It’s May, and the 2026 PartyPoker Tour Madrid is in full swing. It’s safe to say that the Gran Via Casino is the place to be in Madrid for all poker enthusiasts this year, and after the first four days of the festival, it has become clear not only that live poker is hotter than lava in Spain, but also that the PartyPoker Tour is still growing. The Madrid stop kicked off with the €150 Mini Main Event, and the tournament exceeded everyone’s expectations, becoming the biggest-ever of its kind. The tournament wrapped up late on Thursday, May 14, with a Spaniard displaying sublime poker skills to take home €16,550.
¡El Toro!
Madrid, the glorious capital of Spain, is the third city to roll out the red carpet for the 2026 PartyPoker Tour. The circuit began its annual campaign in Sheffield back in January, and then touched Spanish soil for the first time in Seville, March 16-22. After two stellar live poker festivals, the PartyPoker Tour is now back, this time in Madrid and at the Casino Gran Via.
- Read more: The 2026 PartyPoker Tour Madrid Schedule Mixes Classic Tournaments With Brand New Events
- Read more: PartyPoker Announces Five More Stops in 2026
The 2026 PartyPoker Tour Madrid kicked off on Monday, May 11, with the first out of four starting-day flights of the €150 Mini Main Event. Mondays are a big poker day in Spain, something that became evident during the Seville stop. There, Day 1a of the same tournament set a new record, becoming the biggest-ever starting-day flight with 228 entries. This was the number to beat in Madrid, and that goal was achieved by some margin. Day 1a attracted a whopping 309 entries, setting a new record by nearly 100. The said record stood for about 24 hours, before Day 1b (May 12) scored 314 entries. Another 148 were made in Day 1c, and when late registration closed in Day 1d with 147 entries, the numbers could be confirmed. A total of 918 entries had created a €114,750 prize pool, more than double the €50,000 guarantee. The live poker scene in Spain has proved to be very vital, but PartyPoker also deserves recognition for creating a sublime tournament that time after time proves to be a slam-dunk of a concept.
Fifteen percent of each starting-day flight bagged for Day 2, meaning the penultimate day of the tournament saw 135 players return. They were all guaranteed a €300 min-cash, but they all had their eyes on the prize: a prestigious title, a glorious trophy, and a €19,200 first-place payout. Needless to say, there was a lot to play for.
Alfredo Albornoz began Day 2 as the chip leader, hoping to keep the train rolling. After a few hours, though, he was eliminated in forty-ninth place on the courtesy of Alexander “Wishiper96” Georgiev. Georgiev, who won the 2025 PartyPoker Tour Leaderboard, claimed the tournament chip lead at this point, which was a necessary step in his mission to claim redemption as he finished second in the £150 Mini Main Event during the PartyPoker Tour Sheffield. Georgiev finished Day 2 with 2,000,000, which was sixth place in the Day 3 chip counts. Kevin Lezcano sat at the top of the rankings with 3,000,000. Other notable names who made it through to Day 3 were Edin Hrnjic (2,060,000), who finished third in Sheffield, and PartyPoker Tour Ambassador/poker legend Joe Beevers. The Hendon Mob co-founder was down to 30,000 chips on Blinds 25,000/50,000 on Day 2, but displayed great discipline to bag 795,000 for Day 3.
Final Day Action
The final day kicked off at 19:00 on Thursday, May 15, on Blinds 40,000/80,000. Considering the average stack was around 20 Big Blinds, many of the 27 players were short, beginning the day with around 10 Big Blinds. Just as expected, it didn’t take too long before the final table was set. The trophy wouldn’t go to a PartyPoker Tour Ambassador, seeing as Beevers went out in twenty-second place for €675. Lezcano and Georgiev both made it to the final table, entering the ultimate stage with the second and third most in chips. Topping the charts at this point was Mazzarella, who had scored a double knock-out about an hour earlier with kings versus ace-queen times two to build up a fortress of chips.
One of the early highlights of the final table was actually a clash between Georgiev and Lezcano. Georgiev opened to 425,000 on Blinds 100,000/200,000 with Q♠Q♣, and after some back-and-forth pre-flop action, the two players were all in. Lezcano’s K♠K♦ came out on the better side of the cooler as expected, and Georgiev was left with less than two Big Blinds. Georgiev isn’t known for surrendering, though, and he displayed great skills of patience. One flip won there, one won there, and soon, he was back to a respectable stack. Lezcano, though, had claimed a commanding chip lead.
Speaking of Lezcano, he would be the first one to reach a 10-digit stack in the tournament, as he stood for the first knock-out of the final table. Short-stacked David Aviles moved all in for 11 Big Blinds with Q♣10♦ from the Hi-jack, and Lezcano figured he was priced in to make the call from the Big Blind with 7♥5♠. Lezcano improved to a pair of fives on the flop, and Aviles wasn’t able to catch up. As such, Aviles became the first casualty of the prestigious table, earning €1,600 for his ninth-place finish.
