EPT Barcelona: All 20 champions in one place
FOLLOW THE ACTION FROM EPT BARCELONA IN OUR COVERAGE HUB
There are 20 previous champions of EPT Barcelona. How many do you remember? Here’s a look back at each and every one of the players who have won the most popular EPT Main Event, with an overview of where they came from and their fortunes since winning.
2004 – Alexander Stevic
The EPT’s first champion, Alexander Stevic
Nobody knew Alexander Stevic when he won EPT Barcelona in 2004, but that’s because nobody knew anybody else back then. This was the very first event on the European Poker Tour, which was still at its experimental stage. Nobody knew if it would work. But 229 players paid €1,000 each for a seat and gave it a try. Stevic was the last man with all the chips. Suffice to say, the EPT stuck around. And Stevic did too for a little while. He more than doubled his €80,000 prize from Barcelona when he came third in the season-ending EPT Monte Carlo Main Event in March the following year. Stevic still plays poker occasionally, but is otherwise happily back in Sweden. He has a place in history secured, however, thanks to his spectacular debut success.
2005 – Jan Boubli
The all-conquering dentist Jan Boubli
A dentist by trade, Jan Boubli was already a pretty well known poker player in his native France when EPT Barcelona came around in 2005. Boubli had finished second to David Benyamine in a WPT Main Event in Paris in 2003 (Daniel Negreanu came seventh in the tournament), and had a string of decent results in smaller tournaments. He was hardly a favourite at the Barcelona final, however, with Gus Hansen, at the peak of his powers, also there, as well as future Hall of Famer Patrik Antonius. But they finished in fifth and third, respectively, as the 51-year-old Boubli romped to a famous triumph, which remains the biggest of his career. His €426,000 prize accounts for about a third of his lifetime earnings, which shows it was no fluke. In his mid-70s now, Boubli is still playing poker and cashed in two side events in Monte Carlo in May.
2006 – Bjørn-Erik Glenne
Ivey couldn’t beat him: Bjorn-Erik Glenne
With Phil Ivey making his debut on the European Poker Tour, and gliding effortlessly to the final table, it seemed near certain that the undisputed best player in the world at the time was going to win the first EPT he played. But that’s where Bjorn-Erik Glenne comes in. This unassuming Norwegian, with a background in chess, amassed by far the biggest stack at the final, and was a 15-to-one leader over Ivey when the tournament went heads-up. It was too much even for Ivey to rein in. Glenne therefore became the first Norwegian winner on the EPT, much to the delight of the Scandinavian rail, bellowing for him from the sidelines. “!t was wonderful to have the Norwegian drunks cheering for me!” Glenne said. Glenne only had two cashes prior to victory in Barcelona, and he only seems to play very occasionally these days. But he can say for sure that he took on the best and won.
2007 – Sander Lylloff
Sander Lylloff denied his friend Mark Teltscher
There was another epic heads-up duel in Barcelona in 2007 when two players who were sharing a hotel room near Casino Barcelona — Mark Teltscher and Sander Lylloff — locked up the top two prizes in a 543-entry tournament. As if that wasn’t enough, Teltscher had the chance to win a second EPT Main Event in only the tour’s fourth season, having won in London two years before. But this one belonged to Lylloff, one of the top-ranked backgammon players in the world, who outlasted his room-mate to land a huge €1,170,700 first prize. (The EPT buy-in this season was €8K.) Despite the win, Lylloff wasn’t tempted to switch dice for cards, and remains mainly focused on backgammon. He has been a very occasional visitor to the EPT since then, and has never got anywhere close to that incredible success. But his hit-and-run is one of the best.
2008 – Sebastian Ruthenberg
Sebastian Ruthenberg went on to WSOP glory after an EPT win
Sebastian Ruthenberg was already very well known in European poker circles when he came to Barcelona in 2008. He was a member of the PokerStars-sponsored “Shooting Stars” team — kind of a Germany-centred version of Team PokerStars Pro — and had already made an EPT final table, finishing third in Dortmund in 2007. He also already had a WSOP bracelet, won three months before coming to Barcelona. Ruthenberg continued his fine form in the EPT Main Event, taking the lion’s share of a near-$5 million prize pool. His winner’s prize was more than €1.3 million, a record at the time, and the biggest of his career. Other EPT champs Jason Mercier and Davidi Kitai were sixth and third, respectively. Ruthenberg was known as a mentor to other German players, and slowly drifted away from the playing side. His last EPT cash came in 2011.
