The 2026 WSOP Circuit Tallinn has wrapped up. It was an intense 11 days at Olympic Park Casino & Hilton Tallinn Park Hotel, and 12 prestigious WSOP Circuit Rings were distributed during the festival. The tournament that, naturally, was on most players’ lips was the €1,500 Main Event. Just as predicted, the affair attracted a big crowd, surpassing the €1,000,000 guarantee by some margin. More…
One Ring to Rule Them All
There are few live poker events as prestigious as WSOP Circuits, and the 2026 WSOP Circuit Tallinn was no exception. It was a festival of a certain magnitude, and players came from near and far, all on the same mission: claim a prestigious WSOP Circuit Ring. The 11-day festival was held between July 24-August 2 at Olympic Park Casino & Hilton Tallinn Park Hotel, and it was the fourth consecutive year that the Estonian capital held the event. OlyBet Poker Tournament Director Teresa Nousainen and her crew deserve all the recognition that they get for working day and night to make the event as successful as it is.
As previously mentioned, there were 12 Ring Events on the schedule, but the Main Event was always going to be the star of the show. With its five starting-day flights, the tournament attracted 977 entries, which translated to a €1,253,002 prize pool; well over the €1,000,000 guarantee. All starting-day flights played down to the money (15% of the field), meaning 147 players returned for Day 2, all guaranteed a €3,000 min-cash. It’s an educated guess that all of them had their eyes set on the €210,000 first-place prize, though.
Day 2 played down to 24 players, and Day 3 played down to the nine-handed final table. There were some very prominent players partaking in the tournament, such as Estonian poker virtuoso Ranno Sootla, high-stakes player Aliaksandr Shylko, Finnish poker legend Sampo Ryynanen, and one of Finland’s best players of the modern age, Luka Sorainen. Two of them, Ryynanen and Sorainen, made Day 3, and they were joined by the likes of 2020 Kings of Tallinn €1,100 Main Event champion Johan Karlsson, 2024 WSOP Circuit Tallinn €1,100 Mystery Bounty Ring Event winner Rasmus Lundström, and 2023 WSOP Circuit Tallinn €1,500 Main Event champion Ignacio Garrido. All of the aforementioned players busted before Hugo Loustau was eliminated in tenth place, which wrapped up Day 3. The remaining nine players went for a good night’s sleep before being reunited with their chips on Sunday, August 2, at the final table.
Hunting Bahamas
Lithuania’s Egidijus Matonis was the chip leader going into the final table, but he got his work cut out for him. Kai Lehto was the only player at the table with more than $1,000,000 in total live earnings on The Hendon Mob, making him one fearful opponent. Another interesting name was Roy van der Reijnst, who finished second in the €555 NLH Ring Event during the 2025 WSOP Circuit Tallinn. Spain’s David Marfil would begin Day 4 with the least amount of chips, but with the sublime tournament structure, anything could happen. At noon, it was time to shuffle up and deal.
Finland’s Feras Abid was the first one to bid farewell. He donk-shoved with 7♣6♥ on a 3♥10♥4♦ flop, and he was called by Julian Selinger’s A♣7♥. Abid wasn’t able to improve his hand on the 2♠J♥ runout, and he had to settle with a ninth-place finish and €15,657.
Donk-shoving with a straight draw would be the theme for a little longer, as that’s what Mateusz Dabkowski did. His 9♣8♦ were up against Matonis’ A♠8♠ on a 5♠4♣6♥ flop, and received no help as the board completed with 8♥J♠. While Dabkowski headed for the payout desk to collect his €20,300 for finishing eighth, Matonis extended his chip lead over the field.
Roughly 15 minutes later, France’s Valentin Imperatore moved all in with Q♠J♠, and it was again Matonis who played the villain. Holding K♦Q♣, Matonis had Imperatore dominated, and the Frenchman wasn’t able to produce a miracle on the K♥8♠A♥2♠6♥ board. Imperatore received €26,810 for finishing seventh, and Matonis kept building momentum.
The next one to go would be Fehim Hajdari. It was Roy van der Reijnst who forced Hajdari all in in a Blind-versus-Blind encounter. Hajdari carefully counted out his stack before making the call with 2♠2♦ for his tournament life. Van der Reijnst’s J♥10♥ immediately claimed the lead on the J♣10♦4♣ flop, and no deuce was apparent on the 4♥3♦. Hajdari, who was the player with the second-most total live earnings on the final table, bid farewell in sixth place for €36,050.