Next one to go was Joaquin Ortiz. Earlier, he got it in good pre-flop with A♠A♦ against the 9♦9♣ of Mykhaylo Hrytsyk, but as Hrytsyk flopped a full house, he lost the bigger chunk of his stack. The very next one, he pushed his last four Big Blinds with J♦10♠ from UTG+1. Pedro Timiaros made the call from the Big Blind with 2♥2♦, and the ducks managed to hold up. For his eight-place finish, Ortiz claimed €2,000.
A break followed, and Lezcano was the chip leader, playing almost twice as much as Federico Estrada Mazzarella, who was in second place. That being said, all players were fairly shallow at this point, and it still felt like anyone’s game. Shortly after play resumed, Timiraos got his 15 Big Blinds all in pre-flop with A♦Q♥ against Estrada Mazzarella’s J♠J♣. Timiraos didn’t manage to connect and was out in seventh place for €2,500. Lezcano then lost an all-in against Baraiazarra, which saw Estrada Mazzarella claiming the new chip lead.
Estrada Mazzarella extended his chip lead by knocking out Alberto Area in sixth place for €3,100. Area shoved A♥7♥ from the Small Blind and was dominated by Estrada Mazzarella’s A♦K♦. Big Slick took a commanding lead with a pair of kings on the flop, and as such, the tournament was down to five players.
Georgiev had fought long and bravely. Ultimately, he moved all in for four Big Blinds from UTG with K♦6♣. Lezcano called him off with A♦7♠ and managed to see Georgiev off in fifth place for €4,000. Lezcano was now back to an eight-digit stack, fully determined to claim the prestigious title.
The shortest stack at this point was Ukraine’s Mykhaylo Hrtysyk. He managed to double up once against Estrada Mazzarella, but he barely made a dent in the chip leader’s stack. A few hands later, he was defeated with K♥J♦ against the A♦Q♦ of Estrada Mazzarella. Hrytsyk went to collect his €5,750 paycheck for finishing fifth, and Estrada Mazzarella became the first player of the tournament to reach 20,000,000 in chips. That being said, the Blinds were high, and the three remaining players immediately decided to make an ICM deal. Estrada Mazzarella locked up €14,650, while Lezcano secured €12,200 and Jon Baraiazarra secured €11,100. They left €1,900 to play for, and the battle resumed.
Lezcano then found himself on a 6♠A♦9♠ flop against pre-flop aggressor Baraiazarra, who fired a standard continuation bet. Lezcano moved all in, and Baraiazarraa made the call after a few minutes’ worth of consideration. Lezcano was trailing with Q♣6♣ against the J♥J♣ of Baraiazarra, and a jack on the turn settled it. Lezcano finished in third, and the stage was set for a heads-up showdown between Baraiazarra and Estrada Mazzarella.
Perhaps 15 minutes into the one-versus-one duel, all the chips went in the middle. It was a classic coin flip situation, where Estrada Mazzarella’s 6♥6♦ were looking to hold against Baraiazarra’s K♦10♦. Unecessarily, Mazzarella improved to a straight on the river to seal the deal. That wrapped up the record-breaking tournament; Baraiazarra was declared the runner-up, while the trophy, the title, and €16,550 belonged to Estrada Mazzarella.
2026 PartyPoker Tour Madrid – €150 Mini Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Federico Estrada Mazzarella | Spain | €16,550 |
| 2 | Jon Baraiazarra | Spain | €11,100 |
| 3 | Kevin Lezcano | Spain | €12,200 |
| 4 |  Mykhaylo Hrytsyk | Ukraine | €5,750 |
| 5 |  Alexander Georgiev | Bulgaria | €4,000 |
| 6 | Alberto Area Martinez | Spain | €3,100 |
| 7 | Pedro Timiraos | Spain | €2,500 |
| 8 | Joaquin Ortiz Rico | Spain | €2,000 |
| 9 | David Aviles | Spain | €1,600 |
While the Mini Main Event might be over, the 2026 PartyPoker Tour Madrid is not. Day 1a of the prestigious €500 Main Event was also played on
The poker.pro live reporter Christoffer Karlén is on-site in Madrid, covering every knook and cranny of the action at Gran Via Casino. The Main Event is the main topic of the poker.pro live blog, and perhaps it’ll walk in the footsteps of the Mini Main Event, setting a new record of its own. Only time will tell, but one thing’s for sure: the 2026 PartyPoker Tour Madrid is yet another successful PartyPoker event, and like a fine wine, the PartyPoker Tour is only getting better as it’s maturing.