2009 – Carter Phillips
Carter Phillips is still the youngest player ever to win EPT Barcelona
The youngest EPT Barcelona champion, 20-year-old Carter Phillips turned in one of the all-time final table performances as he bludgeoned to victory in 2009. Schooled on the online streets, the American broke the European stranglehold on this event, bamboozling opponents with his hyper-aggressive style, eventually defeating British pro Marc Goodwin heads-up. Phillips enjoyed great success online in the pre-Black Friday era, and also picked up two WSOP bracelets in 2010 and 2012. Based on a comparative absence of recent results, it seems that poker takes a back seat now. But few can forget the dominant nature of this victory in Barcelona.
2010 – Kent Lundmark
Kent Lundmark kept on grinding after winning in 2010
Swedish players had enjoyed plenty of success in Barcelona, even before the 22-year-old Kent Lundmark made it to the final table in the 758-entry running of the event in 2010. And even though not many people on the rail would have known the name, his nationality alone should have placed him among the favourites among similarly lesser-known players at the final. Though plenty would go on to bigger things, including eventual second-placed finisher Jesus Cortes and Giuseppe Pantaleo, who finished fifth, Lundmark was at home among those who tend to fly under the radar. But Lundmark himself became an EPT fixture after this €825,000 victory, regularly going deep in Main Events. He finished third in an EPT High Roller in 2014, and won a side event in London in 2013. He also became a firm favourite of EPT commentator Joe Stapleton, who would name-check Lundmark regularly on the broadcasts. With more than $2.3 million in live cashes, this win in Barcelona was no fluke.
2011 – Martin Schleich
Martin Scheich: It was enough
There was a final table of superstars in 2011 when the 811-entry field was down to its last eight. Spanish phenom Raul Mestre was the headline attraction, alongside Team PokerStars Pro’s Eugene Katchalov, who was chasing the elusive Triple Crown. (Another Team Pro Matthias De Meulder was knocked out in 10th.) But as the hours ticked by on another very long EPT final table, Germany’s Martin Schleich emerged as the man most likely. Mestre was out in fifth, Katchalov in third, with Schleich then facing the last of four Spaniards at the final, Dragan Kostic. It was past 3 a.m., with a rail of exhausted supporters bellowing to Schleich: “Martin! It. Is. Enough!” Finally, it was. Schleich rewarded their patience with a breakout win. Schleich has since removed his profile from tracking databases, but he is thought to have continued to play online since his win in Barcelona. But perhaps his €850,000 win was, literally, enough.
2012 – Mikalai Pobal
After winning in Barcelona, Mikalai Pobal made it two in Prague
At a final table for the ages, Belarus’ Mikalai Pobal sat alongside Finnish duo Ilari Sahamies and Joni Joukimainen as the two Nordics decided that entertainment was more important than winning an EPT Main Event. Sahamies — the enfant terrible also known as Ziigmund — and the up-and-coming Joukimainen downed vodka and oranges and swapped sparkly gold, silver and bronze coloured hats, representing their position in the three-handed contest. One hat had been meant for Pobal, a comparatively unknown player, who was nonetheless mixing it with the best. Pobal refused to play the hat game, opting instead to close out the win and take more than €1 million. Pobal was far from done. Although he was only an irregular attendee at the EPT immediately after his victory, his return in Prague in 2019 was spectacular. Pobal won again, becoming only the second player at the time to win a second EPT Main Event. Still only an occasional player, having become co-founder of an IGaming company, Pobal’s two titles keep him in EPT folklore forever more.
2013 – Tom Middleton
Tom Middleton, still the centre of attention in Barcelona
At 26, Tom Middleton was well established as one of British poker’s young stars when he came to Barcelona in 2013. Friends with fellow EPT champs Jake Cody and Toby Lewis, “Middy” had all the attributes of a future winner, including a top tier online resume, where he played as “hitthehole”. He had qualified online for the EPT Barcelona Main Event, of course, and was already well used to huge-field live tournaments. But his €942,000 win in Barcelona propelled him to even higher echelons. Middleton’s subsequent career has seen him continue to travel the globe for tournaments and cash games, while also enjoying the fruits of his labour. He hasn’t quite scaled the Barcelona heights again — at least not in the live tournament game — but still has all the skills to do something very special again.
