Local Hero Markku Koplimaa Wins Kings of Tallinn Summer Showdown €150 Warm-Up

It’s a perfect time to visit the Estonian capital of Tallinn with the sun shining just about 24 hours a day and the poker action running nonstop for the next nine days at the Kings of Tallinn Summer Showdown at the luxurious surroundings of Olympic Park Casino and the adjoining Hilton Tallinn Park.

The Tallinn Summer Showdown offers something for every poker enthusiast and pro with 53 action-packed tournaments from July 21-30 in a variety of formats with buy-ins ranging from €60 to €5,000. This is not all as cash games offer action 24 hours a day at various stakes and games. In other words, it is the absolute perfect poker holiday!

The first trophy already has been already awarded on the opening day and what a first day it was with 225 entries coming out in full force in Event #2: Kings of Tallinn Summer Showdown €150 Warm-Up to create a €27,495 prize pool. This is an amazing sign of things to come with many players already sharing their plans to join us over the following few days.

Local Estonian poker beast Markku Koplimaa did it once again after defeating the formidable Martin Piik heads-up to win the €6,450 prize. Koplimaa is not only one of the most feared players in Estonia with a country-leading $1.3 million in live tournament earnings as tracked by The Hendon Mob, but also creates waves around the world, especially in the online arena where he has nearly $15 million in tracked cashes.

The entertainment from this event didn’t stop after the final hand was dealt as the top nine players earned a ticket to Event #18: €150 GGPoker Flip&Go Mystery Bounty. This event debuted at the Kings of Tallinn in February and was a hit right off the bat with 306 entries playing one-table pineapple flips. We expect an even bigger turnout in the summer as GGPoker generously added $10,000 to the prize pool. The flips will generate tons of excitement all week long before the flip winners meet for one final day of action on Saturday, July 29 for a huge prize pool with at least a €5,000 top mystery bounty prize guaranteed.

Rather than wait to use the flip tickets, the final nine players decided to have a little more fun after Koplimaa claimed another trophy for his case. Let’s just say it was Koplimaa’s day as he managed to win the flip to become the first player to advance to Day 2.

Event #2: Kings of Tallinn Summer Showdown €150 Warm-Up
225 entries, €27,495

1. Markku Koplimaa (Estonia) – €6,450
2. Martin Piik (Estonia) – €4,200
3. Lucas Miguel Cravero (Spain) – €2,850
Full Results HERE

Tapio Aaltonen Leads Event #3: €250 Mystery Bounty

The €150 GGPoker Flip&Go Mystery Bounty wasn’t the only mystery bounty event to kick off on Friday as Event #3: €250 Mystery Bounty kicked off the first of its three opening flights.

Finland’s Tapio Aaltonen attends just about every major poker festival in Tallinn, which for the past few years he has called home, was easily the star of Day 1a after catapulting his 20,000 opening stack. This event continues on Saturday with two more opening flights before the real excitement begins on Sunday’s final day as players begin to open bounty envelopes containing a mystery prize for every player they eliminate.

In addition to these two events, Friday also boasted a €20 rake-free satellite guaranteeing five seats to this event. The guarantee was smashed with 10 players punching their tickets into this event on Saturday.

Event #3: €250 Mystery Bounty Day 1A
90 entries, 32 survivors

1. Tapio Aaltonen (Finland) – 183,500
2. Martin Muller (Austria) – 125,500
3. Vladislav Topilskiy (Estonia) – 102,000
Full Results HERE

The poker action will pick up even more on Saturday as not only will players battle in two more flights of the €250 Mystery Bounty but we will crown our second trophy winner in the one-day Event #5: €350 NLH Deep Stack Opening Event starting at 5 p.m. Players can get in for as low as €20 thanks to a rake-free satellite kicking off at 1 p.m. Two other satellites also take place on Saturday with cash games expected to fill the house. In other words, expect a fun action-packed day!

Best of luck to everyone playing and stay tuned for daily updates throughout our event with our live blogs kicking off on Monday, July 24.