The latest side event to take place at EPT Barcelona was a €2,700 ($3,150) ‘Second Chance’ event in No Limit Hold’em. PokerStake player Cherish Andrews came third for a massive score of $187,760, her latest major result in a hugely profitable year so far. Also present at the final table were Natasha Mercier, Scott Margereson and Fabio Peluso, but who picked up the trophy?

Big Field Fun

A total field of 844 meant that 127 players made the money in the Catalan city of Barcelona, the latest stop on this year’s European Poker Tour. Reaching the money for a min-cash of $4,900 were players such as Andrew Moreira (125^th), while other big names such as Martina Adeniya (104^th for $5,360), Dominik Panka (100^th for $5,360), PokerStake seller Govert Metaal (98^th for $5,360) and American Martin Zamani (75^th for $6,200) got closer to the final table.

Busting right outside the final nine by comparison were players such as PokerStake’s Victoria Livschitz (44^th for $8,180), Thomas Eychenne (40^th for $8,180), Zdenek Zizka (26^th for $12,420), and Christian Harder (12^th for $26,075). The final table ‘bubble boy’ was the Frenchman Benoit Fiasson who cashed for $31,295 in 10^th place after spiralling from being third in chips with a dozen players remaining.

Of the final nine players, Natasha Mercier was one of the biggest stacks, with Cherish Andrews way back in the field. Despite that, the final table began and Cherish was among the early pacesetters, improving her lot to rise up the leaderboard. The first player to leave the final table was the Russian poker pro Maksim Paniak, who cashed for $38,900.

Peluso Pushed Out of the Running

With eight players left, the Polish player Maciej Komorowski was the next player to leave. One of the leaders very close to the final table, Komorowski dropped down the ranks and exited for $50,570. He was followed from the felt by the Italian player Fabio Peluso. A vibrant personality in any cardroom, Peluso was unable to survive past the final seven, winning $65,720 at his latest final table.

Romanian player Cristinel Dumitru fell in sixth place for $85,480 before the exit of the last remaining Canadian player, Sanjaya Wadhwani, in fifth for $111,115. Out in fourth place was Julien Thorne ($144,415), leaving three players to fight for the title, with two of them female. Over the past few years, Cherish Andrews has been a great player to back on PokerStake and that was exemplified by the return on her money she made by coming third. Eliminated by Natasha Mercier, Cherish earned a massive $187,760, some return for a buy-in of just $3,150.

Heads-up, Mercier was hoping for a victory against the experienced British player Scott Margereson. No fool at No Limit Hold’em, Margereson managed to get the win, however, taking out Mercier for a still impressive second place score of $262,850. Margereson won $420,710 for the title and with it the latest EPT ‘Spadie’ trophy.

EPT Barcelona 2026 €2,700 Second Chance NLHE  Final Table Results:
Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Scott Margereson	United Kingdom	$420,710
2nd	Natasha Mercier	Lebanon	$262,850
3rd	Cherish Andrews	United States	$187,760
4th	Julien Thome	France	$144,415
5th	Sanjaya Wadhwani	Canada	$111,115
6th	Cristinel Dumitru	Romania	$85,480
7th	Fabio Peluso	Italy	$65,720
8th	Maciej Komorowski	Poland	$50,570
9th	Maksim Paniak	Russia	$38,900

More Barcelona Events to Come

EPT Barcelona continues at a roaring pace and with plenty of events to come, more PokerStake sellers are now advertising action on the site. Eric Tsai is selling at between just 1.03 and 1.05 markup to two No Limit Hold’em events, with one being regular format and the other in 6-Max and we would nudge you in his direction for a fun sweat.

Jon Kyte is playing a minimum of another two events also, and is selling multiple bullets to both the €1,100 6-Game Mystery Bounty event and the €1,100 8-Game. Events #69 and #73 are right in Jon’s wheelhouse and given his love of mixed games and success in them, his markup should probably be higher than 1.35 – he’s certainly investable at that level.

Finally, Kyosuke Nagami has added some more events to those he’s selling to at the series and will be a definite threat over the remainder. In fact, Kyosuke is our top tip for action this week, having already cashed three times since touching down in the Spanish city. Results in the €5,200 6-Max, €1,650 PokerStars Open and €2,700 Second Chance events have yielded a superb return of $33,865 and with lots of his remaining action on sale, he’s unmissable value at between 1.11 and 1.21 markup.

Head over to our dedicated EPT Barcelona staking page and invest in one of your poker heroes today. You could well be celebrating with the next PokerStake player to make a profit in the beautiful city of Barcelona.

Photography by Jules Pochy for EPT/PokerStars.