2014 – Andre Lettau
Andre Lettau: The 100th EPT champ
It was the 100th EPT Main Event and Andre Lettau was one of three Germans seated at the final table as the poker world celebrated its milestone. And the tournament became another one of those epics, playing long, long into the night as Lettau eventually battled past American pro Samuel Phillips heads-up. By that point, the memes had been born: Lettau’s cheering section included a selection of very well refreshed German colleagues, who, among other things, famously insisted “it’s always coming seven”. Though Lettau subsequently moved away from poker, the meme lives on among poker fans and commentators alike. Hossein Ensan, who finished this tournament in third, also went on to bigger and better things. He was an EPT champion within 18 months, and a WSOP Main Event winner soon after that.
2015 – John Juanda
Hall of Famer and EPT Barcelona champ John Juanda
Without question the best-known winner of an EPT Barcelona Main Event at the time of his success, John Juanda was one of the boom era’s stars, with five WSOP bracelets and six appearances at WPT final tables. He had even recently been inducted to the Poker Hall of Fame when he came to Barcelona and tore through a field of 1,694 entries for his biggest cash on the EPT. Although not quite as prolific as he once was, Juanda’s current tournament cashes sit at close to $27 million, with staggering consistency across a near 30-year career.
2016 – Sebastian Malec
Sebastian Malec won one of the greatest EPT final tables ever seen
In arguably the most memorable final table performance in EPT Barcelona history, 21-year-old PokerStars qualifier Sebastian Malec announced himself on the world stage in 2016. The diminutive Malec, who had qualified for far less than the €5,300 stated buy-in, suddenly discovered his inner Scotty Nguyen, supping on a cocktail and smack-talking heads-up opponent Uri Reichenstein in a dramatic conclusion. With all but two of the 1,785-entry field vanquished, Reichenstein was unable to fold his straight despite being tempted because of Malec’s verbal tirade. Malec had a flush and the self-confessed “fanboy” landed the title. In the subsequent 10 years, Malec has completed his studies and continued to play poker, most notably finishing second in an EPT High Roller in Cyprus in 2024, when he added another $700K to his coffers.
2017 – Sebastian Sorensson
“Scarf guy” aka Sebastian Sorensson
Another year, another breakout star named Sebastian landing the EPT Barcelona title. But where his predecessor Sebastian Malec was already building a tournament player’s reputation at the time of his success, Sebastian Sorensson, the 2017 champion, took obscure to a whole new level. At the time of the tournament in Barcelona, then billed as the PokerStars Championship, 27-year-old Sorensson was a PokerStars qualifier with practically zero experience. A warehouse worker by trade, he had qualified for the event for peanuts and enjoyed a debut of dreams. Dubbed “Scarf Guy” by the commentators on account of his distinctive Miami Dolphins accessory, the Swedish amateur upset pros including Albert Daher, Andre Akkari and Raffaele Sorrentino at the final. (Sorrentino, a winner in Monte Carlo a matter of months prior had been aiming for a sensational back-to-back.) But Sorensson had what it takes to go all the way and etched himself into EPT history. He cashed the Barcelona Main Event in his title defence the following year, and has occasionally returned to the tables. But otherwise he has taken his chunky payday and moved away from the game, scarf fluttering in the breeze.
2018 – Piotr Nurzynski
Piotr Nurzynski’s holiday hit a real high note in Barcelona
The way Poland’s Piotr Nurzynski handled himself during the 2018 EPT Barcelona Main Event made it very hard to believe that he was so relatively inexperienced. This was a massive tournament, with 1,474 entries, but Nurzynski was more than a match for all of them, outlasting former champs John Juanda (9th) and Ognyan Dimov (3rd) as well as future winner Pedro Marques (4th). Nurzynski then denied China its first EPT title by beating Haoxiang Wang heads up for a €1.3 million first prize. Nurzynski was a doctor at the time of his victory, albeit one in the middle of a long travel excursion with his girlfriend, specifically to decent surfing spots. He won a seat to Barcelona on PokerStars and became another one of those recreational players turning beans into a massive paycheck. Nurzynski picks and chooses his events since the breakout triumph, popping up in Paris, Prague and Cyprus, among other destinations. He’s not a pro but knows the game very well, and has that one memorable run to keep him in EPT history.
