An ambitious guaranteed prize pool of €1,000,000 was set out for the €1,100 Main Event of the Kings of Tallinn’s tenth anniversary. The series had never reached a seven-figure prize pool, so records had to be broken. And broken they were, as at the end of late registration midway through Day 2, the tally stood at 1,181 entries, surpassing the guarantee and creating a prize pool of €1,098,330.
At the end of the day, only 113 players were left standing, all in the money. Mikael Haapaniemi was the only chip millionaire, ending up with a stack of 1,015,000, good for 126 big blinds when play resumes on Day 3. Haapaniemi finished sixth in the 2023 Kings of Tallinn Summer Showdown Main Event and has made good strides to make his second Main Event final table at Olympic Park Casino.
Haapniemi’s fellow Finn Aklilu Laitinen sits in second on the leaderboard with a stack of 976,000, while Yaniv Peretz from Latvia occupies third place with 967,000 chips. €555 Championship winner Ahmet Canatan is well on his way to another success this week as he bagged 951,000, while Irish mainstay Michael Dwyer rounds out the top five. Jevgeni Voitovits was the best performing Estonian on Day 2, ending up in ninth place with 617,000.
End of Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Day 3 Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Mikael Haapaniemi | Finland | 1,015,000 | 127 |
| 2 | Aklilu Laitinen | Finland | 976,000 | 122 |
| 3 |  Yaniv Peretz | Latvia | 967,000 | 121 |
| 4 |  Ahmet Canatan | Denmark | 951,000 | 119 |
| 5 |  Michael Dwyer | Ireland | 837,000 | 105 |
| 6 |  Mirco De Martini | Italy | 825,000 | 103 |
| 7 |  Isak Bergstrom | Sweden | 677,000 | 85 |
| 8 |  Piotr Sztenkiel | Poland | 650,000 | 81 |
| 9 |  Jevgeni Voitovits | Estonia | 617,000 | 77 |
| 10 |  Olaf Larssen | Norway | 611,000 | 76 |
Many other notable players made it through to Day 3, including Igor Pihela Jr. (577,000), past Kings of Tallinn champions Mathias Siljander (511,000), Juha Helppi (427,000) and Kai Lehto (221,000), and lone US representative Robbie Schiffbauer (292,000). Start-of-day chipleader Veikka Keto-Tokoi also found a bag, although the 262,000 he ended the day with was less than what he started with.
Day 2 Action
The day started with four more levels of late registration, at the end of which around 300 players remained. About half of them would get in the money as there were 151 paid spots, but the likes of Martin Kabrhel, Harry Lodge, Renan Bruschi, Blaz Zerjav, Robert Kaggerud, and Espen Sandvik would not come close to reaching the bubble phase.
Tarmo Tammel waved off some 30 spots before the money, while Tobias Leknes fell not much later. The first-ever Kings of Tallinn champion Ranno Sootla could not do it again ten years later as he ended up in 170th place.
Roope Tarmi, Panagiotis Mavritsakis, and Ermo Kosk got tantalizingly close to the money, all busting within ten eliminations away from it. Where many a poker tournament slows down near the bubble phase, the steady flow of eliminations continued.
Eventually, three all-in and calls happened simulteanously just before hand-for-hand. Kestutis Jungevicius, Enea Subashi, and Nikolay Ponomarev all busted at different tables with 152 players remaining, meaning that they split two min-cashes and walked away with a consolation prize of €1,400 each.
The remaining players had all secured themselves a min-cash of €2,100 as play continued for another hour or so. Kristiana Stauere (141st – €2,250) booked back-to-back in-the-money finishes in the Main Event and was quickly followed by Luka Sorainen (136th – €2,250) and Igor Pihela Sr. (134th – €2,250).
Paul Newey (127th – €2,250) busted a few spots later, while Vivian Saliba (119th – €2,450) and recently-crowned Kings of Tallinn PLO champion Gisle Olsen (117th – €2,450) picked up a pay jump as they were eliminated during the final few hands of the night.
When all was said and done, 113 players bagged up for Day 3, who have all guaranteed themselves a payday of €2,450. However, the massive prize pool has left €182,000 reserved for the winner, which all 113 will be dreaming of tonight.
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | €182,000 | 14-15 | €9,800 | |
| 2 | €115,000 | 16-17 | €8,515 | |
| 3 | €80,000 | 18-20 | €7,500 | |
| 4 | €61,000 | 21-23 | €6,500 | |
| 5 | €47,000 | 24-27 | €5,600 | |
| 6 | €36,500 | 28-31 | €4,850 | |
| 7 | €28,000 | 32-39 | €4,200 | |
| 8 | €21,800 | 40-55 | €3,650 | |
| 9 | €16,800 | 56-71 | €3,200 | |
| 10-11 | €13,500 | 72-95 | €2,800 | |
| 12-13 | €11,400 | 96-113 | €2,450 |
Day 3 will start tomorrow at noon local time. The tournament will continue in Level 20: 4,000/8,000 with an 8,000 big blind ante, with levels remaining 60 minutes long throughout the day.
Tune back in to the live report tomorrow as the Kings of Tallinn Main Event will get into the business end of things.
