As the new year begins, poker players worldwide are looking to start 2025 on a high note. And what a better way to kick off the year with a big tournament win? One of the first major events on the European poker calendar was the 2025 Perla Poker Festival – Winter Edition, held from January 9 to 13 at the Casino Perla in Nova Gorica, Slovenia.
Our team at PokerPro was on-site, providing live updates and coverage of the action. To relieve all the moments as they unfolded, check out our live blog page for a detailed report.
The spotlight of the festival was on the Main Event, which drew 236 entries from players from many parts of the world. When the curtain fell, Italian player Davide Ceglia claimed his first-ever live tournament victory, taking home the €17,000 first-place prize and a trophy to remember.
Ceglia is no stranger to the felts of Perla Poker Room, having played numerous events there over the years. He had several deep runs, including four final table appearances at ISOP and Remida Main Events, with a third-place finish in August 2023 for €10,500, being his best result so far.
This time, Ceglia managed to take it a step further, securing the title after overcoming a 3:1 deficit in the heads-up against Dragan Zarić. Zarić, a Slovenian tournament regular, now boasts over €150,000 in live tournament earnings, including 10 wins in Nova Gorica since 2016. He was on a good way to the eleventh one, but a quick double-up from Italian shifted the momentum, and Ceglia took the lead by winning a couple of key pots.
In the final hand, both players looked down at an ace, and all the chips went into the middle. Zarić had a jack along his ace but was dominated by Ceglia’s ace-queen. The board ran out clean for the Italian, crowning him Perla Poker Festival Main Event – Winter Edition champion and giving him a perfect start to 2025.
2025 Perla Poker Festival – Winter Edition Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Davide Ceglia | Italy | €17,000 |
| 2 |  Dragan Zarić | Slovenia | €11,000 |
| 3 | Gaetano Fiore | Italy | €8,000 |
| 4 | Simone Alati | Italy | €6,000 |
| 5 | Gianluca Lingeri | Italy | €4,300 |
| 6 | Jacopo Barnabo | Italy | €3,300 |
| 7 | Pasquale Plevano | Italy | €2,700 |
| 8 | Jurij Naponiello | Italy | €2,200 |
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2025 Perla Poker Festival – Winter Edition Tournament Recap
The 2025 Perla Poker Festival – Winter Edition Main Event had three starting flights, including a unique Day 1A with a reduced €300 buy-in, which enticed 123 entries. Day 1B and 1C added another 98 players but with a €360 buy-in. With some late registrations in early Day 2, a total of 236 entries created a €73,050 prize pool, with 24 players making in the money and €17,000 reserved for the PPF champion.
Day 2 concluded with the formation of a final table featuring seven players from Italy and one from Slovenia. Italy’s Simone Alati led the charge with 65 big blinds, while Slovenia’s Dragan Zarić defended home pride with 45 big blinds. Davide Ceglia was in the middle of a pack with 33 big blinds.
The first elimination came when Jurij Naponiello’s ace-jack couldn’t hold up against Zarić straight on the river, after Slovenian went all-in in the dark before the last card hit the board. Shortly after, Pasquale Plevano was sent to the rail in seventh place when his pocket jacks fell to Alati’s ace-nine after an ace opened on the flop.
Zarić continued to eliminate players on the final table. Jacopo Barnabo exited in sixth place after his pocket sevens lost to Slovenian’s ace-ten, while Gianluca Lingeri’s ace-five outflopped Zarić queen-jack but lost to a rivered straight.
Simone Alati, the start-of-day chip leader, hit the rail in fourth place after his pocket jacks suffered a heartbreak against Ceglia’s ace-jack, hitting an ace on the river. Zarić jumped into a commanding lead after knocking out Gaetano Fiore, whose king-six was no match to Zarić’s ace-king.
Heads-up play began with Zarić holding almost a 4:1 chip lead, but that wasn’t enough at the end. Italian doubled up quickly and turned the tide, winning a couple of semi-big pots. The final hand saw Zarić moving all-in with ace-jack and Ceglia snap-calling with ace-queen. A clean board for Italian sealed Zarić’s face as the runner-up, earning him €11,000.
Meanwhile, Davide Ceglia celebrated his first-ever live tournament win, pocketing €17,000 and a Perla Poker Festival trophy!
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2025 Perla Poker Festival – Winter Edition Gallery
