Thomas Eychenne won the €2,700 PokerStars Open High Roller at EPT Barcelona 2026 for €589,395, adding another major title at a venue where he had already won the EPT Main Event a year earlier.
PokerStars’ official festival results confirm 1,551 entries, 632 re-entries and a €3,761,175 prize pool. Eychenne defeated fellow Frenchman Virgile Turchi heads-up, with Turchi collecting €371,000.
The Frenchman came through a huge field of 1,551 entries at Casino Barcelona before defeating compatriot Virgile Turchi heads-up.
It continues Eychenne’s remarkable relationship with the Spanish city. Less than a year ago, he won the 2025 EPT Barcelona Main Event for €1,217,175, which remains the biggest tournament score of his career.
His latest victory arrived during another enormous EPT Barcelona festival. Just a day earlier, Jason Wheeler defeated a 4,333-entry field to win the PokerStars Open Main Event for €731,000.
Eychenne Leads Strong Barcelona Final Table
The €2,700 PokerStars Open High Roller attracted 1,551 entries, including 632 re-entries, to create a €3,761,175 prize pool.
Eychenne reached the final table with the chip lead and immediately strengthened his position.
Zdenek Zizka was among the first players to fall. The WSOP bracelet winner got ace-ten in against Eychenne’s pocket nines, but failed to improve.
David Djian followed before Hak-Hyun Lee was eliminated in seventh.
Turchi was responsible for Lee’s departure after his pocket queens held against ace-king, moving him into contention for the chip lead.
Former EPT Cyprus Main Event champion Gilles Simon then suffered a remarkably similar fate. Simon also held ace-king against Turchi’s queens and could not find the cards he needed, sending him out in sixth for €120,040.
PokerStars Open Barcelona €2,700 High Roller Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thomas Eychenne | France | €589,395 |
| 2 | Virgile Turchi | France | €371,000 |
| 3 | Lars Tungel | Sweden | €265,440 |
| 4 | Marwan Salamoun | Lebanon | €204,120 |
| 5 | Christian Kaufmann | Switzerland | €156,700 |
| 6 | Gilles Simon | Netherlands | €120,040 |
| 7 | Hak-Hyun Lee | Sweden | €92,540 |
| 8 | David Djian | France | €70,400 |
Eychenne Retakes Control
Turchi’s surge briefly threatened Eychenne’s position at the top of the counts, but the defending EPT Barcelona Main Event champion soon regained control.
Christian Kaufmann was eliminated in fifth after Eychenne called his shove and paired his four on the river.
Marwan Salamoun then ran ace-jack into Eychenne’s pocket queens. A queen on the flop gave the Frenchman a set and reduced the tournament to three players.
Lars Tungel was next.
The Swedish player moved all-in with ace-six and found himself racing against Eychenne’s pocket eights. An eight on the flop effectively ended Tungel’s hopes, sending him to the rail in third for €265,440.
That left two French players competing for the title.
One Hand Decides All-French Heads-Up
Eychenne began heads-up with a commanding chip advantage over Turchi.
He needed just one hand to finish the job.
Turchi moved all-in holding ten-nine and Eychenne woke up with pocket queens. A ten on the flop gave Turchi some hope, but neither the turn nor river produced the card he needed.
Eychenne’s queens held, securing another Barcelona trophy and €589,395.
Turchi collected a career-best €371,000 for finishing second.
The result adds another major winner to what has already been a busy high roller schedule at Casino Barcelona. Earlier in the festival, Brock Wilson and Klemens Roiter claimed two of the opening EPT Barcelona high roller titles.
Barcelona Becoming Eychenne’s Territory
Eychenne’s latest result is particularly notable because outright tournament victories have been rare during an otherwise highly successful career.
His first major live title came at this venue in 2025.
Eychenne outlasted 1,489 opponents to win the EPT Barcelona Main Event, collecting more than €1.2 million after defeating Sebastian Ionita heads-up.
He has continued producing major results since then, including deep runs at WSOP Europe and EPT Monte Carlo.
Now Barcelona has delivered again.
Eychenne described the city as one of his favorite stops even before his Main Event victory. Two major titles in consecutive years have made that connection considerably stronger.
Eychenne then entered the €5,300 EPT Barcelona Main Event to defend the title he won in 2025. The repeat did not happen, but he still reached the money, finishing 42nd for €7,020 as Manuel Ferrari eventually won the tournament.
He added another final-table result before leaving Barcelona, taking fourth in the €1,050 Super Chance Hyper Turbo for €9,600 on August 29. Those later results give the High Roller victory useful context: the €589,395 win was the clear centerpiece of another productive Barcelona festival for Eychenne.
For readers following the wider stop, Poker Type’s EPT Barcelona 2026 review covers the 1,823-entry Main Event and the festival’s place in EPT history.
