Fabiano Kovalski Wins EPT Barcelona Mystery Bounty

Fabiano Kovalski adds another major EPT title in Barcelona

Brazilian pro Fabiano Kovalski continued a strong record at Casino Barcelona by winning the €3,250 Mystery Bounty at the 2026 PokerStars European Poker Tour Barcelona festival. The event drew 1,027 entries, and Kovalski turned that massive field into a $447,099 payday.

Mystery bounty events have become one of the most popular formats on the live circuit because they blend standard tournament poker with the extra tension of hidden rewards. Every knockout can change the shape of a session, and that makes late-stage decisions far more complex than in a regular no-limit hold’em event.

A venue that has treated Kovalski very well

Casino Barcelona has clearly been a productive stop for Kovalski over the years. The latest victory means five of his nine career six-figure scores have come at this venue, which is a remarkable track record at any major festival.

His biggest career result still came in Barcelona as well: $582,238 for a fourth-place finish in the 2022 EPT Barcelona main event. This latest score is now his second-largest lifetime cash, and it pushed his total live earnings past $3.9 million.

That kind of consistency matters. In modern tournament poker, especially on the EPT, the players who repeatedly convert deep runs into meaningful results are usually the ones with the cleanest decision-making under pressure.

How the prize pool and bounty split shaped the event

The total prize pool climbed to $3,466,741, with $2,275,421 allocated to the main pool and $1,191,320 reserved for bounty prizes.

That split is exactly what makes mystery bounty tournaments so different from standard events. A player can be making a mathematically sound call in a chip-EV sense, but the possibility of unlocking a large bounty often shifts the risk-reward calculation.

• $384,459 from the main prize pool;
• $62,640 in bounty payouts.

Among the final table players, Paawan Bansal earned $106,720 in bounties, the largest bounty total at the table. The biggest bounty haul in the entire tournament belonged to Candido Cappiello, who banked $131,080 in bounties despite taking 21st place for just $13,050 in regular prize money.

That contrast is the clearest example of why mystery bounty events are so volatile. A deep finish still matters, but the hidden bounty layer can completely reshape the leaderboard.

Final-table storylines and notable deep runs

The event featured several well-known names making meaningful runs. Han Feng finished 52nd, Nicholas Seward 50th, Alexandre Reard 42nd, Mehdi Chaoui 33rd, and Nicholas Palma 21st.

One of the most interesting performances came from Viacheslav Goryachev, who had already won this same event at EPT Monte Carlo earlier in the spring. He finished eighth this time and took home $47,305 in total payouts. Repeating success in this format is difficult, so another final-table appearance is a strong sign of adaptability.

Runner-up Brandon Harris earned $251,511, which set a new career high for the British player. Even though he fell short of the title, a result like that can be a major confidence boost and a bankroll-changing score.

Expert analysis: what this win means for tournament players

Kovalski’s victory is a good case study for anyone preparing for live MTTs, especially mystery bounty events. The biggest lesson is that these tournaments reward players who can adjust to changing incentives without losing strategic discipline.

• Mystery bounty formats increase the value of well-timed aggression.
• Late-stage decisions must account for both ICM pressure and bounty upside.
• Players with experience in large live fields often gain an edge because they can navigate shifting stack dynamics more cleanly.

If you’re building your own tournament schedule, it helps to study the format before you sit down and to choose the right environment for volume and practice. Resources like poker rooms, poker clubs, and a structured poker school can make a real difference when you’re working on bounty-event strategy.

The broader takeaway is simple: the modern live player needs to be flexible. A strong mystery bounty run is rarely about one lucky knockout. It’s about understanding stack sizes, payout pressure, and when a chip lead should be leveraged rather than protected.

Final thoughts on the EPT Barcelona Mystery Bounty

For Kovalski, this was more than just another trophy. It was a high-profile win in one of the toughest stopovers on the European poker calendar, and it reinforced his reputation as a player who performs exceptionally well in Barcelona.

For the EPT, the result is another reminder that mystery bounty events have become must-watch stops because they create dramatic swings and big storylines. For players, the lesson is equally clear: if you want to succeed in these fields, you need both technical skill and a sharp read on how bounty structures change the game.

Players also keep an eye on promotions & bonuses and the broader live ecosystem, because the best schedules often combine value, volume, and the right event formats.

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