Brilliant Tomasz Brzezinski survives heads-up insanity to capture EPT Malta title at second consecutive final

October 13, 2025

Live Poker

by Howard Swains

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11 Minute Read

With all the eyes trained on one potential back-to-backer, it turned out to be the other one who was rewriting the record books.

The newest champion on the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) is Poland’s Tomasz Brzezinski, who prevailed from the 898-entry EPT Malta Main Event, recording a career-best score of €631,632.

He did so only after surviving one of the most ridiculous heads-up battles the tour has ever seen, with his final opponent, Mykhailo Ostash, doubling up no fewer than 11 times to survive. Brzezinski continually had his Ukrainian opponent on the brink of elimination, but Ostash continually clung on.

It extended the tournament approximately three hours longer than it might otherwise have done, but only served to captivate a packed rail at Casino Malta even longer, as well as the thousands watching the EPT Live stream at home. Brzezinski, originally from Poland, now lives in Malta, so he had a huge group of fans here to watch him.

They, too, were put through the wringer as the tournament became a high-spirited all-in fest, with Ostash, the chip leader at the start of the day, playing his part in a brilliant one.

“It’s amazing,” Brzezinski said at the end. “I cannot describe it in words. It’s a fantastic feeling. Not just winning the EPT, obviously, it’s a dream come true, winning an EPT, for any player, but to do it in Malta with most of my friends. It’s amazing.”

Tomas Brzezinski sweats one of numerous all-ins with his girlfriend

He added: “Obviously, I was running very lucky the entire tournament, same in Barcelona. It’s just a great run and hopefully I earned it a little bit for myself.”

Brzezinski was referring to his performance at EPT Barcelona in August, where his fourth-place finish for €493,250 marked a sensational breakout performance. But Brzezinski showed it was no fluke, becoming only one of 11 players to make consecutive EPT Main Event finals, and bettering almost all of them by taking down the prize.

Mykhailo Ostash refused to give up

Along the way, the 37-year-old denied Alex Boika what would have been an even more unusual occurrence. Boika won the EPT Malta Main Event the last time the tour came here, back in 2016. He had been reigning champion for nine years, and he too made the final in this event, mounting the best venue-specific EPT title defence in the tour’s history.

But Boika couldn’t go all the way. He was knocked out in fourth. That paved the way for the brilliant Brzezinski to etch his name on the long roll-call of EPT champions — but only after that frankly ludicrous heads-up duel that honestly seemed like it would never end.

Brzezinski and Ostash had done a deal by that point, locking up €603,098 each and leaving only €28,534 to play for. It was the hardest-earned €28,534 ever seen in a poker tournament.

“Of course,” Brzezinski said when asked if he could make it three EPT Main Event finals in a row when the tour goes to Prague in December.

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FINAL TABLE ACTION

After a typically hard-fought opening five days, the tournament field had slimmed to only five players by the end of the penultimate day. They came back with stacks as follows, with a big blind of 80,000:

Mykhailo Ostash, Ukraine – 9,870,000
Alex Boika, Belarus – 7,035,000
Tomasz Brzezinski, Poland – 5,380,000
Adria Calonge, Spain – 3,525,000
Tom Bedell, Norway – 1,140,000

EPT Malta final day players (l-r): Alex Boika, Mykhailo Ostash, Adria Calonge, Tom Bedell, Tomasz Brzezinski.

Though, of course, five was one fewer than normally return to play the final stages of a Main Event, there were no guarantees this tournament would race to its conclusion. The chip leader had 123 big blinds, the short stack was 14, and the average was 67. There was still lots of play.

So much so, in fact, that the tournament got to its first break with five players still present. Bedell essentially doubled his stack with a number of well-timed shoves, and then somehow managed to wriggle away from A♠ Q♦ after raising, then seeing Tomasz Brzezinski three-bet jam with kings.

At the other end of the counts, Alex Boika struggled to get anything going and lost half his stack. Only Ostash enjoyed the level. He built all the way up to 13.3 million.

BEDELL’S THRILL RIDE ENDS

Something eventually had to give, and the fun finally stopped for Bedell. The ebullient Norwegian real estate investor had dominated this tournament for three full days, but ran out of steam a little as the tournament entered its very final stages. He was down to only five blinds when they returned from the first break of the day, and it didn’t take long for them to go into the pot.

