Brazil finally got its breakthrough result at EPT Barcelona 2026, and it came from Gabriel Tavares. Competing in Event #17, the €20,000 No-Limit Hold’em Unlimited Re-Entry high roller, Tavares battled through a compact 32-entry field to finish third for €99,900, a result the Brazilian poker community celebrated as the country’s first standout showing of the festival. American pro Brock Wilson took down the title for €233,556, with Estonia’s Ottomar Ladva runner-up for €150,600, but it was Tavares’ run, backed by two other Brazilians who also made deep runs in the event, that resonated most with fans back home.
A Brutal Field for a High-Stakes Prize
With only 32 entries and a top-five payout structure, Event #17 was always going to be a survival test rather than a volume grind. High roller fields of this size are dominated by seasoned professionals and well-bankrolled regulars on the European Poker Tour circuit, which makes any deep run, let alone a podium finish, a significant achievement. Tavares had to navigate a table stacked with players capable of applying relentless pressure at every stage, and with only the top five spots paying at a €20,000 buy-in, the margin between cashing modestly and cashing seven figures in career-altering terms was razor thin.
Brock Wilson’s victory continues a strong run for American players on the European high roller circuit this year, while Ladva’s runner-up finish adds another deep result to Estonia’s growing reputation as a source of sharp, technically sound tournament talent. But for Poker Pro Academy’s audience, the story of this final table starts and ends with Brazil’s showing.
Tavares Crosses $1.7 Million in Career Earnings
The third-place finish pushed Gabriel Tavares past $1.7 million in career live tournament earnings, cementing his status as one of Brazil’s most consistent performers on the international circuit. Crossing that threshold in a €20,000 buy-in event, rather than a lower-stakes mass-field tournament, says something about the caliber of opposition Tavares had to get through to add this result to his résumé. High roller fields self-select for players who have already proven they can compete at the top level, and finishing on the podium against that caliber of competition is a different kind of achievement than simply outlasting a large amateur-heavy field.
Tavares has built his reputation over several years of grinding both live and online circuits, and this result adds to a body of work that already made him one of the more recognizable Brazilian names on the EPT trail. A deep run of this magnitude, in a marquee European festival, is exactly the kind of result that keeps a player’s stock rising heading into the busiest stretch of the international live calendar.
Brazil’s Depth on Display Beyond Tavares
Tavares was not alone in flying the Brazilian flag deep into Event #17. Felipe Boianovsky finished seventh, narrowly missing the money in a field where only the top five cashed, while Kelvin Kerber went out in ninth, also short of a payout. While neither result added to the prize pool tally, both finishes underline the depth of Brazilian talent currently competing on the European high roller scene, a trend that has become increasingly visible across EPT stops this year.
That depth extended beyond the high roller as well. Vinicius Gonçalves reached the final table of Event #3, the €1,100 No-Limit Hold’em Single Re-Entry event, which drew 251 entries, a considerably larger field than the high roller. Gonçalves finished seventh in that event for €8,750, giving Brazil a second final table appearance across the festival’s opening stretch. Taken together, the results paint a picture of a Brazilian contingent competing seriously across multiple buy-in levels at EPT Barcelona, from the accessible re-entry events all the way up to the €20,000 high roller.
Why EPT Barcelona Carries Extra Weight
EPT Barcelona has long been one of the most prestigious stops on the European Poker Tour calendar, drawing a mix of touring professionals, regional grinders, and recreational players to Spain each summer. The festival’s high roller events in particular attract a dense concentration of the game’s most accomplished tournament players, since the buy-in level filters out all but the most committed and well-financed competitors. A podium finish at this stage of the tour, especially in a bracelet-caliber field like Event #17’s 32 entries, carries considerably more weight on a player’s résumé than a similar finish at a softer, lower-stakes festival.
For Brazilian poker, results like this matter beyond the individual player’s bank account. Brazil has rapidly become one of the most poker-obsessed markets in the world, and every deep run by a Brazilian pro on a stage as prominent as EPT Barcelona feeds a growing appetite for live tournament coverage back home. Aspiring players looking to understand the fundamentals that separate a deep run from an early elimination in a shorthanded high roller field can start with Poker Pro Academy’s guide on how to play poker as a starting point. It lays out the foundational concepts that even seasoned pros like Tavares built their games on before scaling up to buy-ins like this one.
Momentum Heading Into the Rest of the Festival
With EPT Barcelona’s schedule still unfolding, Tavares’ result gives Brazilian fans a marquee storyline to follow as the festival progresses toward its Main Event. Strong showings from Boianovsky, Kerber, and Gonçalves suggest this is not an isolated result but part of a broader pattern of Brazilian players finding success on European soil this summer. If that trend holds, EPT Barcelona 2026 could end up remembered as the festival where Brazil’s high roller contingent announced itself on the biggest stage the European Poker Tour has to offer.
