 5,036 entries and a €7,251,840 prize pool, while PokerNews’ 2025 results page lists the same event at 5,035 entries, including 2,750 re-entries, with the same prize pool. As covered in our Aug. 12 look at the Barcelona festival, PokerStars had already added a new €2,200 In the Money at 180,000 event to the stop alongside the usual headline action.
A few familiar names were still in the hunt. Jamie Dwan returned with 682,000 chips, and PokerOrg noted that he had finished fifth in Event #17: €20,000 NLH for €58,400 and fourth in Event #3: €1,100 NLH for €17,480 at Barcelona. The same report also pointed to his recent Super High Roller win at the GUKPT stop in Coventry for £47,200, plus six bracelet-event cashes at the WSOP in Las Vegas and a $50,000 NLH High Roller title worth $2,276,961.
Thomas Eychenne was another notable name in the Day 2 field, starting with 504,000. He won the 2025 EPT Barcelona Main Event after a heads-up deal with Sebastian Ionita that left both players with €1,117,175 and reserved €100,000 for the champion, and PokerNews said it was his first live tournament win.
Eychenne also described the victory as a pressure release, saying he expected to play with less pressure going forward. PokerNews reported that he told Ionita during deal talks that he was a heads-up specialist and felt he had the edge because he had played many more hands in that format.
The Open will crown its champion on Saturday, the same day the EPT Barcelona Main Event gets underway.
