Fabiano Kovalski hails from Brazil, but one would be forgiven for thinking he was from Spain given the incredible amount of tournament poker success he has found inside Casino Barcelona. He has collected six of his eight largest career scores at the venue, including all three of his biggest paydays. Kovalski landed two of those top-three scores over just a few days at the recently wrapped 2026 PokerStars European Poker Tour Barcelona festival. He first took down the €3,250 mystery bounty event for $447,099 on Aug. 27, and then emerged victorious in the €10,300 no-limit hold’em high roller for a new personal best of $843,645 just two days later.
All told, the 38-year-old cashed for over $1.3 million across four scores during this series, including a 120th-place finish in the main event. Back in 2022, he placed fourth in the same tournament for $582,238, which is currently his second-largest cash. With this latest spree in Spain, he now boasts $4,758,530 in lifetime earnings. That puts him inside the top 10 on Brazil’s money list.
Kovalski outlasted 429 entries on his way to hoisting this latest trophy. He ultimately struck a heads-up deal that saw second-place finisher Igor Picone earn $691,267. The top 62 finishers earned a share of the $4,827,108 prize pool, with notables like Eugene Katchalov (19th), Jason Wheeler (15th), Brock Wilson (12th), Jon Ander Vallinas (11th), Aram Zobian (10th), Leo Worthington-Leese (8th), and Alexandre Reard (6th) running deep.
Spanish Spree Sees Kovalski Surge In POY Standings
Prior to this hugely successful trip to the Catalonian capital, Kovalski had not accrued any Card Player Player of the Year points for 2026. With the 1,440 from his mystery bounty triumph and the 1,800 from this high roller win, he surged to 44th place in the overall standings presented by CoinPoker.
Reard, the sixth-place finisher, earned 600 at his seventh final table of the year. The two-time bracelet winner from France now sits inside the top 300. Picone earned 1,500 points. With 1,200 from a runner-up showing in the PokerStars Open Paris high roller for another $351,026 and 1,200 points, he has climbed to 85th place on the POY leaderboard.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points |
| 1 | Fabiano Kovalski | $843,645 | 1,800 |
| 2 | Igor Picone | $691,267 | 1,500 |
| 3 | Gediminas Uselis | $421,544 | 1,200 |
| 4 | Tommi Lankinen | $324,104 | 900 |
| 5 | Kalle Parkkinen | $249,400 | 750 |
| 6 | Alexandre Reard | $191,864 | 600 |
| 7 | Paolo Boi | $147,552 | 450 |
| 8 | Leo Worthington-Leese | $120,988 | 300 |
| 9 | Fehim Hajdari | $100,804 | 150 |
Photo credit: Eloy Cabacas / Rational Intellectual Holdings Ltd.
