Portugal’s Jorge Abreu, better known in online circles as “jorginho88”, put on a masterclass en route to an incredibly dominant EPT Paris Main Event victory. Abreu topped a 1,474-entry field to take home the €1,148,600 ($1,354,545) top prize.
With the victory, Abreu becomes the fourth Portuguese winner in an EPT Main Event, the first since Pedro Marques at EPT Prague in 2024.
Popular German PokerStars streamer Felix Schneiders stole the show, however, orchestrating a cockroach for the ages to miraculously finish second for €717,350 ($845,972), which was nearly four times his previous career live tournament earnings.
EPT Paris Main Event: A tale of five big hands
Abreu, one of the top online players in the world, not only played spectacularly, but he ran just about as well as anyone’s ever run at a final table.
Abreu came into the unofficial EPT Paris Main Event nine-man final table as a slim chip leader over eventual fifth-place finisher Nazar Buhaiov, but extended his lead drastically in the early stages.
Hand 1: Flopping the world
In the fourth hand of final table play at the EPT Paris main event, with the blinds at 50,000/100,000 with a 100,000 big blind ante, Sami Bechahed, winner of the 2023 NAPT Main Event, opened to 230,000 with from the cutoff. Abreu opted to use his position and sizable chip lead to call on the button. Longtime Dutch superpro Joris Ruijs flatted in the small blind.
With 890,000 in the middle, the flop came , giving Ruijs a set of fives and Abreu a super combo draw while Bechahed held a vulnerable overpair.
Bechahed opted to check to Abreu, who put out a bet of 250,000. Ruijs called, and Bechahed raised to 725,000. Abreu called the 725,000, and Ruijs, noticeably nervous, went all in for 2,520,000.
Bechahed used a time bank before folding, and Abreu made the call with 36% equity. With 6,655,000 in the middle, the turn brought the to give Abreu a straight. Unfortunately, for Ruijs, the river was the , which sent him out in ninth place for €106,150.
Given that eventual seventh-place finisher Thierry Gogniat had two big blinds remaining, Ruijs encountered what commentator Joe Stapleton described as the “ICM death spiral”, missing out on an easy potential payjump.
Abreu, meanwhile, soared to 12,925,000 – 129 big blinds at the time. In fact, he would never find himself below 100 big blinds for the rest of the tournament.
Hand 2: Bechahed’s moment of madness
At the end of Day 5, Abreu had been putting his foot on the gas, opening or three-betting the large majority of his hands to chip up to over 15 million. Two hands prior, he had pocket aces. The next hand, he opened uncontested. Sami Bechahed decided it was time to put his foot down, an extremely ill-timed decision.
With the blinds at 100,000/150,000 with a 150,000 big blind ante, Bechahed opened to 300,000 from UTG+2 with . Abreu three-bet to 800,000 from the hijack with . Bechahed moved all in for 4,325,000, and Abreu snapped him off.
The board ran out , and Bechahed suddenly found himself out in eighth place for €137,950. This decision to go all in stunned the poker community, as Bechahed was third in chips when he made his move.
With seven players left, Abreu found himself with 21,500,000 (143 big blinds), over half of the chips in play.
Hand 3: Double KO with the worst hand
Abreu’s lead went from massive to insurmountable in what many described as one of the craziest hands in EPT Main Event history.
In seven-handed play, with the blinds at 100,000/150,000 with a 150,000 big blind ante, Buhaiov opened to 300,000 with from UTG. Casimir Seire three-bet to 750,000 with from UTG+1. Abreu opted to cold four-bet to 1,400,000 from the cutoff. Thierry Gogniat inexplicably opted to send his final four big blinds in with from the button.
Lithuania’s Tomas Jozonis then woke up with from the big blind and went all in for 2,750,000. Buhaiov folded, and Seire bravely mucked his pocket queens. Abreu decided he was priced in to call, needing only to call an additional 1,350,000 to play for 7,400,000 chips.
