The Kings of Tallinn €1,100 PLO Championship broke all records by attracting a field of 271 entries. After two days of play, only Gisle Olsen was left standing, hoisting the trophy. Having lost five heads-up battles in his long career, this marks Olsen’s first-ever recorded live tournament victory. The Danish player, whose first recorded cash stems from 2010, was awarded €52,280 for his efforts, a new all-time best score.
Olsen started the final table in the middle of the pack but quickly rose to the top as he wrapped up the final table in under 90 minutes of play. The last hurdle on his way to victory was heads-up opponent Tero Laurilla, who only lasted a few hands in the duel and had to console himself with the runner-up prize of €34,350.
Meanwhile, 2019 Main Event finalist Jussi Mattila finished in fifth for €14,400, while start-of-day chipleader Tobias Leknes was the first to bow out from the final table, receiving €8,650 for his seventh place.
€1,100 PLO Championship Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Gisle Olsen | Denmark | €52,280 |
| 2 |  Tero Laurila | Finland | €34,350 |
| 3 |  Alexander Holmberg | Sweden | €24,500 |
| 4 | Fredrik Lindstrom | Finland | €18,600 |
| 5 | Jussi Mattila | Finland | €14,400 |
| 6 | Kristian Kostiander | Finland | €11,250 |
| 7 |  Tobias Leknes | Norway | €8,650 |
Day 2 Action
At the start of Day 2, 52 players remained, all eyeing a piece of the €252,030 prize pool. However, such luck was only reserved for the top 35 finishers, meaning 17 players had to leave the field empty-handed. Sebastian Wahl was the first casualty of the day, and he was soon followed by the likes of Mystery Bounty winner Robert Kagerud and Pot-Limit Razz champion Blaz Zerjav.
Igor Pihela Jr. busted five spots from the money, and, after about an hour and a half of play, the bubble burst as Mikael Haapaniemi was eliminated in 36th before the tournament even went hand-for-hand.
Min-cashes were picked up by Vivian Saliba (32nd – €2,100) and first-ever Kings of Tallinn Main Event champion Ranno Sootla (31st – €2,100). Sootla’s fellow Tallinn royalty Juha Helppi (26th – €2,350) and Kai Lehto (24th – €2,340) picked up some pay jumps, while Espen Sandvik (17th – €3,350) and Mathias Siljander (16th – €3,350) waved goodbye at the final three tables. The best Estonian player was Henrik Puija, who finished in 13th place for €3,950.
After three levels of play with two tables, the short-stacked Jyri Merivirta was eliminated in eighth place, setting the final table of seven in stone. Leknes had lost a big pot just before the start of the final table, leaving him as the shortest stack. He tried to claw back, but his fate as seventh-place finisher was sealed when he jammed into the flush of Fredrik Lindstrom.
Kristian Kostiander (6th – €11,250) soon followed after losing out on a chop pot thanks to a flushy river. It was at this point that Olsen started to heat up. First, he eliminated Matilla in a preflop confrontation before winning a big pot from a bluffing Lindstrom.
Lindstrom was left short after the encounter with Olsen. The double-suited aces he was dealt looked like a promising way out of the hole, but Laurila’s kings turned quads to eliminate Lindstrom in fourth instead, receiving €18,600.
Not much later, Olsen cracked the kings of Alexander Holmberg to eliminate him in third for €24,500. Olsen started the heads-up with about three times as many chips as Laurila and finished the job within a couple of hands. Olsen got it in with aces preflop against the queens of Laurila. Olsen made a set on the flop and turned a full house to win the tournament without much of a sweat, ending a 15-year-long drought.
Thus concludes the live report for the PLO Championship. Tune back in tomorrow as the prestigious €1,000,000 guaranteed Main Event heads into Day 2, and will, of course, be live reported from start to finish.
