Manuel Ferrari Completes Third-Trophy Run With €1 Million EPT Barcelona Main Event Win

Italy ‘s Manuel Ferrari won his first PokerStars trophy 14 months ago in Malaga, then added a second in Campione six months after that. On the final day of EPT Barcelona 2026 , he made it three, and this result dwarfed the other two combined. Ferrari won the €5,300 EPT Main Event for €1,002,488 (~$1,152,860), claiming the Golden Shard trophy after outlasting a field of 1,823 entries at Casino Barcelona .

The tournament generated an €8,841,550 prize pool, with the top 271 finishers guaranteed at least €8,600, and it took Ferrari roughly five hours on the final day to get through the last six players and lift his third trophy of the past 14 months.

“I have yet to realize it. I’m super, super happy,” Ferrari said afterward. “It was always a dream for me to win an EPT since I was very young, and I worked towards this goal, and it finally happened.”

A Third Title in 14 Months

Ferrari’s rise has been quick even by the standards of a breakout run. In June 2025, he won his first PokerStars trophy in the PokerStars Open Malaga Main Event for just over €200,000, then followed it up six months later with the PokerStars Open High Roller in Campione.

The EPT Barcelona Main Event made it three PokerStars titles in just over a year, and this was Ferrari’s first EPT Main Event cash after two previous tries.

Confidence has never been the issue. “I’m pretty confident in my chances, and I’m really optimistic usually in my life, so I think at the moment I register, I just thought, yeah, why not just win it?” Ferrari said, crediting a vocal rail of friends for carrying him through. “I felt all the strength from the rail, and I guess that made me even more confident in my chances.”

Ferrari carried the chip lead into the final day, a position he had held for three straight days, and never really let it go.

EPT Barcelona Main Event Final Table Results

* denotes three-way deal

Ferrari’s Road to a Deal

Local favourite Jose Criado got the final day moving quickly, eliminating the short-stacked Nicolas Chouity within the first few hands and dashing Chouity’s hopes of a second EPT title.

From there, Ferrari and Criado spent the next couple of hours trading the chip lead back and forth. Michael Dwyer was eliminated in fifth, and Criado sent out Xiaosheng Zheng in fourth. The Netherlands ‘ Lukas van Eeden then doubled up during three-handed play, and after picking up a few more pots, the stacks were even enough that the three remaining players sat down to talk numbers.

Ferrari, Criado and van Eeden struck a three-way deal that locked up more than €900,000 apiece, leaving €100,000 and the Golden Shard trophy for whoever finished on top.

Ferrari admitted he considered pushing for more before agreeing to the numbers. “My first thought was to negotiate a better deal, because I think I had an edge on both players. But I was less in chips, and I was just tired. So I was like, yeah, if I asked for 5k more, what’s the difference? So I just accepted so we can move on with the thing and just win it,” he said.

Ferrari Gets Over the Line

With the deal done, Criado was the first to fall. He got short and lost a flip to Ferrari, exiting in third and handing Ferrari a three-to-two chip advantage heading into heads-up play against van Eeden.

The heads-up battle lasted roughly 30 minutes before van Eeden open-shoved king-six from the button and Ferrari made the call with ace-queen. The board ran out to improve Ferrari to two pair, officially crowning him champion.

Ferrari takes the chequered flag 🏁

Manuel Ferrari is the #EPTBarcelona Main Event champion 🏆winning €1,002,488.

For his runner-up finish, Lukas van Eeden collects €927,420 👏 pic.twitter.com/0XseFWl76X

- PokerStars LIVE (@PokerStarsLIVE) August 29, 2026

With more than a million euros banked and his PokerStars trifecta complete, Ferrari, who normally competes at the mid-stakes, isn’t in a hurry to move up. “I actually don’t know yet. I give it probably a month until realizing a little bit what’s next. But maybe in the future I will,” he said when asked what’s next.

All quotes and images courtesy of PokerNews.

Follow Us