Punnat Punsri and Shiina Okamoto Among Asian Winners at 2025 EPT Barcelona Festival

One of the most popular live poker events, PokerStars sponsored European Poker Tour – EPT Barcelona came and went. The stop has been known to be the busiest for the EPT and regularly tests the capacity of  Casino Barcelona and adjacent Hotel Arts to try and finish all tournaments prior to the early morning curfew as per local regulations.

Before the start of the festival, there was a small uproar about the raised overall entry fees for key events and it was confirmed by PokerStars itself that these changes were made due to the limited space available. Despite this, the festival once again posted huge numbers across the 69 trophy events for one of the largest schedules in EPT history.

Asian Achievements At 2025 EPT Barcelona

Taking place from August 18-31, EPT Barcelona recorded several deep runs by players from the Asia-Pacific region. Thailand’s star Punnat Punsri and Japan’s Shiina Okamoto once again lifted trophies for winner pictures. Let’s have a closer look at some of the best results below.

Mengshi Tian Runner Up At Open Main Event

It all kicked off with the €1,650 PokerStars Open Main Event which drew a huge field of 5,036 entries including 2,286 unique players and 2,750 re-entries for a prize pool of €7,251,840 of which the top 753 spots were paid. Navigating their way through such a gargantuan field, three Asian players reached the final table.

• Japan’s Kazuhiko Yotsushika bowed out in seventh place for €120,610 ($141,224)
• Chin Wei “Webster” Lim of Malaysia reached fourth place worth €265,200 ($310,527)
• China’s Mengshi Tian entered the heads-up stage but finished as the runner-up for a career-best score of €482,290 ($564,722)

*On the last day of the festival, Yotsushika finished 6th out of 41 entries at the €10,200 NLH to rake in another €27,800 ($32,492) in winnings. 

Punnat Punsri Cashes In

Throughout the series, Punnat Punsri cashed in a total of five events, four of which were final table finishes listed below.

• 1st place – Two days into the festival, Punsri topped a field of 77 entries to win the €10,200 Mystery Bounty Event for €84,723 ($99,204) in cash plus collected bounties.
• 2nd place – Punsri almost snagged a second trophy at €25,000 NLHE finishing runner-up in an elite field of 52 entries. With a prize pool of €1,248,520 ($1,454,287), Punsri earned the largest cut on an ICM deal with champion Samuel Mullur to pad up his wallet (€347,020 / $404,212).
• 6th place – With his hefty bankroll, Punsri entered the €97,500 Super High Roller where a total of 36 ponied up plus another 11 re-entered. Punsri snuck in 6th place for a min-cash of €319,200 ($371,915).
• 8th place – €24,500 NLH – €59,400 ($69,283)

Masato Yokosawa Earns Two Six Figures

Strong run as well for popular Japanese vlogger Masato Yokosawa with four cashes, three of which were final table finishes. Here were his stats:

• 4th place – €10,200 Mystery Bounty Event – €36,100 ($42,720)
• 3rd place – €25,000 NLHE – €181,000 ($210,830)
• 4th place – EPT Second Chance €2,700 – €138,500 ($161,727)

Shiina Okamoto Tops Womens Event

The world’s most famous female player, back-to-back WSOP Ladies Championship winner Shiina Okamoto, cashed in two events during the festival which included a victory €550 Womens Event in a field of 126 entries. The victory came with a payday of €15,510 ($18,091) for the efforts, Taiwan’s Chien Chih “Maggie” Weng bubbled the final table in tenth place for €1,440 ($1,680).

Ankit Ahuja and Biao Ding Run Deep At HR

The always popular EPT High Roller with a price tag of €10,300 reeled in a field of exactly 500 entries and a prize pool of €4,850,000 ($5,656,966) which paid the top 71 spots. Kyosuke Nagami min-cashed and Hirokazu Kobayashi took home the same €17,700 ($20,645) for the efforts. India’s Ankit Ahuja reached 9th place for €89,700 ($115,200) and China’s Biao Ding was next to fall in 8th place for (€115,200 / $134,368).

• Biao Ding also reached sixth place in the €25,000 PLO High Roller for €84,300 ($98,825)

Aussie Geoffrey Mooney With Two FTs

Four cashes for Australia’s Geoffrey Mooney with the second one nearly bringing him his first-ever EPT Barcelona win. Sandwiched by the two-time WSOP bracelet winners Alexandre Reard and Stoyan Madanzhiev, Mooney made it a third runner-up for Aussies late in the festival.

• 3rd place – €10,200 Mystery Bounty Event – €47,000
• 2nd place – €10,200 NLHE – €144,500 ($168,757)

Other Deep Runs By APAC Players

• 1st place – Hirokazu Kobayashi – €10,200 NLH – €137,300 ($160,472)
• 2nd place – Ryuta Nakai – €24,500 NLH – €309,000 ($360,413)
• 2nd place – Jennifer Cassell – €1,650 Women’s High Roller – €7,770 ($9,074)
• 2nd place – Campbell Ashton – €2,100 Deep Stack – €100,000 ($116,787)
• 4th place – Ren “Tony” Lin – €24,500 NLH – €168,800 ($196,886)
• 4th place – Danny Tang – €29,500 Super High Roller Warm-Up – €183,100 ($212,999)
• 4th place – Chung Ching Cheung – €1,100 8-Game – €8,240 ($9,623)
• 5th place – John “Bert” Perry – EPT Second Chance €2,700 – career high score €106,500 ($124,360)
• 7th place – Yuri Murakami – €1,100 NLH Freezeout – €18,840 ($21,975)
• 8th place – Liu Chun Keat – €2,100 NLH Hyper Turbo KO – €3,920
• 8th place – Choi Yun Lam – €1,100 PLO Hi-Lo Event – €4,280
• 8th place – Joichi Fukui – €1,050 NLH Hyper Turbo Event – €3,460 ($4,040) – only his fifth recorded live event cash

No Asians At EPT Barcelona Main Event Final Table

You might be wondering what happened in the prestigious €5,300 EPT Barcelona Main Event? It drew a staggering field of 2,045 entries for a grand prize pool of €9,918,250 ($11,627,219). Very few Asian players made it deep. Chin Wei “Webster” Lim bowed out just outside of the top 100 while Japan’s Karatsu Hiroki reached a very respectable 19^th place for €53,050 ($62,190).

Interesting Stories

In the first week of the festival, David Coleman finished as runner-up four times in high-stakes for a combined €1,857,130.

First timer at the series, Thai player Paul Nattapatsiri ran well with three cashes. His first score was at the €2,200 PLO in 13th place for €11,060 ($12,966). He later ran better with two 7th place finishes – €1,500 NL Omaha Hi-Lo Hyper Turbo and €1,100 8-Game Mix for a combined €7,720.  

French High Roller Thomas Eychenne prevailed after a heads-up chop with Romania’s Stefan Ionita where both locked up €1,117,175 ($1,309,670) and played for a smooth €100,000 on top. One-way traffic in heads-up saw Eychenne come out on top and he jumped into the top 20 of France’s all-time money list on The Hendon Mob.

Up Next For PokerStars

The European Poker Tour will be heading to Malta next from October 1 to 12 before wrapping up the year as usual in Prague from December 3 to 14. However, the APPT Manila Championship will certainly be of interest for the Asian player pool and it will run from October 16 to 27 at Okada Manila.

*Photos by Pokernews