The flop came to give Abreu a pair and the nut flush draw. Suddenly, it was a postflop flip between him and Jozonis, while Gogniat still had 10% equity with a pair of jacks.
However, the gave Abreu the nut flush and resulted in a double knockout. By way of the number of chips they had before the money went in, Gogniat finished in seventh for €179,350 whie Jozonis finished sixth for €233,200. Abreu, meanwhile, moved up to 26,275,000 – a staggering 175 big blinds.
Hand 4: A three-handed cooler
Felix Schneiders was down to three blinds in three-handed play, having previously survived the ladder battle with Casimir Seire to get himself into third position. Somehow, someway, Schneiders got himself back in contention and found himself a few big blinds behind Enrico Coppola.
With the blinds at 150,000/300,000 with a 300,000 big blind ante, Abreu, with 35 million chips, jammed from the small blind with . Coppola, with 16 big blinds behind, woke up with and called it off.
The flop was , giving Abreu a pair of tens. The turn brought a harmless , but a disgusting river saw Coppola bust, giving Schneiders the most improbable of ladders.
Coppola finished in third for €512,400, having bested his 2025 EPT Monte Carlo Main Event score by one place (4th, €337,900).
Hand 5: Drilling the river to win the EPT Paris Main Event
Schneiders went into heads-up play as a massive 10-to-1 underdog. However, the German was admittedly more than thrilled having locked up €717,350. After being dealt pocket aces in the first hand of heads up, it looked as if the fairytale run had another chapter.
However, it all came crashing in the 11th hand. Still playing 150,000/300,000, Abreu limped in with from the small blind. Schneiders, playing off a 13 big blind stack, raised to 900,000. Abreu called.
The flop was , giving Abreu top pair against the German’s overcard. Schneiders continued for 450,000, and Abreu raised to 950,000. Schneiders called.
The turn brought the . With Scheniders only having about 50% pot behind, Abreu bet 700,000. Schneiders went all in for 2,100,000, and Abreu called.
With 8,200,000 in the middle, Schneiders was a 9-to-1 favorite to double up, but the river was the to give Abreu the win. However, both rails were more than happy to celebrate, as the result was truly life-changing for Schneiders, who is, admittedly, more of an entertainment streamer than an actual professional.
A level-headed celebration
Abreu did not go crazy in his post-victory celebrations; in fact, he stayed rather calm. Abreu is an online phenomenon, having won numerous big online titles as “jorginho88” on PokerStars, including two SCOOP Warm-Up titles before EPT Paris. He started the year strong with a $104,292 score for a second-place finish in the GGMasters High Rollers $1,050.
With millions of dollars in online profit and a $750,000 online score elsewhere last year, Abreu is used to having huge scores. However, this is the first time he’s done so in a live environment.
In his interview during the EPT Paris Main Event trophy presentation, Abreu seemed more focused on learning from his mistakes than celebrating his huge victory.
“95% of the time, I did what I had to do. 5% of the time, I was distracted. I think I did what I had to do, and I got really lucky. Really, really, really lucky.
“For me, what I wanted to do is what I had to do. That five percent is what I’m going to work on.
“To be honest, I am feeling the same as I did 24-48 hours ago. I haven’t ‘landed yet’, but it feels really good. I’m feeling calm and ready to rest because I haven’t been able to sleep much, and I haven’t been drinking much water. I’m looking forward to getting back to my normal routine.”
EPT Paris Main Event final table results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jorge Abreu | Portugal | €1,148,600 |
| 2 | Felix Schneiders | Germany | €717,350 |
| 3 | Enrico Coppola | Italy | €512,400 |
| 4 | Casimir Seire | Finland | €394,150 |
| 5 | Nazar Buhaiov | Ukraine | €303,150 |
| 6 | Tomas Jozonis | Lithuania | €233,200 |
| 7 | Thierry Gogniat | France | €179,350 |
| 8 | Sami Bechahed | France | €137,950 |
