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Tomasz Brzezinski Wins Rollercoaster Heads-Up to Capture 2025 EPT Malta Main Event Title

For Tomasz Brzezinski, 2025 has been nothing short of extraordinary. Just weeks after finishing fourth in the EPT Barcelona Main Event, the 37-year-old from Poland completed his dream run on home soil in Malta by capturing the 2025 PokerStars EPT Malta €5,300 Main Event at Casino Malta.

Brzezinski, who has lived in Malta for the past decade working in the sports betting industry, outlasted a record-breaking 898 entries and defeated Ukrainian debutant Mykhailo Ostash in a rollercoaster heads-up battle to secure the trophy and €631,632 from the €4,355,300 prize pool after a heads-up deal.

He also became just the 11th player in EPT history to reach back-to-back Main Event final tables, and his victory adds a career-defining title to the breakout year of his poker journey.

“It was wild,” Brzezinski told PokerNews moments after his win. “At some point, yes, I thought it might slip away. I’m not the luckiest in heads-up. I’ve been second six or seven times at festivals before, so it almost felt like I was cursed. Especially after losing so many flips in a row and watching the stacks even out again. But in the end, it went my way, and I’m very happy.”

Despite his recent hot streak, poker remains more of a passion project than a full-time profession for the Polish champion.

“I used to play poker years ago,” he said. “Then came the choice to continue with poker or start a regular job. I decided to go the safe route, but I’ve always played on the side. I enjoy live poker much more than my actual work sometimes,” he laughed. “I’ve got a lot of friends who are great players, and I try to be a sponge, learn from them, and analyze spots. Somehow, it’s paying off.”

Boika Falls Short in Title Defense

Tom-Aksel Bedell spent Days 3 and 4 at the top of the chip counts, but his Day 5 run took a different turn as he entered the finale as the short stack. Despite a brief early rally, the Norwegian businessman and high roller was the first to bow out. On the first hand back from the opening break, Bedell went with deuces, but couldn’t leapfrog Ostash’s pocket threes.

Aliaksei Boika was chasing history, aiming to become just the fifth player to win two EPT Main Event titles and defend the crown he claimed nine years ago in Malta. Only Victoria Coren Mitchell, Mikalai Pobal, Mike Watson, and Anton “WhatIfGod” Bergstrom (with two online EPT victories) have managed the feat.

Boika’s run ended in fourth place. He pulled off a brilliant ace-high hero call that briefly vaulted him up the counts, but the momentum didn’t last. In his final hand, Boika’s kings were cracked by Ostash’s pocket fives, with the Ukrainian flopping a set and extracting maximum value with a 2.5x pot river shove.

In the final three, Brzezinski surged into the chip lead, picking off a bluff, getting paid with quads, and going runner-runner to make a full house against Ostash’s flopped flush. This left Adria Calonge firmly rooted to the bottom of the counts, and he was gone in third after his king-five couldn’t get there against Brzezinski’s pocket tens.

Ostash Refuses to Lay Down

Stacks got close to even just after the duel for the title began, so the finalists agreed to an even split of the remaining prize pool. They shook hands on a deal that locked up €603,098 each, leaving €28,534 and the EPT trophy still to play for.

Brzezinski came out the aggressor in heads-up play, but Ostash proved almost impossible to finish. The Ukrainian rattled off a series of escapes that defied belief: first winning a flip with king-jack against tens, then spiking trips with queen-ten to beat ace-eight. He survived again with pocket fours against ten-nine before coolly picking off a river bluff to haul himself back into contention.

The momentum swung wildly. Ostash even surged into the lead at one point, but Brzezinski responded with a runner-runner flush that earned a 5 million river call to restore a commanding 2:1 edge. Still, Ostash wouldn’t go quietly, doubling for a fifth time with a flush of his own to drag the contest into deep waters.

From there, it became survival poker of the highest order. Ostash clung on with a sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth double-up, each more improbable than the last. When Brzezinski finally found himself all-in and at risk, his pocket eights held against ace-jack to leave Ostash nearly out of gas. But the Ukrainian wasn’t done yet. They say a cat only has nine lives, but Ostash seemed to have at least ten, spiking yet another flip with king-queen to stay alive, and even finding an eleventh double-up to briefly take the driver’s seat.