Matonis had maintained a healthy stack throughout the final table and had been the chip leader for most of the time. Then, the very last hand before the second break, he found himself flipping with A♣K♠ against van der Reijnst’s J♥J♦. The Dutch fishhooks emerged victorious on the 3♠3♥4♣7♥2♥ board, which completely flipped the script. Van der Reijnst became the new chip leader, while Matonis suddenly found himself at the bottom of the rankings. He managed to double up once against Lehto, and soon enough, he was all in again, this time for around 10 Big Blinds. Unfortunately for him, he was drawing slim with A♠4♥ against the A♥9♦. Matonis didn’t survive the 10♦2♦10♠3♦J♦, and the Lithuanian was eliminated in fifth place for €49,300. In the meantime, van der Reijnst became the new chip leader.
Van der Reijnst was cooking, and even though losing the chip lead momentarily to Lehto, the Dutchman soon reclaimed it. He would then extend it once he knocked out Marfil in fourth place for €68,575. It was van der Reijnst who opened with K♦K♣, and it was unfortunate timing for Marfil to pick up A♣K♠ in the Big Blind. The Spaniard didn’t receive an ace or any other help on the 5♣3♥7♠Q♥7♦ board; Marfil received applause from his rail as he walked down from the TV stage.
Perhaps 15 minutes into three-handed play, the shortest stack, Selinger, doubled up against Lehto. With the stacks evening out between the two of them, van der Reijnst now had a commanding chip lead. Three-handed play went on for more than an hour before the next player would bust. That would be Lehto; after losing almost his entire stack with J♣10♣ against Selinger’s A♦K♥, he was down to less than one Big Blind. He got it in with A♣3♦ the very next hand, and was called by both of his opponents. Selinger managed to scare van der Reijnst away with a small river bet on the 2♣K♦Q♦J♦K♣ board, and he tabled Q♠8♣. Lehto’s hand was rendered useless, and as he bid farewell in third place for €96,950, the stage was not set for a heads-up showdown between Selinger and van der Reijnst, both players having almost exactly equal stacks.
No one in Tallinn knew what they were in for. Van der Reijnst was looking for redemption, seeing as he finished second in the €555 NLH during the 2025 WSOP Circuit Tallinn. Now, he had another realistic shot at the trophy, but Selinger wasn’t going to make life easy for his opponent. It was an intense start to what would prove to be a lengthy heads-up, as the two players traded the chip lead back and forth, but no one of them really taking a commanding lead. Eventually, though, it was Selinger who got pulled away, leaving van der Reijnst will around 10 Big Blinds. The two players got it in; van der Reijnst’s A♣7♦ got the job done against Selinger’s K♥4♥ on a 10♦10♠10♣6♠2♥ board, and it was back to even.
The two brave warriors soon clashed again, and this time, they got it all in on a 8♦7♦6♥ flop. Van der Reijnst had flopped the world with 9♣5♠ against Selinger’s 5♦6♥, and were his straight to hold, he would turn the tables and have a decent chip lead. Instead, Selinger not only improved to the same straight on the 9♦, but also picked up a flush draw. No disaster for van der Reijnst, though; the river was the 2♥, and the two players chopped the pot.
The pattern continued; Selinger managed to take some chips from the van der Reijnst stack, and the Dutchman was once again down to a few Big Blinds. He got it in with Q♥9♦ against Selinger’s K♦3♠, and doubled up on the 9♥Q♣2♥6♣Q♠ board to once again even the playing field. Then, momentum switched, as the players got all the chips in the middle once again. Van der Reijnst won yet another flip, this time with 9♥9♦ against J♦10♦ on a 5♦7♥9♣4♠5♣ board. Coming out on top after two (more or less) consecutive all in situations, van der Reijnst was now the chip leader, and considering the Blinds were ridicously high, Selinger was down to three Big Blinds. At this point, van der Reijnst could smell it.