Boika folded pocket fives under the gun, but then Bedell looked down at pocket deuces on the button. He tossed in a couple of time-bank cards as he pondered whether to commit something more significant, and then finally did push all his chips in the middle.

Ostash looked down at 3♠ 3♦ in the big blind and called for a tiny sliver of his stack. The two smallest pocket pairs butted heads, and the 3♥ on the flop all but sealed it for Bedell. Bedell banked €200,500 for his fifth place, making a lot of new friends and fans along the way. Not bad for a game he says he doesn’t really even know how to play.

Tom Bedell tries to make off with the trophy, but it wasn’t to be

BOIKA SURRENDERS HIS TITLE, AT LAST

Boika was now the short stack four-handed, but continued to try to change that. He was still the most active player at the table, and had made at least one excellent hero call, plus a few very well-timed three-bets, to keep himself in contention.

But ultimately, his fairytale title defence didn’t come to pass. He instead fell victim to the first horribly bad beat of the last day.

Boika picked up K♦ K♣ under the gun and put in a standard raise. Ostash made a standard big-blind defence with 5♥ 5♣ , but then flopped a set when the dealer put 9♥ 5♠ 8♠ on the table. Both players checked, taking them to the 4♥ on the turn, but then the inevitable happened.

Ostash bet five blinds. Boika called, which brought them to the 2♦ river. Ostash took a visit to Hollywood, taking his time before sticking in the all-in bet. Boika couldn’t get away from his huge over-pair. He made the call and hit the rail, taking €260,750 for fourth.

The Alex Boika fairytale ended in fourth

That’s a fine score by anyone’s estimation, but the disappointment was clear on the defending champion’s face. His back-to-back dream was in tatters, but he set a new mark for returning champions, following up his win with a fourth-place finish. It’s a record that will likely stand for a long while.

SPANISH HOPES END

Ostash was now seemingly in complete control. His stack of 18.7 million was more than double his opponents’ combined. Brzezinski had 5.1m and Calonge had 3.15m, and it looked like it was only a matter of time. However, Brzezinski went on a bit of a tear, flopping a boat with pocket fours, which became quads on the turn, to win one decent pot from Ostash. He then flopped trips with J♠ 8♦ and won another.

And then Brzezinski was responsible for the next knockout, which ended Spanish hopes of a second EPT title.

It had seemed for a long while during this event as though Spain might finally get another win to complement the lone success of Adrian Mateos all those years ago. Mateos himself was at the last two tables, alongside fellow crusher Juan Pardo. But Mateos bust in 11th, with Pardo following in eighth. That left the Spanish challenge in the hands of the relative newcomer Adria Calonge.

But Calonge was cut down to by far the shortest stack, and he got his last chips in with K♠ 5♠ . The surging Brzezinski found pocket tens, and they got it all in, with tens holding to end Calonge’s run. His new career best score is €339,000 for his third-place finish.

A lonely exit for Adria Calonge

NO DEAL…AND THEN A DEAL

When heads-up play began, Brzezinski was now in the lead. He had 16.95 million to Ostash’s even 10 million. The big blind was still only 125,000, so that short stack was a huge 80 blinds. But despite a brief chat between the two of them, there was no apparent deal discussion–at least not yet.

They played on through another level, with Brzezinski moving further ahead, before being reined in once more. The stacks got back to within 2 million when the next break began, and it was at this point that the pair agreed on a deal.

They opted to go straight down the middle, with €603,098 for each of them, new top scores for both. They left €28,534 still to play for, and settled down to see where that bonus money–plus the trophy–would go.

Heads-up players agree a deal with the help of TD Toby Stone

Brzezinski came out of the blocks in spectacular fashion, winning a monster with Q♠ 4♣ against Ostash’s Q♥ 6♠ . The reason the pot grew so huge was a run-out of A♠ 4♦ Q♦ 4♥ 9♦ , which gave Brzezinski a boat. Brzezinski got a value bet paid on the end, and he opened up a lead of 20.5m to 6.5m.

That lead sustained until the first confrontation that could have ended it. It was a straight flip, with Brzezinski’s pocket 10s going up against Ostash’s K♦ J♠ . The flop brought the A♥ 9♥ K♣ , however, and a third king on the turn wasn’t even needed. The stacks drew considerably closer.