2019 – Simon Brändström
Brändström is not unbeatable, just tough to beat
After a three-year run of comparative newcomers winning at EPT Barcelona, one of Sweden’s hottest talents Simon Brändström struck back for the old guard with a crushing win in 2019. Brändström was in the middle of a phenomenal streak of success, winning a WPT Deepstacks title and a WPT Main Event either side of the EPT victory. ““I don’t feel I’m unbeatable,” Brändström told PokerStars Blog in an email at the time, but added, with appropriate emoji: “I do feel I’m hard to beat though :)” Although his screen-name is not known, Brändström is also an online grinder of great repute, part of a cadre of top-level Swedish tournament pros. Having turned pro in 2005, Brändström is still doing what he does best 20 years later.
2022 – Giuliano Bendinelli
Giuliano Bendinelli won the biggest EPT Barcelona Main Event ever
It was a record-breaking field in 2022 when 2,294 entries celebrated the end of the Covid lockdowns with a bumper event in Barcelona. Italian pro Giuliano Bendinelli was already a regular on the EPT, having made his debut back in 2011, but his fortunes took an exceptional turn for the better when he went all the way to a €1.5 million win. Bendinelli certainly had the experience to draw on, and he needed everything he had learned through his decade-long career to beat a final table also featuring Scott Margereson, Kayhan Mokri, and Fabiano Kovalski, among others. But everything fell into place this time for the 31-year-old. Bendinelli has put his boosted bankroll to good use in the subsequent years, winning a first WSOP bracelet in Rozvadov in 2025, among a long string of results. He’s still coming to the EPTs and still playing well, albeit not yet with a return to a Main Event final.
2023 – Simon Wiciak
Simon Wiciak landed on Team Pro after his win
Not only did Simon Wiciak’s breakout triumph in Barcelona in 2023 win him a career high €1.1 million, it also brought him to the attention of the PokerStars recruiters who offered Wiciak a place on the Team Pro roster a few month later. Wiciak made the most of it, putting in big volume in 2024 and beyond, travelling across the world for the game. Nothing has quite yet matched that phenomenal victory in Barcelona, however, where Wiciak prevailed from a final also featuring Robin Ylitalo, Curtis Knight and Andre Akkari (again). A former top-level soccer player, Wiciak opted for a career in engineering over sports, before poker came along. He remains a poker pro now, continuing to travel for the game.
2024 – Stephen Song
Stephen Song hit the high notes in Barcelona
When he made his annual trip to EPT Barcelona in the summer of 2024, American pro Stephen Song was already in the form of his life. Already a WSOP bracelet winner from 2019 and a WPT Prime champion from 2022, he’d recently picked up two more six-figure scores in Las Vegas. He was really putting the grind in, going deep in tournaments of all buy-ins across the world. He barely put a foot wrong after sitting down in Casino Barcelona, ultimately beating long-time British grinder Andrew Hulme heads up to win the €1.3 million first prize, the biggest of his career. Song has continued in the same vein since. He continues to travel the world playing poker, hitting further highs including victory in a $25K event at the NAPT in Las Vegas, and a huge event in South Korea. Song remains one of the most reliable tournament players on the planet, with the EPT Barcelona title still at the very top of his long list of accolades.
2025 – Thomas Eychenne
Thomas Eychenne will be the defending champion this year
Thomas Eychenne’s win in 2025 had certainly been in the mail. The French pro had been bubbling under for several years, consistently making the money in the biggest tournaments, in both Europe and North America. He’d finished second in a $25K EPT event, and made the final table of the PSPC in the Bahamas in 2023. And after he locked up the €1.2 million win in Barcelona last year, he subsequently made two more WSOP final tables. As defending champion this time around, Eychenne will enter the tournament among the favourites. He is a leading tournament pro, coming into his prime, and now knows what it takes to go all the way.
MORE FROM EPT BARCELONA
Back to TopLatest Articles
View Other Blogs