The heads-up was closing in on the four-hour mark, and the Poker Gods were not kind to van der Reijnst. Selinger doubled up three times in a row, and before you knew it, he was once again in the lead. Then, he delivered the final blow, as he forced van der Reijnst all in for his tournament life on a 2♥5♠7♠K♥9♠ board. Van der Reijnst made the call and tabled 7♦5♣, but two pairs would not be sufficent enough. As Selinger tabled his 8♥6♣. Selinger had the best hand with the rivered straight, and that settled it. Van der Reijnst was declared the runner-up of the €1,500 Main Event, a feat that earned him €140,500.
Meanwhile, Selinger was crowned the winner of the €1,500 Main Event during the 2026 WSOP Circuit Tallinn. For his amazing achievement, he received €210,000, the $5,000 package to the 2026 WSOP Paradise, the prestigious WSOP Circuit Ring, and, most importantly, his own chapter in the poker history books.
2026 WSOP Circuit Tallinn – €1,500 Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Julian Selinger | Austria | €210,000 |
| 2 |  Roy van der Reijnst | Netherlands | €140,500 |
| 3 |  Kai Lehto | Finland | €96,950 |
| 4 |  David Marfil | Spain | €68,575 |
| 5 |  Egidijus Matonis | Lithuania | €49,300 |
| 6 |  Fehim Hajdari | Denmark | €36,050 |
| 7 |  Mateusz Dabkowski | Poland | €26,810 |
| 8 | Mateusz Dabkowski | Poland | €20,300 |
| 9 | Feras Abid | Finland | €15,647 |
That wraps up the 2026 WSOP Circuit Tallinn; what a great event it was. The majority of the poker.pro crew was on-site as a part of the media team, and on behalf of the team, live reporter Christoffer Karlén extends poker.pro’s gratitude towards Nousainen and everyone else involved. When it comes to hospitality and the work environment, there are few, if any, events as good as those hosted by OlyBet.
The poker.pro team members are not the only ones happy with the event; the feedback from all the players have also been great, and perhaps, the 12 new WSOP Circuit Ring Event winners are the one’s who are most pleased, and they’re all looking forward to the 2026 WSOP Paradise, seeing that all Ring Event winners, as previously mentioned, received an added $5,000 package to the prestigious live poker festival in the Bahamas.
2026 WSOP Circuit Tallinn – All Ring Event Winners
| Event | Winner | Country | First-Place Payout | Entries | Prize Pool |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ring Event #1: €350 Mini Main Event | Antti Perttula | Finland | €54,300 | 1,162 | €342,209 |
| Ring Event #2: €555 PLO4/5 |  Sami Saamanen | Estonia | €29,280 | 281 | €133,950 |
| Ring Event #3: €555 NLH |  Mehdi Yazdanpanah | Sweden | €59,465 | 677 | €321,575 |
| Ring Event #4: €350 NLH Queens |  Vilde Ekren | Norway | €7,182 | 86 | €25,327 |
| Ring Event #5: €1,500 Main Event | Julian Selinger | Austria | €210,000 | 977 | €1,253,002 |
| Ring Event #6: €1,100 PLO4/5 | Tarjei Forus | Norway | €28,370 | 198 | €188,100 |
| Ring Event #7: €5,000 NLH | Luka Sorainen | Finland | €66,762 | 42 | €195,552 |
| Ring Event #8: €1,100 8-Game | Aki Pyysing | Finland | €18,380 | 63 | €59,850 |
| Ring Event #9: €555 Sviten | Jelco Burger | Netherlands | €15,510 | 130 | €61,750 |
| Ring Event #10: €1,100 Mystery Bounty | Jonas Lapinskas | Lithuania | €27,660 | 279 | €265,050 |
| Ring Event #11: €3,000 NLH | Patrick Pedersen | Norway | €69,372 | 92 | €249,872 |
| Ring Event #12: €350 Online Ring Event |  Raivo Grislis | Latvia | €9,403 | 130 | €42,900 |
Next up for OlyBet is the 2026 Queens of Tallinn, the women-only live poker festival. The four-day event will take place August 27-30 at Olympic Park Casino & Hilton Tallinn Park Hotel, with the €555 Main Event headlining the schedule. With more than 10 side events, all aspiring queens are in for a treat.
OlyBet proves time and time again that they know how to organize live poker events; not only do they always deliver, but they keep raising the bar.
