Manuel Ferrari takes down EPT Barcelona

Always one of the biggest European tournaments of the calendar year, EPT Barcelona attracted a field of 1,823 players and created a prize pool of €8.8 million.

It looked like a potential fairy-tale story in the making, as three former champions of this event were still in contention deep into the tournament. John Juanda, Sebastian Malec, and Simon Wiciak all fell within earshot of the final table. 

Another potential fairy tale story was scuppered when Jose Criado of Spain fell in third place. Amazingly, despite being one of the longest-running high-stakes tournaments in Europe, a Spanish player has never won this title. 

Criado did still have plenty to smile about as he secured a much bigger payout than advertised. Along with Manuel Ferrari and Lucas van Eeden, he negotiated a three-way ICM deal, which saw him take home €910,642.  

After that, all that was left was a heads-up contest, which saw Ferrari take it down for €1,002,488. He is no stranger to PokerStars live events, having previously won the PokerStars Open Malaga Main Event and PokerStars Open Campioni High Roller, both in the last year. 

He said afterwards, “It was always a dream since I was like 15 years old. I watched all the coverage; I wanted to do it as a career. I finally got that and then I won in Malaga in 2025 and Campione in 2026. And the last step was the EPT main, so I guess I’m happy."

Next up for the European Poker Tour is EPT Prague, which takes place between December 2 and 13.

*Denotes a three-way ICM deal