| Level 31: | 100,000/250,000/250,000 |
| Entries: | 1/368 |
| Prizes: | €163,760 |
Welshman Jonathan Rees has emerged as a worthy champion in the PartyPoker Tour Castellón Main Event, securing the trophy and a career-best score of €30,000 after defeating Pau Veciana of Spain heads-up.
The Swansea native was the last player standing from a 368-runner field, taking the lion’s share of the €163,760 prize pool, and was able to maintain his composure through periods of adversity at the final table.
The result represents Rees’ 11th live tournament win, but is by far his most significant result, overtaking his runner-up finish in the APAT World Amateur Poker Championship in 2025 for £8,500.
2026 PartyPoker Tour Castellón €500 Main Event Final Table Results
The final table results for the event are below, while the full results can be found here:
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
| 1 |  Jonathan Rees | United Kingdom | €30,000 |
| 2 |  Pau Veciana | Spain | €20,000 |
| 3 | Jose Maria Perez | Spain | €14,500 |
| 4 |  Juan Ocampo | Colombia | €11,000 |
| 5 |  Erico Iervasi | Italy | €8,500 |
| 6 | Barry Carter | United Kingdom | €6,500 |
| 7 |  Matt Staples | Canada | €4,800 |
| 8 | Dorian Dizy | Spain | €3,810 |
| 9 | Ian Simpson | United Kingdom | €3,000 |
Winner’s Reaction
Rees described himself as a passionate amateur, and said “I came into the day thinking anything could happen, just go for every spot possible. I got off to a good start at the final table but then was card dead for a bit, but it was okay as people were getting knocked out, and then I really had to start playing again with five or six left.
I probably could have had it won a bit earlier, but that’s the way it goes, and then I got lucky as well heads-up so it evened itself out.”
On maintaining his composure “Those two players I’d played a lot with the last two days so we knew each other, there was a bit of history, and I knew it wouldn’t necessarily have to be a cooler to be a big hand with them. I had a feeling it was coming for some reason, it was just one of those things. I’ve started this tour this year, three Main Events, three cashes, but I’m not sure I’m going to do better than this. I’ll definitely be going to Cork now, I have to try to make it two in a row, of course!”
Final Day Recap
A total of 18 players returned for the final day, with Veciana holding a substantial lead over fellow Spaniards Jose Maria Perez and Dorian Dizy, while Rees was sitting in fifth.
In addition, two PartyPoker Tour team members were in with a shot at the trophy in the form of Barry Carter (1,345,000) and Matt Staples (1,260,000), Staples hoping to improve on his fifth place finish in the Mini Main Event.
Fireworks came early, as Juan Ocampo tripled up in a battle of three pairs, which busted Stavros Kokotsakis and damaged Veciana.
Sebastian Hitz, Roberto Corona and Lucas Bel all fell by the wayside in short order, before Rees picked up his first elimination of the day when he turned a two-outer against Stefan Stroffek.
Veciana got back on track when he knocked out Alfonso Lapaz, and Rees would send another opponent to the payout desk in the form of Marcin Jackowski, before Erico Iervasi set the final table by knocking out short stacks Francisco Mendez and Jose Manuel Saez in quick succession.
Iervasi had a slight lead over Rees at the start of play, while Carter was the short-stack, and it wasn’t long before blood was in the water.
Carter doubled in the first hand through Dizy, before a battle of the blinds between Rees and Ian Simpson went haywire. In the face of a triple-barrel from Rees, who had turned a straight, Simpson jammed with king-high, having missed his own straight draw, putting Rees out in front.
That hand seemed tame in comparison to what came next. A huge cooler erupted between Staples, Dizy and Perez – Staples with kings, Perez with ace-king and Dizy with ace-jack. In brutal fashion, Perez went runner-runner for a one-card flush to gasps of shock from the watching crowd, sending both opponents to the rail, and allowing Perez to join Rees with clear daylight to the chasing pack.
Matters unravelled for Carter quickly when he looked up Ocampo’s small blind jam and was ahead, but was outflopped, and was pipped by Veciana shortly after.
Perez appeared to be taking command when he eliminated Iervasi in fifth, but the chip leaders clashed when Rees four-bet light and got a fold, and Perez then lost the classic race to double Veciana.
Perez recovered to double through Ocampo, who was left as the clear short-stack, and the Colombian would quickly exit to Veciana just outside the podium places.
At the start of three-handed play, Rees had almost double the stack of Veciana and Perez, who were essentially level, before he encountered a couple of difficult moments.
Rees must have thought the title was essentially his when he had Veciana all-in on the flop with bottom two pair against Veciana’s top pair, but the Spaniard found two pair on the turn to double. The hand propelled Veciana into a significant lead, but Rees closed the gap to a 2:1 deficit when he won a flip to bust Perez in third.
In the very first hand of the heads-up contest, Rees found queens. The ladies were reduced to second pair on the flop, and Rees ended up jamming the turn, having picked up a flush draw. He was in trouble versus Veciana’s two pair, but he drilled the flush on the river to survive.
From there, Rees turned the screws, raising the turn and barreling the river with air, before he turned a queen in the final hand to overcome Veciana’s king-high.
We will have a recap of the final day’s action tomorrow, but that concludes poker.pro’s coverage of the PartyPoker Tour Castellón, with many thanks to Orenes Gran Casino for their hospitality.
The next stop on the tour is in Cork from November 9 – 15, followed by another trip to Spain in Murcia from November 30 – December 6, so if you want to try to follow in the footsteps of Jonathan Rees as a PartyPoker Tour champion, come join us!
