For Tomasz Brzezinski, 2025 has been nothing in need of extraordinary. Simply weeks after ending fourth within the EPT Barcelona Principal Occasion, the 37-year-old from Poland accomplished his dream run on dwelling soil in Malta by capturing the 2025 PokerStars EPT Malta €5,300 Principal Occasion at On line casino Malta.
Brzezinski, who has lived in Malta for the previous decade working within the sports activities betting business, outlasted a record-breaking 898 entries and defeated Ukrainian debutant Mykhailo Ostash in a rollercoaster heads-up battle to safe the trophy and €631,632 from the €4,355,300 prize pool after a heads-up deal.
He additionally turned simply the eleventh participant in EPT historical past to achieve back-to-back Principal Occasion last tables, and his victory provides a career-defining title to the breakout 12 months of his poker journey.
“It was wild,” Brzezinski advised PokerNews moments after his win. “Sooner or later, sure, I assumed it would slip away. I’m not the luckiest in heads-up. I’ve been second six or seven occasions at festivals earlier than, so it nearly felt like I used to be cursed. Particularly after shedding so many flips in a row and watching the stacks even out once more. However ultimately, it went my means, and I’m very blissful.”
Regardless of his current sizzling streak, poker stays extra of a ardour undertaking than a full-time occupation for the Polish champion.
“I used to play poker years in the past,” he stated. “Then got here the selection to proceed with poker or begin a daily job. I made a decision to go the protected route, however I’ve at all times performed on the facet. I get pleasure from dwell poker way more than my precise work generally,” he laughed. “I’ve bought lots of mates who’re nice gamers, and I attempt to be a sponge, be taught from them, and analyze spots. In some way, it’s paying off.”
2025 PokerStars EPT Malta €5,300 Principal Occasion Closing Desk Outcomes
*denotes heads-up deal
Boika Falls Brief in Title Protection
Tom-Aksel Bedell spent Days 3 and 4 on the high of the chip counts, however his Day 5 run took a distinct flip as he entered the finale because the quick stack. Regardless of a short early rally, the Norwegian businessman and excessive curler was the primary to bow out. On the primary hand again from the opening break, Bedell went with deuces, however couldn’t leapfrog Ostash’s pocket threes.
Aliaksei Boika was chasing historical past, aiming to develop into simply the fifth participant to win two EPT Principal Occasion titles and defend the crown he claimed 9 years in the past in Malta. Solely Victoria Coren Mitchell, Mikalai Pobal, Mike Watson, and Anton “WhatIfGod” Bergstrom (with two on-line EPT victories) have managed the feat.
Boika’s run led to fourth place. He pulled off an excellent ace-high hero name that briefly vaulted him up the counts, however the momentum didn’t final. In his last hand, Boika’s kings have been cracked by Ostash’s pocket fives, with the Ukrainian flopping a set and extracting most worth with a 2.5x pot river shove.
Within the last three, Brzezinski surged into the chip lead, selecting off a bluff, getting paid with quads, and going runner-runner to make a full home in opposition to Ostash’s flopped flush. This left Adria Calonge firmly rooted to the underside of the counts, and he was gone in third after his king-five couldn’t get there in opposition to Brzezinski’s pocket tens.
Ostash Refuses to Lay Down
Stacks bought near even simply after the duel for the title started, so the finalists agreed to a good cut up of the remaining prize pool. They shook fingers on a deal that locked up €603,098 every, leaving €28,534 and the EPT trophy nonetheless to play for.
Brzezinski got here out the aggressor in heads-up play, however Ostash proved nearly not possible to complete. The Ukrainian rattled off a collection of escapes that defied perception: first profitable a flip with king-jack in opposition to tens, then spiking journeys with queen-ten to beat ace-eight. He survived once more with pocket fours in opposition to ten-nine earlier than coolly selecting off a river bluff to haul himself again into competition.
The momentum swung wildly. Ostash even surged into the lead at one level, however Brzezinski responded with a runner-runner flush that earned a 5 million river name to revive a commanding 2:1 edge. Nonetheless, Ostash wouldn’t go quietly, doubling for a fifth time with a flush of his personal to tug the competition into deep waters.
From there, it turned survival poker of the best order. Ostash clung on with a sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth double-up, every extra unbelievable than the final. When Brzezinski lastly discovered himself all-in and in danger, his pocket eights held in opposition to ace-jack to depart Ostash practically out of gasoline. However the Ukrainian wasn’t executed but. They are saying a cat solely has 9 lives, however Ostash appeared to have a minimum of ten, spiking yet one more flip with king-queen to remain alive, and even discovering an eleventh double-up to briefly take the driving force’s seat.
The miracle run, nevertheless, couldn’t final without end. Brzezinski’s ace-jack bested Ostash’s ace-ten to depart him on a single large blind. On Ostash’s twelfth all-in — and the 14th of the heads-up match — the comeback lastly collapsed, and Brzezinski scooped the final of the chips to seal some of the chaotic finales in EPT historical past.
Calum Grant
Senior Editor & Stay Occasions Govt
