The 2026 Coolbet Open is back where it belongs. September 1-6 at Olympic Park Casino and the Hilton Tallinn Park Hotel, the same venue that helped build this festival into one of the most beloved fixtures on the Baltic poker calendar. The ninth edition of the Coolbet Open has come home, and home in this case is one of the finest cities in Northern Europe for a poker trip.
For those who remember the early editions of the Coolbet Open, the return to Olympic Park Casino feels less like a logistical decision and more like a correction. This venue, this city, this combination of a world-class poker room with a UNESCO World Heritage medieval city on the doorstep: it is where the Coolbet Open always made the most sense. The 2023 edition went to Bratislava. The festival has moved around. But Tallinn is where the roots are, and the ninth edition feels like the series acknowledging what everyone already knew. This is home.
The 2026 festival packs 32 events into six days, headlined by the €550 NLH Coolbet Open Main Event that qualifiers and poker enthusiasts alike have been circling on their calendars since the schedule was released. Three starting flights on Wednesday, Thursday, and Thursday evening feed into Day 2 on Friday and the Final Day on Saturday September 5. All live reported exclusively at poker.pro.
It is the centerpiece of a schedule that also includes a €1,100 NLH DeepStack, a €350 PLO Mystery Bounty, a TORSES mixed game event, Open-Face Chinese Pineapple, Sviten, PLO4, PLO5, PLO6, a Ladies event, and late-night hyper turbos running until the early hours every night. There is something on the schedule for every type of player.
Six days at the tables is a long time. Nobody plays every session without burning out before Day 3 of the Main Event. Tallinn gives you somewhere worth going when you step away from the felt, and the options are genuinely good. Here is how to make the most of the city around the poker.
- Read more: Coolbet Open Returns to Tallinn and Olympic Park Casino for Ninth Edition
- Read more: Coolbet Open Online 2026 Is Your Route to the Ninth Coolbet Open in Tallinn
- Read more: The Ninth Coolbet Open Is One Week Away and Here Is Why You Should Be There
The Old Town: Start Here
The Hilton Tallinn Park sits a short walk from the Old Town, and the Old Town is where you start. Tallinn’s Vanalinn is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the best-preserved medieval city in Northern Europe. The 13th-century street layout is largely intact: cobblestone lanes, Gothic spires, merchant houses, defensive towers, and the kind of atmosphere that makes you stop mid-walk because something unexpected around a corner has caught your eye. It is compact enough to cover in an afternoon and interesting enough to reward several visits across the week.
Town Hall Square at the center is the obvious starting point. The Gothic Town Hall dates to the 15th century. The square fills up with outdoor seating and market stalls in September, which is shoulder season in Tallinn: warm enough to sit outside, crowds manageable, the manic peak of summer tourism over. Walk up to Toompea Hill for the views over the city’s rooftops and the lower town below, and take a look at the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, the onion-domed Russian Orthodox church built in 1900 that sits directly opposite the Estonian parliament. The contrast between the two buildings tells you a fair amount about Estonian history in a single glance.
The defensive walls and towers are worth exploring on foot. Kiek in de Kok is the best of the towers, a six-story 15th-century cannon tower that now houses a museum. The name translates roughly from Low German as “peep into the kitchen,” a reference to the tower’s height giving guards views directly into the kitchens of the houses below. September temperatures in Tallinn run around 14-18°C during the day and cooler in the evenings, so a jacket is worth having for the evening sessions when you head back out after a bust. For a full list of Old Town attractions, Visit Tallinn has everything you need.
Telliskivi and Kalamaja: The Other Tallinn
The Old Town is the Tallinn most people know. Telliskivi and the Kalamaja neighborhood next door are the Tallinn worth discovering. Telliskivi is a former industrial complex converted into Tallinn’s creative hub: bars, restaurants, concept stores, street art, the Fotografiska Tallinn photography museum, and one of the best concentrations of genuinely good food and drink in the city. It is about a 20-minute walk from the Hilton or five minutes on the tram.
F-Hoone in the heart of Telliskivi is the place to eat. Estonian comfort food, relaxed atmosphere, local crowd, good craft beer selection. Prices are reasonable and the kitchen runs late, which matters when you have been at the table since noon. Noa Bistro in the same area is the more refined option for anyone who wants something closer to a proper dinner after a deep run. For cocktails, Sveta Baar is worth knowing: it sells furniture and vintage clothing during the day and turns into one of the city’s better bars at night.