The miracle run, however, couldn’t last forever. Brzezinski’s ace-jack bested Ostash’s ace-ten to leave him on a single big blind. On Ostash’s 12th all-in — and the 14th of the heads-up match — the comeback finally collapsed, and Brzezinski scooped the last of the chips to seal one of the most chaotic finales in EPT history.

Did Poker Player Slow Roll Near the Bubble with Quads in Major Tournament?

A player on Day 2 of the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Malta Main Event flopped quads but took his time calling an all-in bet.

The questionable incident occurred only 13 players away from the money bubble bursting in the €5,300 buy-in tournament at Casino Malta, which attracted 898 runners. PokerNews captured the controversial hand, and it appears some who've viewed it are a bit confused as to what exactly transpired.

What Just Happened?

The board ran out 10♥ 8♣ 8♠ 7♦, and Michael L**h, a two-time WSOP bracelet winner, had already moved all in holding A♦ A♥ — sitting on the biggest stack at the table.

There was a bit of confusion about who acted last in our clip, but here’s exactly how the action went down.

The board showed 10♥ 8♣ 8♠ 7♦, and Michael L**h, a two-time WSOP bracelet winner, had already moved all in holding A♦ A♥ with the biggest stack at the table.

Then Dylan Cechowski, the short stack, shoved all in with 10♣ 10♦ for a top full house. Moments later, Michael Rodrigues, quietly sitting on 8♦ 8♥ for flopped quads, took just a few seconds to count his chips before making the call.

Cechowski proudly tabled his hand — only to be crushed seconds later when Rodrigues revealed his pocket eights. L**h was drawing dead, and the 4♠ on the river changed nothing, giving Rodrigues nearly a full triple-up in one of the wildest hands of the session.

Journalist Hacks Card Shuffling Machine to Prove How to Cheat in Poker

Can automatic shuffling machines be hacked to cheat in poker? A journalist put that question to the test in a new video that explores the vulnerabilities of shuffling machines like the Deckmate 2 used in casinos and poker rooms around the world.

The video, titled "I Cheated At Poker By Hacking A Casino Card Shuffling Machine," gathered more than 100,000 views in less than 24 hours. In it, WIRED Senior Writer Andy Greenberg speaks to security consultant and hacking expert Joseph Tartaro and poker pro Doug Polk before rigging a shuffler and putting it to the test in a real-world scenario.

Machine Hacking & Signaling

Tartaro has spent years researching how automatic shufflers could be used to cheat in games like poker. In the video, he shows Greenberg that the USB port on the back of shufflers leaves them vulnerable to hacking. He demonstrates by plugging in a device capable of reading the order of cards.

"This device has a Bluetooth model and it will wirelessly connect to this phone," Tataro says in the video. "And every time a deck gets shuffled, it will get the exact order from the camera (in the shuffler) and send it to me."

With a hacked machine ready for testing, Greenberg arranged a private poker game with Tataro and two unsuspecting players. Tataro, who had access to the shuffler on his phone, signaled to Greenberg whether to fold, call or raise by playing with his chips.

As a result, Greenberg was able to play perfectly and easily won the sit-and-go match despite not being an experienced poker player.

Should Players Be Concerned?

Hacking shufflers is one of several modern cheating methods that have emerged with advancing technology. In October 2024, psychologist Maria Konnikova told PokerNews about nano cameras that make card protectors, electronics and sunglasses all potential cheating risks at the poker table.

While automatic shuffling machines are common in poker rooms, Doug Polk, an owner of The Lodge in Texas, said there's a much bigger risk of cheating in private and unregulated games than in casinos.

"The Deckmate 2 in a casino location, you shouldn't be too scared of," the content creator said. "They have all these casino contracts, so they have licensed people fixing problems that there might be. The problem is once somebody has a Deckmate 2 on a black market or a secondary market, they are now no longer being upkept by the company itself. Some guy is just basically in the back fixing the machine and then putting it on the table."

"I have heard so many cheating stories of people using these to cheat players out of their money when it's not happening at a casino location."

A spokesperson for Light and Wonder, the gaming manufacturer that makes the Deckmate 2, told WIRED in a statement that they've addressed the security flaws and "updated the firmware on all our Deckmate shufflers to all our customers worldwide at zero cost to them." Still, Tartaro says the machines remain a cheating risk.