Brzezinski was still winning most of the pots that didn’t get to showdown. But the next time they got it all in, Ostash left the coup with double what he previously had. This time, it all went in pre-flop with Ostash holding Q♥ 10♥ and Brzezinski sitting with A♠ 8♣ . Two queens on the board gave Ostash something to cheer about at last, even if his 6.85 million stack was still only about a third of Brzezinski’s.

A SWINGY HEADS-UP BATTLE

Brzezinski won another big pot almost immediately thereafter, however. His A♣ K♠ ended as the best hand on a run-out of 9♦ 2♣ 9♥ 8♦ A♦ . But at one point, Ostash had moved into the lead with A♥ 8♠ . Ostash ended up counterfeited, and when they went on another tournament break, the Pole was a massive leader once more. He had 23.4 million to Ostash’s 3.55 million.

Ostash still wasn’t done, however. He won with pocket fours to double once more, delaying what had seemed inevitable. But perhaps that wasn’t the case as he doubled again, making a shrewd call for all his chips looking at a board of 10♣ 8♦ 4♠ 8♣ A♦ . He had 4♣ 10♦ and might have feared being counterfeit once more at the end. He hadn’t; Brzezinski was making a big move with seven high. Ostash doubled into the lead.

True to the pattern established thus far, Brzezinski managed to get himself back ahead. In one notable hand, his 7♣ 3♣ made a flush and helped him move back into a big lead. But then Ostash came back yet again. This time, he had 5♥ 2♥ and flopped bottom pair. The turn completed his flush and all the chips went in. That’s because Brzezinski’s 8♥ 7♣ was a massive combo draw on a board of 6♥ 2♣ 9♥ K♥ , but the A♦ river was a brick. It meant more for Ostash.

That was Ostash’s fifth heads-up double up. But it wasn’t even close to being finished yet.

The heads-up battle lasted an eternity

Brzezinski applied his foot to the gas once again and yet again used his aggression to open up another big lead. Ostash made one hero call with king high, but timed it badly, looking Brzezinski up when he had trips. And Brzezinski just used it as ammunition to continue to put pressure on.

Brzezinski flopped huge with 9♣ 8♥ , hitting the nuts on a 5♣ 6♦ 7♣ board, which was made even better by the fact Ostash made two pair with his 7♥ 6♥ . Ostash got away without losing all of it, but was left perilously short once again, sitting now with only 1.5 million to Brzezinski’s 25.5 million.

But Ostash doubled. It’s what he does. It was with Q♥ 9♥ through K♣ 3♥ . And then he doubled again, this time with 10♠ 8♠ turning a flush to beat K♣ J♦ . He truly could not be killed off. They went to another break with Ostash holding 5,375 million to Brzezinski’s 21.575 million. The big blind was 300,000, so Ostash still had 18 blinds.

They headed to a dinner break that nobody could possibly have expected they’d need.

When they returned, there was time for another double. This time, Ostash’s pocket sevens stayed best to beat 9♥ 7♥ . That brought the stacks as close as they’d been in a while.

They ended dead even when Ostash next caught Brzezinski bluffing, gaining another double with K♠ 7♥ for a pair of sevens. But then, when Ostash moved into the lead, Brzezinski won a flip with pocket eights against A♣ J♦ and doubled himself.

There was a packed rail for the conclusion

That put the Polish player back into another big lead, but you’ve heard this before. Ostash doubled up. He had K♥ Q♦ to beat pocket tens, and on they went.

The feeling was now that it may never end, but of course, poker does always have to get there. And the next hand was huge. Ostash had A♥ 10♦ and Brzezinski was happy to risk it all with A♦ J♠ . The jack played and this was a massive pot, the biggest yet, leaving Ostash now with only two big blinds.

Everything went in for a third time in consecutive hands. This time Brzezinski’s 10♣ 4♦ beat Ostash’s 5♥ 4♠ . And finally, they got it done.

€5,300 EPT Main Event
Dates: October 6-12, 2025
Entries: 898 (inc. 640 re-entries)
Prize pool: €4,355,300

1 – Tomasz Brzezinski, Poland, €631,632*
2 – Mykhailo Ostash, Ukraine, €603,098
3 – Adria Calonge, Spain, €339,000
4 – Aliaksei Boika, Belarus, €260,750
5 – Tom-Aksel Bedell, Norway, €200,550
6 – Toni Kaukua, Finland, €154,250
7 – Ben Heath, United Kingdom, €118,650
8 – Juan Pardo, Spain, €91,250
9 – Joao Tomas, Portugal, €70,250

See results page for full payouts