Alexis Nicolai takes down PokerStars Open Barcelona 2025 Main Event for €772,000
French player Alexis Nicolai came out on top in the 5,036-entrant €1,650 PokerStars Open Main Event. Nicolai picked up €772,000, the highest prize ever awarded in the tournament’s history.
Nicolai came back for the final day seventh in chips, sitting in the middle of the remaining pack. He dropped to dead last when the last nine players merged at the final table.
That, however, did not stop him from laddering up. Nicolai survived a coin flip against Jakub Sterba to boost his bid for the prestigious trophy.
With seven players still in contention, Nicolai looked up former chip leader Kazuhiko Yotsushika and bested him with jacks against sixes.
At that point, Mengshi Tian led the way, further bolstering his advantage with the elimination of Sterba in sixth.
Champion sets the tempo
Nicolai and Tian dictated the tempo as play carried on. The Frenchman picked up pocket kings to dismiss Daniele Cuomo in fifth, then forced out Webster Lim after a fair race.
Short-stacked Ben Zech also fell to Nicolai, but three consecutive knockouts were still not enough to take over the lead.
The celebrations begin for Alexis Nicolai
When Tian extended his advantage to 6-1, Nicolai looked at his depleted stack and switched to a push-fold mode, thanks to which he virtually doubled without any showdown.
A key hand unfolded when Tian peeled ace-ten and called a three-bet shove preflop to put Nicolai at risk. Nicolai trailed with ace-three, but hit the three-outer and doubled into the lead.
Shortly after that, the cards were turned up again. This time, Tian was behind with sevens against nines. While a seven on the flop changed the odds in his favour, the rest of the board gave Nicolai a backdoor straight.
Nicolai hoisted the trophy and succeeded Lucien Cohen and Sylvain Berthelot on the PokerStars Open Barcelona (Estrellas) throne as the third French winner in a row.
With the €772,000 reserved for the winner, Nicolai took home the biggest prize ever awarded in this tournament, which has been played annually at EPT Barcelona since 2012.
PokerStars Open final table results:
1st: Alexis Nicolai, France, €772,000
2nd: Mengshi Tian, Hong Kong, €482,290
3rd: Ben Thileepan Zech, Germany, €344,560
4th: Chin Wei Lim, Malaysia, €265,200
5th: Daniele Cuomo, Italy, €203,910
6th: Jakub Sterba, Czech Republic, €156,830
7th: Kazuhiko Yotsushika, Japan, €120,610
8th: Joseph Taieb David, France, €92,770
The PokerStars Open Barcelona 2025 drew a field of 2,286 unique players from 85 countries, whose 5,036 entries created a record-breaking €7,251,840 prize pool. The top 753 finishers reached paid places.
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