Will the 2026 CEP Barcelona Main Event break the entry record again?

The 2026 CEP Barcelona Main Event will be held from August 10th to 17th, with a €500 buy-in. Last year's record of 2,182 entries is expected to be broken again this year.

The Barcelona leg of the Campeonato Espana de Poker (CEP) has always been one of the most popular stops on the tour, meaning that large crowds will once again flock to Barcelona casinos this August. The CEP Barcelona event will take place from August 3rd to 17th, marking the 20th anniversary of this historic tournament.

A series of satellite races will be held from July 27 to 31 as a warm-up for the two-week music festival, after which the real competition will begin.

CEP Barcelona Key Event, August 2026

• €330 Opening Match: August 4th to 8th

• €250 Mini CEP: August 8th to 10th

• €660 Super Mystery Bounty Tournament: August 9th-10th

• €500 Main Event: August 10-17

• €1,000 High Roller: August 15-17

All CEP Barcelona tournaments are expected to draw large numbers of participants, but all eyes are on the €500 buy-in CEP Barcelona Main Event. Three years ago, it set a new CEP record with 1,960 entries (including re-entries).

Last year, the number of participants reached an astonishing 2,182, making it the largest main event in the long history of CEP and the first CEP main event to surpass 2,000 participants.

The grand CEP Barcelona Main Event ended with a three-way payout. Arnau Pradas finished third, earning €60,225, while compatriot Marc Casamacchi, though defeated heads-up, still took home €72,900. Argentina's Matias Arroyo became the CEP Barcelona champion, winning a career-best €86,875. Considering the tournament's buy-in was only €500, these prizes were quite impressive.

*Reflects a three-person agreement on prize distribution

Full schedule for CEP Barcelona, August 2026

Expand the table below to view the full tournaments, supplementary tournaments, and satellite tournaments held at the Barcelona casinos during the CEP. Those unfamiliar with Spanish tournaments may be surprised by the later start times compared to usual.

If you attend the CEP Barcelona event, you'll have plenty of time to sleep in or explore the beautiful city of Barcelona before sitting down at the poker table, and then try to replicate Arroyo's success.

The CEP Barcelona event will conclude with the opening of the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona Music Festival. This year's EPT Barcelona will be held from August 16th to 29th. Like the CEP Barcelona Main Event, the EPT Barcelona Main Event will be another major event.

In last year's €5,300 EPT Barcelona Main Event, Thomas Eychenne took home €1,217,175 after reaching a heads-up deal with Sebastian Ionita (Ionita won €1,117,175). The massive field of 2,045 participants created an impressive total prize pool of €9,918,250, nearly breaking the €10 million mark.

PokerNews will provide more coverage of EPT Barcelona in the coming days.

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