The Põhjala Brewery taproom in the Kalamaja area is mandatory for anyone who takes craft beer seriously. Põhjala is Estonia’s best-known craft brewery and the taproom has the full range on tap, including seasonal releases that do not get bottled. Dark Baltic porters, hoppy session ales, and whatever they have been experimenting with that month. Go in the early evening before it fills up.
Also in Telliskivi at number 57 is Hill Hill Billiard Cafe, a proper pool hall that has become a genuine local favorite. Billiards, snooker, darts, pinball, and air hockey, all in a spacious and non-smoking room with a full bar. Tables are priced by the minute and darts are free. It is open until midnight on weekdays and 2am on weekends, which makes it a natural landing spot after an early bust when you want to do something competitive but do not want to sit in a bar for the rest of the evening. Poker players tend to find this kind of place immediately useful.
Telliskivi and Kalamaja have more to offer than this list covers. For a full rundown of what is happening in the area, Visit Tallinn’s Kalamaja and Telliskivi guide is the right starting point.
Kadriorg: The Park and the Palace
Kadriorg is about two kilometers east of the Old Town and worth the walk or the tram ride. Peter the Great built the Kadriorg Palace in the early 18th century as a summer residence, and the surrounding park covers nearly 250 acres of formal gardens, woodland paths, and ponds. In September the park turns with the first autumn colors, which makes it one of the more genuinely pleasant walks in the city. The KUMU Art Museum at the edge of the park is Estonia’s national art museum and the largest art museum in the Baltic states, worth an hour if you are the kind of person who visits museums on poker trips.
Kadriorg in the morning before a noon tournament start is the right move. Coffee from a nearby cafe, a 45-minute walk through the park, back at the hotel by 11:30. It is the kind of reset that makes a six-day festival sustainable rather than something you grind through and then recover from for a week afterward. More on Kadriorg and the surrounding area at Visit Tallinn.
At the Hotel: The Able Butcher and Café Linnutee
You will not need to leave the Hilton Tallinn Park to eat well. The hotel’s signature restaurant is The Able Butcher, an informal steakhouse built around an open kitchen and wine cellar. The menu runs from premium cuts to seasonal dishes using local produce, and the terrace is worth requesting a table on in early September while the weather holds. It is the right option for a proper dinner after a deep run in the Main Event, or for the kind of meal you have on the evening you arrive before the tournament starts.
For something quicker and more casual, Café and Bar Linnutee in the hotel lobby runs drinks, coffee, and quick bites throughout the day. It is exactly what you need between sessions: a good coffee, something to eat in twenty minutes, and back to the table. The bar menu runs until late, which matters on the nights the tournament goes long.
OlyBet Bar and Grill: Right Next Door
Right next to the Olympic Park Casino, the OlyBet Bar and Grill is the natural extension of the poker room for anyone who wants food, sport, and a drink without going far. The kitchen runs a Josper charcoal grill, which is the detail that matters: this is not standard sports bar food. The menu covers the full range from a cheeseburger with fries at €14.50 up to a Tomahawk beef steak, with chicken wings, BBQ ribs, grilled salmon, and mussels filling out the middle. Everything that comes off the charcoal grill has the flavor that only real coal produces, which puts it in a different category from anything that comes out of a standard kitchen.
The sports screens run live broadcasts throughout the day and night. Prices are reasonable, the atmosphere is relaxed, and the staff know the poker crowd well from previous tournaments at Olympic Park Casino. If you bust out on the bubble and need a beer and a steak and a place to decompress without thinking too hard about where to go, the OlyBet Bar and Grill is the answer.
Eforea Spa: The Recovery Option
Six days of poker is physically demanding in a way that people who have not done it do not fully appreciate. Long sessions, irregular sleep, too much coffee, not enough movement. The Eforea Spa at the Hilton Tallinn Park is the solution, and it is genuinely well-equipped. The facilities include a 15-meter heated indoor pool, two saunas, a steam room, a hot tub, an outdoor terrace, and a 24-hour fitness center. Treatment rooms offer facials, deep tissue massage, aroma therapy, and body wraps, all bookable through the hotel concierge.
The morning of a day you are not playing a noon tournament is the right time to use it. An hour in the pool, a sauna session, a massage if you have booked one, and you will arrive at the afternoon tournament a different person than the one who stumbled out of bed. Pool, sauna, and hot tub are available to hotel guests. Book treatments in advance as the spa fills up during festival week.
