Budka, Zeltmatis, & Rantenen Find Gold on Thursday

The inaugural OlyBet Showdown Tallinn heads into its final weekend with big prizes on the line at Olympic Park Casino and the Hilton Tallinn Park. Three winners, including two players earning their second trophies this festival, found gold on Thursday, while the crown jewel of the festival, the OlyBet Showdown Tallinn €1,100 Main Event, heads into Day 2.

Poland’s Krzysztof Budka was the first to win a trophy on Thursday after shipping the €350 PLO4/PLO5 for €4,700. This makes it two trophies in two days after Budka also earned the title on Wednesday in the €200 PLO5 Deepstack Progressive Bounty.

Latvia’s Marcis Zeltmatis earned his second trophy of the festival as well. On Thursday, he won the €555 PLO4/PLO5/NLH Progressive Bounty for €2,540 plus bounties to pair up the trophy he won a few days earlier in the €555 PLO4/PLO5 Progressive Bounty.

Finland’s Semi Rantanen earned the final trophy of the day after shipping the €200 NLH for €2,057.

In other big news, the €1,100 Main Event has already attracted 149 entries during its opening flights on Wednesday and Thursday, adding €141,550 to the prize pool. These figures will grow with late registration remaining open for the first four 60-minute blind levels of Friday’s Day 2. Spain’s David Marfil leads the 74 survivors after parlaying his 50,000 opening stack to 353,000 in chips.

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Krzysztof Budka Wins Second Title in Two Days

The €350 PLO4/PLO5 attracted 40 runners, creating €11,780 in prizes, with the final five players at this star-studded final table each earning at least an €800 min-cash for more than double the buy-in.

Poland’s Krzysztof Budka found himself in familiar territory, facing off heads-up for the second time in as many evenings. Norway’s Vidar Assersen was eyeing the trophy for himself but had to settle for the runner-up prize of €3,080 after Budka was crowned the champion for a second straight night to bank the €4,700 top prize.

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Krzysztof Budka	Poland	€4,700
2	Vidar Assersen	Norway	€3,080
3	Jari Mähönen	Finland	€1,950
4	Vili Turunen	Finland	€1,250
5	Pasquale Vinci	Italy	€800

Second OlyBet Showdown Tallinn Title for Marcis Zeltmatis in €555 PLO4/PLO5/NLH

The €555 PLO4/PLO5/NLH attracted 28 entries, creating €13,300 in prizes, including €5,600 in bounties. Latvia’s Marcis Zeltmatis was heads-up with Poland’s Mateusz Dabkowski, with both players already locking in the €2,540 top prize with the trophy and the massive final bounty on the line.

Zeltmatis came out on top to earn his second trophy this festival, with the other one being in a similar format in the €555 PLO4/PLO5 Progressive Bounty earlier in the week.

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Marcis Zeltmatis	Latvia	€2,540
2	Mateusz Dabkowski	Poland	€2,540
3	Toni Ihalainen	Finland	€1,570
4	Evgeny Vyal	Estonia	€1,050

Semi Rantanen Wins €200 NLH

The €200 NLH attracted 31 entries for a €5,007 prize pool, with the top four players earning at least a €550 min-cash for nearly triple the buy-in.

Finland’s Semi Rantanen won the title for €2,057 after defeating Sweden’s Henrik Jeppsson heads-up.

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Semi Rantanen	Finland	€2,057
2	Henrik Jeppsson	Sweden	€1,450
3	Janis Apinis	Latvia	€950
4	Vili Turunen	Finland	€550

2026 OlyBet Showdown Tallinn Schedule (Friday, April 17)

Friday boasts a packed schedule, starting with players filing in for Day 2 of the €1,100 Main Event at 12 p.m. Another multiday event begins at 4 p.m. with the two-day €350 NLH Deepstack Mystery Bounty.

Three trophies will be awarded on Friday in single-day events, including the €200 PL Sviten at 5 p.m., the €555 NLH Progressive Bounty at 7:30 p.m., and the €200 PLO5 Progressive Bounty Turbo at 10 p.m.

In addition, The Festival Series is back on the schedule with a €80 NLH Satellite, guaranteeing at least two tickets to The Festival Weekend in Vilnius at the end of May.

Check out today’s schedule below and head to OlyBetEvents.com to check out the full schedule, a player’s guide, and more.

Time	Event
12:00	Event #23: €1,100 NLH OlyBet Showdown Tallinn Main Event Day 2
16:00	Event #34: €350 NLH Deepstack Mystery Bounty Day 1
17:00	Event #35: €200 PL Sviten
19:30	Event #36: €555 NLH Progressive Bounty
20:00	Event #37: €80 NLH Satellite to The Festival Weekend (Two Tickets Guaranteed)
22:00	Event #38: €200 PLO5 Progressive Bounty Turbo

• Lead image courtesy of Elena Kask / OlyBet Poker
• Article originally produced at poker.pro.