The Kings of Tallinn is a major poker festival that takes place at the Olympic Park Casino and the Hilton Tallinn Park Hotel in in the majestic Estonian capital of Tallinn.
The Main Event regularly has grown every year and attracts hundreds of poker players from across Europe, especially from neighboring Baltic and Scandanavian countries. PokerNews has been a live reporting partner of the Kings of Tallinn festival since 2018.
Finished Tournaments |
Winner | Winning Hand | Prize | Runner-up | Losing Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 Kings of Tallinn | Johan Karlsson | q♣5♦ | €126,900 | Ermo Kosk | 10♣8♥ |
The Kings of Tallinn festival was established in 2015, when Ranno Sootla won �37,730 after defeating a field of 140 players. The following year in 2016, Johan Creutz bested a field of 198 to win the �52,200 top prize.
The Main Event grew to more than 200 entrants for the first time in 2017 when Matias Knaapinen navigated through a field of 247 entries to win the �45,007 top prize. The Main Event attracted a bigger field of 268 entries in 2018 when Finnish poker legend Juha Helppi was crowned the champion and walked away with a cool �62,000.
In 2018, the Main Event made another leap with 375 entries battling it out before Vitalijs Zavorotnijs completed a Cinderella story to win the event for �85,300 with just crumbs in his stack entering the final table.
Over the years, the festival and the Main Event have grown in stature, with almost five times as many players entering the Kings of Tallinn Main Event in 2020 when Sweden's Johan Karlsson came out on top of a field of 674 entries to win the title and the �126,900 top prize.
| Year | Field | Prize Pool | Winner | Country | Payout (EUR) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 140 | �137,200 | Ranno Sootla | Estonia | �37,730 |
| 2016 | 198 | �240,100 | Johan Creutz | Sweden | �52,200 |
| 2017 | 247 | �234,650 | Matias Knaapinen | Finland | �45,007 |
| 2018 | 268 | �254,600 | Juha Helppi | Finland | �62,000 |
| 2019 | 375 | �356,250 | Vitalijs Zavorotnijs | Latvia | �85,300 |
| 2020 | 674 | �640,300 | Johan Karlsson | Sweden | �126,900 |