Food Worth Knowing
Estonian food is an underrated cuisine and September is a good time to eat it. The local staples are pork, dark bread, herring, and root vegetables, prepared with Nordic influence and genuine creativity in the better restaurants. NOA Restaurant on the Tallinn coast is the standout for a proper dinner out. The moody dining room, the views over the water, and the kitchen’s way with local fish make it the kind of meal you plan an evening around. Book ahead.
Leib at Uus 31 in the Old Town is the best of the Old Town options, which is saying something because most Old Town restaurants in any European city are tourist traps. Leib is the exception: modern Estonian cuisine, a good wine list, and a courtyard garden that is still usable in early September. The name means bread in Estonian.
For something quicker between sessions, the Balti Jaam Market near Telliskivi runs food stalls with local produce, street food, and coffee from early morning. Maiasmokk Cafe in the Old Town is Estonia’s oldest cafe, open since 1864, worth a stop for coffee and a cake on a morning walk. Tallinn has dozens of excellent dining options at every price point. For a more complete picture, Visit Tallinn’s food and drink guide covers the full range.
After the Bust: Tallinn Nightlife
Tallinn has a genuine nightlife scene that goes well beyond the tourist-facing bars in the Old Town. The three areas worth knowing are the Old Town itself for the most accessible options, Telliskivi for the more interesting ones, and Noblessner on the waterfront for something different entirely.
Hell Hunt in the Old Town, whose name translates as “the gentle wolf,” has been open since 1993 and is Estonia’s oldest pub. Ten draught beers, 60-plus in bottles, a terrace in the courtyard in summer, and a local crowd that keeps it from feeling like a tourist bar. It fills up fast on weekends so arrive before 8pm if you want a table. Von Krahli Baar attached to a theatre in the Old Town is the quiet option for a conversation-friendly drink without music drowning everything out.
For clubs, Club Prive is the main event for a mainstream night out and Studio for electronic music. The club season in Tallinn picks up properly in September as summer ends and the outdoor terraces close. If you are going after midnight, check what is on before you go. Tallinn’s nightlife runs deep and varied. Visit Tallinn’s nightlife guide has a full rundown.
Lounge 24 at the top of the Radisson Blu Hotel has arguably the best view in the city and is the right call for a quieter drink after a long day. Sit by the window, look out over the Old Town rooftops, order something sensible, and remind yourself you still have days of poker ahead of you.
Special Events During the Coolbet Open Week
The timing of the Coolbet Open this year is genuinely fortunate. The week overlaps with two of the biggest music events in Tallinn’s 2026 calendar, covering very different ends of the spectrum.
For the rock and metal crowd: Fear Factory bring their Cybernetic Domination world tour to Helitehas on Friday September 4, with special guests Crystal Lake, Hate, and The Nocturnal Affair. Fear Factory are one of the founding acts of industrial metal, formed in Los Angeles in 1989 with ten studio albums to their name. The Helitehas is one of Tallinn’s best live music venues, an old factory space with serious sound and room for a proper crowd. This show falls during festival week and if you bust out on Friday evening you have somewhere serious to go. Tickets available through Piletilevi.
For the electronic music crowd: Armin van Buuren performs at Tallinna Lauluväljak, the iconic Tallinn Song Festival Grounds, on Saturday September 5, the Main Event final day. The Song Festival Grounds are one of the most spectacular outdoor concert venues in the world, built into a natural amphitheater with a capacity of around 80,000 people. If you are out before the final table and looking for somewhere to send a Saturday evening, this is the answer. Book tickets well in advance as this will sell out.
Also during festival week: the Orchestre Français des Jeunes performs at Estonia Concert Hall with cellist Edgar Moreau on Wednesday September 2, covering Elgar and Strauss. Estonia Concert Hall is a five-minute walk from the Hilton. If you bust out of the first Main Event flight and want to spend the evening doing something completely unlike poker, a classical concert in one of the finest acoustic venues in the Baltics is a legitimate choice. For a full listing of what is on during the week, Visit Tallinn’s events calendar covers everything.
Day Trip: Helsinki
If you have a rest day or a free afternoon on a day without a tournament you want to play, the Helsinki ferry is worth knowing about. Tallink Silja Line and Viking Line both run multiple sailings per day between Tallinn and Helsinki, with crossing times of around two hours each way. Helsinki is a full European capital city with excellent food, design culture, and waterfront architecture. A morning departure gets you there by noon, gives you six or seven hours in the city, and has you back in Tallinn for dinner. It is genuinely one of the better day trips available from any European city.
