Brazilian pro Guilherme Kleist won the €75,000 first prize in the second Spin & Go Championship, after a deal was struck between the three finalists at Casino Barcelona on Sunday night.
He’d certainly put in the work to get there. The 81-strong field played through a series of live Spin & Gos – three-handed, hyper-turbo sit & gos — that started early afternoon on Saturday, played through until 2am local time, and then came back at 1pm on Sunday to do it all again.
Players were split into groups of three and given a win target to reach before progressing – three games in the first rounds and four after that. The 81 players – most of whom qualified via PokerStars – were whittled down to nine by the end of Saturday and to just three for the final by Sunday evening.
Spin & Go pros get their time in the sun
It might not be one for the old-school poker purists, but it was a spectacle, played out on a custom-built set using miniature poker tables. James Hartigan hosted the action and tried to whip the players and rail into a frenzy for each spin. Players won these by picking a card after each win – one said 'Spin!' and the others 'Maybe next time.' Spins ranged from €100 to €20,000 in later rounds.
PokerStars is taking it seriously. We spoke with Hartigan in Barcelona ahead of the Spin & Go Championship, and he explained why.
“I think it's very clear this is a very exciting competition,” Hartigan told us. “We have to acknowledge that Spin & Gos are hugely popular. There are people who play this game and play high volume and are winning Spin & Go players, so why shouldn’t they have their time in the sun?”
First live experience for online grinders
It’s hard to argue with that, and there were some brilliant stories among the diverse group of qualifiers. Some, like Michel Cerbo, were playing their very first live event. Most had very modest Hendon Mob resumés. The three finalists were regular Spin & Go players on PokerStars but only had $30K in live career earnings between them.
And they got to play live crushers like Jason Koon, Andre Akkari and Alejandro ‘Papo MC’ Lococo here, while getting a taste of a huge live poker festival like EPT Barcelona.
The atmosphere during the Spin & Go Championship was great. There were smiles, celebrations, and plenty of family and friends on the rail. The best moment of the weekend came when Claudio Locci hit a jackpot spin of €10,000 and his mom ran onto the set in tears to celebrate. You can watch that play out below. It left more than a few people choking up.
Jason Koon: Out in a flash
What did Jason Koon make of it? It was over in a flash for him, although he did win one of his games. None of the star names made the final nine, but this wasn’t about them. This was about the online grinders from around the world who got a chance to meet their virtual foes in real life and play for some serious money.
The majority of that ended up with Kleist, who was ecstatic when he won — as was his partner, who also qualified to play in Barcelona.
Seth Davies recently put out a post explaining why high-stakes tournament players don’t celebrate when they win. His post makes total sense, but, for once, it was great to see real emotion in the tournament room and a reminder that for a lot of players, big wins only come round perhaps once in a lifetime.
Spin & Go Championship results
- 1st — Giulherme Kleist: €75,000 (€80,500 including spins)*
- 2nd — Joao Nascimento: €42,500*
- 3rd: — Krystian Lisowski: €32,500*
*After three-way deal.
The PokerStars Spin & Go Championship will be back at EPT Paris in February 2026, and you can qualify online at PokerStars.
