EPT Barcelona | Elias Suhonen wins €10,000, taking home €114,200; 5 champions crowned in the first two days.

The 2026 PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona event has officially begun, and the series has quickly entered a championship-deciding phase. Within just a few days of the opening, five players have already lifted the trophy, including a Finnish player.Elias SuhonenHe secured the largest prize in the entire series to date, earning **€114,200** in the €10,200 No-Limit Hold'em event, and also marking his fourth career six-figure live tournament winnings.

In addition to Suhonen, Erik Lindqwist, Francisco Molina, Antoine Vranken and Youness Barakat also won titles in different tournaments, kicking off the EPT Barcelona, which will continue until August 29.

Elias Suhonen wins €10K tournament with 31 players

The main focus of this article is the purchase of **€10,200 No-Limit Hold'em**.

The tournament attracted 31 participants, creating a total prize pool of €310,000. Ultimately, five players won prizes: Brandon Wilson was the first to be eliminated in fifth place, taking home €28,600; Mehdi Chaoui from Morocco finished fourth, earning €35,300; and veteran Jean-Noel Thorel from France finished third, winning €48,900.

The heads-up match between Elias Suhonen and American player Nicholas Seward saw Suhonen ultimately prevail, with Seward finishing as runner-up and taking home €73,700. Suhonen, meanwhile, took home €114,200 in first-place prize money. This is the largest single first-place prize in the opening phase of the 2026 EPT Barcelona as of the time of this article's publication.

€10,200 No-Limit Hold'em Final Result

Suhonen's fourth six-figure prize in his career.

For Elias Suhonen, this victory is more than just an EPT side event title.

PokerNews points out that €114,200 is the Finnish player's career record.The fourth six-figure live tournament prizeIn a small, high-stakes tournament with only 31 participants, he successfully outmaneuvered competitors including Jean-Noel Thorel and Nicholas Seward, becoming a key winner in the EPT Barcelona high-stakes category.

Erik Lindqwist won €5,200 in a 6-Max, setting a new career high.

Another high-stakes event is **€5,200 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Max**.

Including the Re-entry, the event recorded 37 entries, creating a total prize pool of €185,000. After Cherish Andrews, Kyosuke Nagami, and Toni Kaukua were eliminated in the money, Swedish player Erik Lindqwist and Finnish player Luka Sorainen entered the heads-up match for the championship.

Lindqwist ultimately defeated Sorainen to win **€68,200**, setting a new career high for a single live tournament winnings. Sorainen finished as runner-up with €43,950.

€5,200 NLH 6-Max Final Results

Francisco Molina surpasses 251 players, marking a significant leap forward in his career.

Compared to the smaller lineups in the two high-stakes matches,€1,100 No-Limit Hold'em Single Re-EntryThis attracted as many as 251 participants.

Spanish player Francisco Molina ultimately claimed the title, earning €42,635. PokerNews points out that before Molina's appearance at this year's EPT Barcelona, Hendon Mob's resume only included one live tournament result—sixth place in a €250 Mystery Bounty at the PartyPoker Tour Madrid. Now, his resume has been augmented with a championship win worth over €40,000.

Even more impressive was the final table lineup. Jessica Vierling finished fifth, Jamie Dwan fourth, Mathias Siljander third, and Simone Demasi finished as runner-up.

€1,100 Single Re-Entry Final Table

*The original PokerNews results table marks the first and second place prize money with an asterisk, but the source analysis in this article does not show a corresponding explanation, so we will not speculate on its specific meaning.

Antoine Vranken dominates 280-player Senior tournament

The €1,100 No-Limit Hold'em Seniors also contributed a respectable number of entries, totaling [number missing].280 peopleUpon entry, a total prize pool of €280,000 was created.

WSOP gold bracelet winner Antoine Vranken of the Netherlands fought his way to the Heads-Up, ultimately defeating Timur Sattarov to win the €55,650 first-place prize. Sattarov finished as runner-up, taking home €34,680.

Renowned Irish professional poker player Dara O'Kearney also made it to the final table, ultimately finishing fourth and earning €19,220; Estonian veteran Igor Pihela finished third.

€1,100 Seniors Final Table

It should be noted that the PokerNews article states Igor Pihela's third-place prize as €24,480, but the official results table in the same article shows it as **€24,840**; the table in this article is presented according to the original results table, retaining the numerical differences from the source.

Youness Barakat, 42 players crowned champion with Hyper Turbo.

The fifth champion of the opening stage was Youness Barakat.

The Italian player won the €2,100 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em Hyper Turbo Freezeout. With 42 players participating, Barakat advanced all the way to the Heads-Up and ultimately defeated Japanese player Sho Homma to claim the title with €28,820.

Homma is no stranger to the sport; he won the €2,700 PokerStars Open High Roller at the 2025 EPT Prague and earned €454,385. Therefore, Barakat's victory over him in heads-up play adds another EPT trophy to his resume.

€2,100 Hyper Turbo Freezeout Final Score

A list of the five opening champions of EPT Barcelona

The €5,300 EPT Main Event will take place on August 22nd.

The current five champions are just the prelude to the 2026 EPT Barcelona. The entire series will continue until...August 29Several more high-stakes and core events are scheduled to follow.

The €30,000 Super High Roller Warm Up will begin on August 20th; the €2,700 PokerStars Open High Roller and the €100,000 EPT Super High Roller will both take place from August 21st to 23rd. The core of the series, the €5,300 EPT Main Event, will officially begin on August 22nd and will continue until August 29th to determine the champion.

Elias Suhonen is currently the biggest winner of the opening phase, taking the lead with a six-figure prize of €114,200. However, with the introduction of key events such as the €100,000 Super High Roller and the €5,300 Main Event, the real big prize money and championship competition at this year's EPT Barcelona are just beginning to reach their climax.

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