The Practical Stuff
Estonia uses the euro making it easy for most travelers to use the same currency as home or to exchange. Tallinn is meaningfully cheaper than Western Europe: a good dinner with wine runs €30-50 per person at a proper restaurant, street food and market options run €5-12. The city is compact and walkable; the Old Town, Telliskivi, and Kadriorg are all reachable from the Hilton on foot or by tram. The Tallinn Card, available at €43 for 24 hours, covers entry to over 50 attractions and unlimited public transport, which is good value if you plan to move around the city on a rest day. Tallinn Airport is eight kilometers from the city center with regular bus and taxi connections, direct flights from most major European cities, and no need for a connecting flight from anywhere in the region. You arrive, check in, and you are at the poker table within an hour of landing.
September in Tallinn is one of the best times to be in the city. The summer crowds are gone, the temperatures are pleasant, the restaurants are at full capacity, and the Coolbet Open is at Olympic Park Casino. If you have been thinking about making the trip, the ninth edition coming home to where it all started is the right moment.
The 2026 Coolbet Open Schedule
| Date | Time | Event |
|---|---|---|
| September 1 | 12:00 | Event #1: Freebuy Satellite to €350 Coolbet Open Deepstack Mystery Bounty (Five Seats Guaranteed) |
| 15:00 | Event #2: €350 NLH Deepstack Mystery Bounty Day 1 | |
| 18:00 | Event #3: €200 PL Sviten | |
| 20:00 | Event #4: €200 NLH Warm-Up | |
| 21:00 | Event #5: €250 PLO4 | |
| 22:30 | Event #6: €20 Satellite to €550 Coolbet Open Main Event (Five Seats Guaranteed) | |
| September 2 | 12:00 | Event #7: €550 Coolbet Open Main Event Day 1A |
| 13:00 | Event #2: €350 NLH Deepstack Mystery Bounty Final Day | |
| 13:00 | Event #8: €80 Mega-Satellite to €550 Main Event (10 Seats Guaranteed) | |
| 14:00 | Event #9: €250 T.O.R.S.E.S. | |
| 16:00 | Event #10: €250 NLH Progressive Bounty | |
| 18:00 | Event #11: €200 PLO5/PLO5 Hi-Lo | |
| 20:00 | Event #12: €350 NLH Deepstack | |
| 21:30 | Event #13: €200 Jevakim’s Hyper Turbo | |
| September 3 | 12:00 | Event #7: €550 Coolbet Open Main Event Day 1B |
| 12:00 | Event #14: €80 Satellite to €1,100 NLH Deepstack (Three Seats Guaranteed) | |
| 14:00 | Event #16: €250 PLO4/PLO5 Progressive Bounty | |
| 16:00 | Event #17: €200 NLH | |
| 19:00 | Event #18: €200 Five-Card Mix | |
| 19:30 | Event #7: €550 Coolbet Open Main Event Day 1C | |
| 20:00 | Event #19: €200 Leffern’s Hyper Turbo | |
| 22:00 | Event #20: €150 Satellite to €1,100 NLH Deepstack (Five Seats Guaranteed) | |
| September 4 | 12:00 | Event #7: €550 Coolbet Open Main Event Day 2 |
| 13:00 | Event #21: €80 Last Chance Satellite to €1,100 NLH Deepstack (Three Seats Guaranteed) | |
| 17:00 | Event #22: €1,100 NLH Coolbet Open Deepstack Day 1 | |
| 17:00 | Event #23: €150 NLH Coolbet Ladies (Women Only) | |
| 18:00 | Event #24: €350 PLO4/PLO5 Deepstack Mystery Bounty Day 1 | |
| 20:00 | Event #25: €200 NLH Supreme | |
| 22:30 | Event #26: €200 NLH/PLO4 Hyper Turbo | |
| September 5 | 12:00 | Event #7: €550 Coolbet Open Main Event Final Day ★ |
| 13:00 | Event #22: €1,100 NLH Coolbet Open Deepstack Final Day | |
| 13:00 | Event #24: €350 PLO4/PLO5 Deepstack Mystery Bounty Final Day | |
| 13:00 | Event #27: €200 Open-Face Chinese Pineapple | |
| 15:00 | Event #28: €350 NLH Deepstack with Added Prizes | |
| 18:00 | Event #29: €250 PLO4/PLO5/PLO6 Progressive Bounty | |
| 21:00 | Event #30: Golf and Poker Tournament | |
| 22:30 | Event #31: €200 Sycksbe’s Hyper Turbo | |
| September 6 | 12:00 | Event #32: €200 Coolbet Closer Hyper Turbo |
- Full schedule, registration links, and structure sheets at olybetevents.com.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Article originally produced at poker.pro.
