EPT Barcelona Wraps Up: Simon Wiciak Takes Main Event Trophy and €1.1 Million to France

European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona has traditionally been one of the biggest stops on the Tour, and the festival did not disappoint this time around, either.

With over 60 unique events played over two weeks of action, more than €40,000,000 in prizes was paid out, and several major EPT titles were given away, including the Main Event and a number of High Rollers that attracted some of the world’s best poker players.

With more than 2000 players running in the Main Event, EPT Barcelona once again proved to be a massive success, with a number of field sizes setting records compared to their previous iterations, and the Main coming very close to becoming the biggest EPT Main Event ever.

When all was said and done, it was French player Simon Wiciak who came out on top and took home the coveted trophy and €1,134,375 following a three-way deal that made second-place finisher Joao Sydenstricker a millionaire as well.

ESPT Main Event Becomes Biggest PokerStars Live Event Ever

The Barcelona festival, traditionally the most attractive one on the whole European Poker Tour, kicked off with a stop of the Estrellas Poker Tour (ESPT), as lower buy-in Tour that plays out across Spain and always makes a stop at the Catalonian capital along with EPT.

The ESPT Main Event immediately showed that the festival would be massive, with a total of 7,398 entries made, making it the biggest live poker event PokerStars has ever hosted.

In the end, it was Lucien “Ratman” Cohen from France who took home the biggest chunk of the massive prize pool, winning €676,230 after paying just €1,100 for the buy-in, a massive return on a modest investment.

This is how Lucien Cohen took down the biggest live tournament in PokerStars history. 👇

He outlasted a field of 7️⃣, 3️⃣ 9️⃣ 8️⃣ entries to win the ESPT Main Event and €676,230. 🏆 #EPTBarcelona pic.twitter.com/nV0sGuCXCd

— PokerStars (@PokerStars) August 28, 2023

The previous EPT Deauville champion from 2011 thus added another major PokerStars trophy to his cabinet wearing the same shirt for every day of the tournament, after another player spilled his coffee all over it on Day 1.

Ratman believed the coffee incident to be good luck, and was proven right, as he managed to navigate the massive field and come out on top of a very international final table that included no Spanish players.

High Roller Action Abound in Barcelona

Well aware of the number of high stakes poker players who would be coming to Barcelona for the EPT stop, PokerStars included several big buy-in tournaments on the schedule, including a €100,000 EPT Super High Roller event.

It was last year’s Main Event sixth place finisher Kayhan Mokri who finally took home a PokerStars trophy, although this time around it was in a much smaller field, but with a much higher buy-in.

The Norwegian player took home €750,960 for his efforts after defeating a stacked final table that included the likes of Steve O’Dweyer, Sam Grafton, and Patrik Antonius.

In other high rollers, Felipe Ketzer and David Yan each won a €25k High Roller trophy, while the €50k Second Chance High Roller was taken down by Tom Orpaz.

The €10,300 EPT High Roller, which was played between September 1 and 3, attracted a massive field, with champion Ka Kwan Kau winning €910,400 for his performance, taking a shiny PokerStars trophy back home to Hong Kong.

Another significant score was recorded by Croatian player Goran Mandic, who took down the €2,200 ESPT High Roller and won €418,980 following a heads up deal with French Antoine Labat.

EPT Main Event Nearly Misses the Record

With 2,120 runners in total, EPT Barcelona Main Event 2023 became the second-biggest EPT Main Event in the Tour’s history, trailing only behind last year’s version of the same event.

The popular EPT stop attracted players from all corners of the world, forming a very international final table that included players from France, Brazil, UK, Canada, Argentina, and Sweden.

It was Brazilian pro Andre Akkari who dominated the highlights leading into final table action, but eventually came up short, busting in fifth place for €393,300.

Good game to @aakkari – he put on a short stack masterclass over multiple days – but it was one all-in too many, and he's out in fifth place, winning €393,300.

The action continues, join the rail at https://t.co/SB357usSaR or https://t.co/ZarB0RN21O #EPTBarcelona pic.twitter.com/SnhnRdh1nt

— PokerStars LIVE (@PokerStarsLIVE) September 3, 2023

When action came down to three players, a deal was made, with UK poker player Carl Shaw joining Joao Sydenstricker and Simon Wiciak in chopping up the lion’s share of the prize pool.

Shaw took home €901,070, Sydenstricker won €1,048,550, while the eventual champion Wiciak cashed for €1,134,375 in the end.

ICYMI: this is how Simon Wiciak took down the #EPTBarcelona Main Event.

He defeated a field of 2,120 entries to take the title and €1,134,375. 🏆

Could you have made this call? pic.twitter.com/ZR73NUvjMW

— PokerStars (@PokerStars) September 4, 2023

While all three players were no doubt satisfied with the million-ish Euro scores they booked, it was Wiciak who could walk away with his head held up high and a trophy under his arm, forever etching his name into the poker history books.

The online grinder, who recently transitioned into live tournament poker scene, thus won his first PokerStars trophy and took his live poker career in the right direction right off the bat.

EPT Heads to Cyprus and Prague before New Year’s

With the Barcelona leg of the 2023 EPT season now in the books, EPT will be heading to the luxurious resorts of Cyprus next, before finishing the season off with the popular EPT Prague stop.

EPT Cyprus is scheduled to run from October 11 to 22, once again offering a host of exciting EPT events and High Rollers, along with Eureka Poker Tour events for those with a more modest approach to poker tournaments.

The season ends with one of the most attractive EPT events of the year, which is scheduled to play out in the Czech capital from December 6 to 17, just ahead of the Christmas holidays.

The months ahead will be jam-packed with live tournament action, with December in particular being a month of action with WSOP Paradise, WPT World Championship, and EPT Prague all overlapping in dates.

Head on over to PokerStars today to check out what satellites the operator offers for the upcoming EPT stops and get ready for fall and winter before it’s too late by winning your seats in the attractive PokerStars events at just a fraction of the price.