EPT Barcelona 2026 is set: Europe's biggest poker stop opens this Sunday, August 16, and runs through the 29th. Two full weeks at Casino Barcelona, headlined by the €5,300 Main Event and topped by a €100,000 Super High Roller for the game's elite.
The festival at a glance
The start is staggered, which matters if you plan to follow along. From August 16-22, the PokerStars Open takes the stage with its own €1,650 Main Event — the festival's most accessible entry point and a tournament that draws massive fields every year. The marquee €5,300 Main Event kicks off on August 22, with 60- and 90-minute levels that keep the poker deep well into the late stages.
Around those two pillars sits the rest of the schedule: the €100,000 Super High Roller, the €10,300 High Roller that traditionally closes the series, the €3,250 Mystery Bounty and the €825 PokerStars Cup, plus dozens of side events.
The bar could not be higher. In 2025, the Barcelona Main Event built a prize pool close to €10 million — one of the three largest in EPT history — and the champion banked more than €1,400,000.
Why it matters
Barcelona is the annual thermometer of live poker: if 2026 really is the year of record fields, this festival will confirm it. The Latin American contingent — Brazilians front and center — is usually among the largest in the building.
For your own game, the lesson is in the structure. Sixty- and ninety-minute levels mean deep stacks for days: that rewards postflop skill and punishes impatience on Day 1. And once the final tables arrive with their massive pay jumps, players who understand ICM — the model that converts chips into real money — hold a real edge over those who only look at their stack. If you have never played a big multi-table tournament, start with the fundamentals before dreaming of Barcelona.
You do not need to be in Spain to use this as a classroom: following a Main Event this deep, hand by hand, is free training for any improving player. Our community will be watching closely — join us and let's study what the best in the world do next.