With the EPT Barcelona festival on the horizon, we spoke to one of Europe’s hottest poker talents and a PokerStake seller, Adi Radjkovic. Since leaving the army, Adi has focused on poker tournaments and won almost $800,000 in ranking events. In recent months, he has cashed all over Europe and is taking on the Catalan capital in a week’s time desperate for more success.

We spoke to Adi about his early days in the game, what motivates him to win and how he decides what to sell to PokerStake investors as he travels around the world playing the game he loves.

The Origins of a Crusher

“One Sunday, I turned $11 into $10,000 and that’s when my pro career began.”

Poker players come to the game from so many different previous jobs and Adi Radjkovic has a fascinating background, having served in the Austrian army before turning pro. We asked him about how he fell in love with poker.

“It all started with my close friends,” he says. “As teenagers, we used to play once a week in a homegame. I always watched poker streams or highlights of the EPTs or the World Series of Poker – that’s how I found big love for the game.”

When he signed up to the Austrian Army, Adi noticed that he was improving at the game because he was watching the professionals make all the right moves on screen. He decided to deepen his studies.

“I started reading books because back then they were no programmes or courses like nowadays. On Sundays, I never slept because I grinded the whole night and on Monday my shift at the Army began at 5am. One Sunday, I turned $11 into $10,000 and that’s when my pro career began. I found my first poker friend – who was already a pro – and they gave me coaching step by step. I quit my Job in the army to go full-time as a professional.”

Bringing the Win in Bratislava

“I was playing a lot but results were missing.”

While Adi is a proud Austrian and had many good scores in his home country, two of his biggest results in Bratislava kick-started his poker career as his runner-up result in The Festival in 2021 for $52,892 and outright victory at the Winamax Poker Open in 2022 for $34,020 gave him fond memories of the Slovakian capital.

“It had a huge impact of course,” smiles Adi. “I was playing a lot but results were missing and of course at that time you struggle with confidence. After those results, I gained some confidence back.”

Adi’s top three results on The Hendon Mob are all runner-up finishes worth a collective $215,000. Those are great scores, ones that help hugely in establishing a bigger bankroll. Adi still wishes they were wins, though, and uses those close runs as inspiration.

“I was still happy to get that far, of course, but the trophy and a title would’ve been great!” he laughs. “With no big title in my hand, I’m a lot more motivated to get one.”

⁠This year alone, Adi has cashed for over $120,000 in live poker events in Ireland, Poland, Czech Republic, Belgium and just recently in Spain, where he’ll return for EPT Barcelona. His ability to adapt to travel and new conditions, honed in his army days, helps him to deal with the external elements of the job.

“I love travelling and meeting new people, staying at different places to get the culture of the city better,” he says. “Of course, travelling can be exhausting but not in a bad way.”

What Makes a Successful Trip to Barcelona?

“I’m aiming for the big trophy.. not the small ones.”

EPT Barcelona is an important festival to many hundreds of professional players and Adi is no different. After booking his trip with close friend Fabian Gumz, he’s been looking forward to making his mark in the Catalan former city of culture.

“We’re really excited about it as you can imagine. The city is great, the [EPT] fields are incredibly big and PokerStars always do a great job running good tournaments. I’ll give it my all to arrive there in the best shape and crush. Hopefully, I’ll get a nice trophy as a result out there. I’m aiming for the big trophy.. not the small ones!”

Adi cashed in the EPT Monte Carlo Main Event back in May and is anticipating success in Barcelona in the corresponding event. His experience of big field MTT Main Events is going to be priceless at the venue where Adi’s fellow PokerStake seller Stephen Song took the title in 2024.

“The structure of the Main Event is always nice and slow,” Adi describes. “Day 1 and 2 of the EPT Monte Carlo were going really smoothly but on Day 3, I got quite unlucky at times. I can‘t complain of course; it was still a nice journey and I’m looking forward to the next EPT Monte Carlo festival.”

A Burning Ambition

“If I have to travel to the other end of the world and play a $300 tournament, I will do that!”

Adi is selling to a number of events on the schedule in Barcelona, so we asked him how he decides which events to sell to on PokerStake and how he judges what markup to charge investors for each tournament entry.

“I calculate my ROI (return on investment) for each tournament and then find a markup which is fair for the player and the staker – that’s very important for me! With the experience I already have, I know the fields and how big they get usually, what the rake is in each tournament and the blind structure, so all that has an impact of course.”

After EPT Barcelona, Adi is plotting a root to success both at the online felt and then in two targeted trips to European hotspots, one of which he has never visited before.

After the EPT in Barcelona I‘m going to play the WCOOP and then I’m looking forward to EPT Malta and EPT Prague, especially Malta, because I’ve never been there.”

Having won over $120,000 in 2025 so far and almost $800,000 in live poker winnings in total, could Adi breaking a million dollars in live cashes? It turns out that was very much a goal of his all along.

“Ha ha, yeah, that was my goal at the beginning of the year,” he says. “If that means I have to travel to the other end of the world and play a $300 tournament there, I will do that! I want seven figures on my Hendon Mob!”

Nothing will stop Adi Rajkovic from becoming an even bigger success in the game as he travels the world and thrills his fans with his progress. Invest in his EPT Barcelona events now by heading to his official PokerStake staking page.