The second version of the Spin & Go Championship Dwell passed off throughout the PokerStars EPT Barcelona 2025, delivering two days of quick‑paced, three‑handed poker motion that concluded with Brazil’s Guilherme Kleist topped champion.
Kleist defeated fellow Brazilian Joao Nascimento heads‑up on the closing desk, which additionally featured Poland’s Krystian Lisowski, to say the trophy, €75,000 in prize cash, a further €5,500 in bonus Spinner prizes, and a seat on the subsequent Spin & Go Championship at EPT Paris in 2026.
This consequence was a breakthrough on one of many greatest phases for the 30‑yr‑previous Spin & Go specialist, who has already carved his fame on-line however is now firmly established in PokerStars’ new reside format.
A Format That Brings On-line Thrills to the Dwell Enviornment
The Barcelona operating of the Spin & Go Championship highlighted the continuing effort by PokerStars to convey its hottest on-line invention right into a reside enviornment.
Spin & Go tournaments — three‑handed Sit & Gos with randomized prize swimming pools — have been considered one of PokerStars’ strongest acquisition and engagement drivers for greater than a decade. They’re fast, participating, and mix a mix of technique and luck that has confirmed massively well-liked.
After first being trialed at EPT Barcelona in 2024, the official reside championship debuted at EPT Prague 2024, proving not solely that gamers would embrace the format face‑to‑face, however that it may generate the identical sort of pleasure in a reside setting.
This yr, Barcelona constructed on that basis. Eighty‑one on-line qualifiers made the journey to On line casino Barcelona to battle by 4 rounds of heats, all designed to imitate the excessive‑variance rhythm of the web construction.
This yr’s competition in Barcelona capped one of many busiest sequence in PokerStars historical past, with 1000’s of gamers flocking to On line casino Barcelona for a packed schedule of occasions.
Kleist’s Path to Victory
The event performed out over six three‑handed matches per spherical, finally setting the stage for an thrilling closing showdown on Day Two. Kleist, who grinds Spins professionally on-line, leveraged his deep understanding of brief‑stack codecs to navigate the risky attracts.
The ultimate proved a showcase of aptitude and adaptableness. Towards fellow Brazilian Joao Nascimento, Kleist saved the tempo excessive, capitalizing on skinny spots and the relentless all‑in nature that makes the Spin & Go construction so risky. His victory underscored precisely why PokerStars believes this format connects with a broad spectrum of gamers — from informal thrill‑seekers to seasoned specialists who’ve constructed their careers on-line.
Kleist’s victory additionally highlights simply how influential on-line poker in Brazil has develop into on the worldwide stage, with the nation now acknowledged as one of many strongest communities for poker on the planet.
Koon’s Perspective Earlier than the Occasion
Among the many discipline was PokerStars ambassador Jason Koon, although the American professional didn’t attain the latter phases. His feedback beforehand, first shared forward of the Spin & Go Championship, proved strikingly correct.
“Stars requested me if I needed to do it, and it sounded enjoyable and totally different,” Koon instructed Pokerfuse forward of the occasion in our in‑depth profile. “More often than not within the excessive rollers I’m taking part in guys I’ve recognized for 10 years, so this shall be enjoyable — some new faces.”
In that very same preview, Koon additionally urged the format may bridge on-line and reside poker: “There are lots of people who could not really feel snug leaping straight right into a full reside event. However they’ve performed tens of 1000’s of Spins on-line. Bringing that very same recreation reside may get them to indicate up. And since Spins are actually quick, anyone can are available and run deep.”
That’s precisely what unfolded in Barcelona. The sphere included 81 on-line qualifiers, and it was Guilherme Kleist — a devoted Spin & Go specialist who had additionally taken half within the inaugural Prague version — who went on to carry the trophy. His victory embodied the very dynamic Koon envisioned: an internet grinder stepping confidently into the reside highlight and operating deep on considered one of poker’s greatest phases.
Why It Issues
The success of the Spin & Go Championship at EPT Barcelona additional cements the format’s position not simply on-line, however throughout PokerStars’ reside ecosystem. The manufacturing included colourful graphics and staging designed to imitate the web “lottery” buzz, giving followers and gamers the texture of stepping right into a reside online game surroundings.
For PokerStars, it showcases how broad their participant funnel could be. Spin & Gos signify an enormous slice of on-line site visitors; by providing those self same gamers an opportunity to qualify for a reside model at an EPT, PokerStars brings aspirational worth to a format usually seen as purely informal. For gamers, it’s an opportunity to show years of on-line follow into one thing tangible: a trophy and a serious reside payday.
Wanting Forward: EPT Paris 2026
As a part of his prize bundle, Kleist has already booked a seat on the subsequent version of the Spin & Go Championship, to be held at EPT Paris in 2026. Together with his win, Kleist will now return because the defending champion, whereas PokerStars appears to broaden the reside Spin & Go model even additional.
Given the enthusiastic participation in Prague and Barcelona, there may be each indication that the momentum will proceed. Whether or not extra on-line grinders like Kleist step into the highlight or PokerStars’ ambassadors like Koon proceed to convey consideration to the format, the Spin & Go Championship has already confirmed it might probably stand alongside the extra conventional EPT occasions.
Subsequent Cease: Spin & Go Championship Dwell Heads to Paris
PokerStars has confirmed that following Guilherme Kleist’s victory in Barcelona, the Spin & Go Championship Dwell will subsequent seem at EPT Paris in February 2026. The format debuted formally at EPT Prague in 2024, and Barcelona marked solely its second operating. With robust participation and a well-liked closing desk set in On line casino Barcelona’s distinctive enviornment, PokerStars will now carry the occasion ahead as a fixture on the EPT calendar.
From September 1, gamers on the worldwide PokerStars.com consumer can play $ 3 Spin & Go tournaments for an opportunity to win packages to Paris, giving a large pool of on-line qualifiers the chance to take their seat within the reside championship. Qualification paths for Southern Europe prospects may even be introduced within the coming weeks.
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“We’re actually enthusiastic about how Spin & Go Dwell has captured the creativeness of our gamers,” stated Sebastian Pico, Affiliate Director of Key Account Administration at PokerStars. “The ambiance, the world, and the format gave an awesome extra buzz to every little thing else occurring on the EPT and we are able to’t wait to make it even higher in Paris subsequent yr.”
The Paris operating will be part of a busy yr‑finish schedule of PokerStars reside occasions. Earlier than then, the EPT continues with EPT Malta from October 1–12, adopted by the PokerStars Open Manchester (October 20–26), EPT Prague (December 3–14), and Cannes (December 16–21).
Watch the Motion
Followers can relive the excessive‑vitality conclusion of the event by PokerStars’ closing desk replay, which captures Kleist’s triumph and the extreme dynamic of the three‑handed battles.
