EPT Barcelona: All the ‘ifs’ as Main Event enters Day 5

August 27, 2026

Poker

by Howard Swains

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4 Minute Read

There were 1,328 entries at the start. There are only three days play left until we find a champion. And as we enter Day 5 of the EPT Barcelona Main Event, there are only 28 players left.

So what could happen from here?

Well, if history has taught us anything about the European Poker Tour, it’s that it would be very foolish to be making any bold predictions about this will play out. Spanish buddies Jose Criado and Gerard Carbo lead the way at this stage, and there are three other players who have previously won EPT Main Events.

Does that mean any of them will still be there on Saturday? Nobody knows.

But taking a look through the remaining field, it might be worth listing a few of the “what ifs”. There’s still a very significant chance that we’re crowning a completely unheralded first time champion when play ends on Saturday. But there’s also a chance that any of the following could happen…

NEW COUNTRIES ON THE ROLL OF HONOUR?

If Zheng Xiaosheng wins in Barcelona, he will become the first Chinese player ever to claim an EPT title. The world’s second most populated nation is gradually emerging as a poker-playing country, but no one on the EPT has bettered Honglin Jiang’s second-place finish, behind Nicolas Dumont, in Monte Carlo in 2018.

Zheng Xiaosheng holds Chinese hopes

Similarly, if Matas Cimbolas wins in Barcelona, he will become Lithuania’s first EPT champion. The world’s 139th-most populated country has been a poker force for quite a while, particularly in the online game, but no Lithuanian has ever won an EPT Main Event.

For the record, the EPT has seen winners from 30 different countries through its 22-year history. Xiaosheng or Cimbolas could make that 31.

FINALLY ANOTHER FOR SPAIN?

If any of Jose Criado, Albert Grane or Gerard Carbo wins, they will become only the second Spanish EPT champion ever, and the first to claim the title on home soil. Remarkably, through 22 years of the EPT, including 20 events in Barcelona, Adrian Mateos is still the only Spanish champion. He won in Monte Carlo in 2015.

Gerard Carbo has been deep in big events before. Can he do it for Spain?

Similarly, if any of Barbara Akemi, Vinicius Goncalves, Fabricio Nociolini, Eduardo Kalil, Gabriel Tavares wins, they will become only the second Brazilian champion on the EPT. Despite dominating the online tournament game, and regularly sending scores of players to all major tournaments, the only Brazilian to previously win on the EPT was Marcelo Simões, who won in Monte Carlo in 2022.

Garbiel Tavares could be only the second Brazilian EPT champ

If Alexandru Toderita or Vasyl Pidhrusnyi wins, they will claim a second ever title for Romania or Ukraine, respectively, following previous wins for Razvan Belea and Oleksii Khoroshenin. Meanwhile, if John Juanda wins the EPT Main Event, he will take Indonesia’s EPT titles tally to two. He, of course, also won the other one, here in Barcelona in 2015. (Plenty more about Juanda below.)

If either Mitchell Garshofsky or Edward Pak wins, the United States will take its tally of EPT titles to 18, ahead of Germany (17) and behind only the UK (19) for the country with the most EPT wins.

Edwark Pak could take the USA’s tally to 18

Other nations still represented:

Finland (two previous champions)
France (13 previous champions)
Ireland (two previous champions)
Italy (four previous champions)
Lebanon (two previous champions, including Nicolas Chouity)
Netherlands (eight previous champions)
Poland (six previous champions, including Sebastian Malec)

REPEAT CHAMPION?

Three previous former champions remain in the hunt in Barcelona, with all of Nicolas Chouity, Sebastian Malec and John Juanda aiming to become only the fifth person to win two EPT Main Events. (Only Chouity’s previous title-winning prize of €1.7 million, from Monte Carlo in 2010, is bigger than the €1.37 million on offer here.)

Nicolas Chouity is one of three former champions still involved

The first person to hit the double was Victoria Coren Mitchell, who won in London in 2006 and Sanremo in 2014. Mikalai Pobal, Anton Bergstrom and Mike Watson have since matched the feat, but no two-time champion has been crowned since 2023.

If either Malec or Juanda prevails, they will be the first person to win two EPT Main Events in the same brick and mortar venue. Bergstrom’s two titles came while he was playing as “WhatIfGod” on the PokerStars tables, as the ETP migrated online during the Covid years, but no player has ever won two EPT Main Events in the same place.

John Juanda again in Barcelona?

This is arguably the best chance yet.

OTHER TRIVIA

Brazil’s Barbara Akemi has the chance to become only the fourth woman to win an EPT Main Event, after the aforementioned Coren Mitchell, Sandra Naujoks and Liv Boeree. Coren Mitchell’s second victory in 2014 was the last time a woman won. That’s more than 12 years and 54 EPT Main Events without a woman taking it down — precisely 4,514 days come final table day.

Can Barbara Akemi end a 12-year wait?

If the two current chip leaders Jose Criado and Gerard Carbo finished first and second, it would NOT be the first time two close friends have played each other heads-up for the title. It wouldn’t even be the first time it had happened in Barcelona. In 2007, Sander Lylloff beat Mark Teltscher heads-up for the title here. The two had travelled to Barcelona together and were sharing a hotel room.

Can chip leader Jose Criado emulate Sander Lylloff?

The €1.37 million first prize would represent a new career high for all but three players in the remaining field. Only Juanda, Chouity and Edward Pak have previously won more in a single tournament.