Manuel Ferrari Wins EPT Barcelona Main Event After Three-Way Deal
Ferrari kept the lead through Day 6, then beat Lukas van Eeden heads-up for a €1 million payday in Barcelona.
Italy’s Manuel Ferrari won the PokerStars EPT Barcelona €5,300 Main Event after a three-way deal, beating a 1,823-entry field and collecting €1,002,488, or about $1.16 million. Lukas van Eeden finished second and Jose Criado took third after the prize money was split.
As reported in our Aug. 28 update, Ferrari went into the final day with the chip lead. He had also stayed in front through Day 6, and the field had already been cut to six by the time the last day began.
The penultimate day began with 13 players left and at least €81,350 locked up, before a fast series of eliminations trimmed the table further. Among the notable exits, Joris Ruijs went out in ninth, Gerard Carbo finished seventh, Michael Dwyer was eliminated in fifth after losing on an aces-up board, and Xiaosheng Zheng was eliminated by Jose Criado after Criado three-bet jammed 10♠10♥ and Zheng called all-in with A♦7♦. Nicolas Chouity’s exit meant the title would go to a first-time EPT Main Event champion, and Jose Criado was eliminated in third.
The last three players then paused for a deal after Lukas van Eeden held only a small chip edge over Ferrari. The agreement left the trophy and $116,284 still to play for, while Ferrari entered heads-up with roughly a 3:2 lead and stretched that advantage to more than 5:1 as play went on.
The match ended when van Eeden shoved 27.5 big blinds with K♠6♦ and Ferrari called with A♦Q♥ in the big blind. The board ran A♥6♣4♦Q♣7♦ to end it, and the win also earned Ferrari 2,160 Card Player Player of the Year points, lifting him to 2,553 for 2026 and into the top 100 of the CoinPoker standings.
