Summer Record Smashed in the Kings of Tallinn Summer Showdown €555 Championship

It’s been a fantastic start at the 2023 Kings of Tallinn Summer Showdown at Olympic Park Casino and the Hilton Tallinn Park with record turnouts for our summer edition in every event.

It was no different in the ongoing €555 Championship with 500 entries more than doubling the previous record with late registration until the start of the second blind level of Day 2 with the penultimate day kicking off on Tuesday at 12 p.m. The overall Kings of Tallinn record for this event was established in February of this year when 559 entries came out in full force to create a €262,730. This event was won by France’s Benjamin Gros for a huge €55,500 top prize.

Netherland’s Tobias Napel leads the way among the 186 survivors with a 211 big blind stack of 338,000 and was the only player to compile at least 300,000 in chips from the 30,000 opening stack. Simon Forendal (264,000), Roope Tarmi (257,000), Raffael Wadl (255,500), Raivo Pinsel (226,500), Taago Tamm (212,000), and Sami Saamanen (206,500) all bagged more than 200,000 with plenty of other formidable players on their heels and hungry for their chips.

The plan for Tuesday is to play down to a final table of nine players but we might return on Wednesday with two tables instead depending on the pace of play. Check out our dedicated live poker blog to follow along the action.

Event #9: Kings of Tallinn Summer Showdown €555 Championship
500 entries, 186 survivors
1. Tobias Napel (Netherlands) – 338,000
2. Simon Forendal (Sweden) – 264,000
3. Roope Tarmi (Finland) – 257,000
Full Results HERE

While the €555 Championship captured the most attention, several other one-day events set records and also created a huge buzz.

Lithuania’s Dainius Kudarauskas defeated a field of 156 entries including Dmitri Dudakov heads-up in Event #13: €250 NLH Knockout to win the trophy and the €6,190 top prize. This doesn’t include the many €50 bounties Kudarauskas collected for each player he eliminated.

Event #13: Kings of Tallinn Summer Showdown €250 NLH Knockout
156 entries, €32,261 (incl. bounties)
1. Dainius Kudarauskas (Lithuania) – €6,190 + bounties
2. Dmitri Dudakov (Estonia) – €4,470 + bounties
3. Mikko Harmaa (Finland) – €2,740 + bounties
Full Results HERE

Event #14: €350 PLO 4/5 Card PLO Deepstack proved to be popular with 113 entries creating a €33,459 prize pool. Finland’s Joel Lehtinen defeated Austria’s Raffael Wadl heads-up to win the €8,620 top prize. Wadl will be a player to keep an eye our eyes on throughout the week as we earlier mentioned, he also bagged a top four stack heading into the second day of the €555 Championship.

Event #14: €350 PLO 4/5 Card PLO Deepstack
113 entries, €33,459
1. Joel Lehtinen (Finland) – €8,620
2. Raffael Wadl (Austria) – €5,980
3. Ranel Kasi (Estonia) – €4,280
Full Results HERE

Meanwhile, the legend of mixed-game crusher and the President of the Norwegian Poker Association Tobias Leknes continues as he added yet another mixed-game trophy to his ever-growing collection after defeating a field of 57 entries in Event #16: €250 Pot-Limit Deuce to Seven Triple Draw for the €4,410 top prize after defeating Finland’s Simo-Pekka Aalto heads-up.

Leknes also battled it out earlier in the day without success in the €555 Championship with plans to get back into the action during the first blind level of Day 2. He then entered the €250 bounty event and early on was freerolling that as well with five bounties collected. The Norwegian poker beast plans to play a ton of poker but also brought his backgammon set for anyone up for a game during potential downtime.

Event #16: €250 Pot-Limit Deuce to Seven Triple Draw
57 entries, €11,788
1. Tobias Leknes (Norway) – €4,410
2. Simo-Pekka Aalto (Finland) – €2,650
3. Jon Ertshus (Norway) – €1,640
Full Results HERE

There were also a handful of qualifiers for big events taking place on Monday and the cash games were hopping on the casino floor.

Today will boast a ton of one-table flips in the €150 GGPoker Flip&Go Mystery Bounty. GGPoker generously added €10,000 to the prize pool with this event guaranteeing at least a €5,000 top mystery bounty prize. This value-added affair proved to provide tons of fun and excitement when it debuted in February.

Bounty players will be out in full force with the €250 NLH Progressive Bounty kicking off at 1 p.m., while those that prefer more than two cards will enjoy the €1,100 PLO 4/5 Championship at 3 p.m.

Meanwhile, the popular €150 NLH Celebrity Event which places bounties on local celebrities takes place at 7 p.m. This event always proves to be popular every year and we expect an even bigger turnout than usual this year and will be covered in our blog in Estonian. Players can “warm-up” for this event with welcome drinks taking place at 6 p.m. on the casino floor.
We wish all our players the best of luck on Tuesday and be sure to snag your updates from our blog throughout the day.

To experience the thrill of Kings of Tallinn Summer Showdown 2023 in real-time:

• Tune in to our live-TV stream here (starting from 28.07).
• Check out our captivating photo gallery.
• Stay connected and never miss a moment of the action in our daily recaps.
• Keep track of your favorite players’ journeys with up-to-date poker tournament results.
• Don’t miss a beat and stay updated with our live blog in both Estonian and English!