2025 Kings of Tallinn Day 2: Two Finns Win First Two Titles

The 2025 Kings of Tallinn has thus far more than lived up to its billing. The festival boasts 64 numbered events in a variety of stakes, poker variants, and formats, highlighted by the four-day 2025 Kings of Tallinn €1,100 Main Event, which boasts for the first time a record €1 million guarantee to highlight the 10th anniversary of this iconic event.

The first two trophies were awarded on Friday, February 21 with the Finnish flag waived both times. Timo Tamminen became the only player thus far to earn a five-figure prize after defeating the United Kingdom’s Max Sanders heads-up to win the two-day Event #2: €200 NLH DeepStack Opening Event for €10,260.

Andreas Backlund followed this up with his biggest cash, according to The Hendon Mob, after defeating fellow Finn Henri Schalin to win the top prize of €5,228 in the one-day Event #5 €150 PLO4/PLO5/PLO6 Mix.

Meanwhile, the top of the leaderboard of the two-day Event #4: €350 NLH Kings of Tallinn Cup boasts Finland’s Pekka Ikonen, followed by 2022 Tallinn Summer Showdown Main Event champion Glen Gaines.

In other news, the Kings of Tallinn giveaways for the 10th anniversary began on Friday, with long-time Estonian resident Jimmy Dewerdt randomly winning a seat in the €555 NLH Championship starting today. Another player, and this time also a team from the OlyBet Team Competition, will win a special prize on Saturday and expect the giveaways to continue throughout the week.

Read on to learn more about Day 2 of the 2025 Kings of Tallinn at Olympic Park Casino and the Hilton Tallinn Park or click on the links below to read about the event.

• Read more: Live Reporting of the 2025 Kings of Tallinn
• Read more: 2025 Kings of Tallinn Landing Page and Team Challenge Sign-Up at OlyBetEvents.com
• Read more: Kings of Tallinn Celebrating 10 Year Anniversary in Style
• Read more: Kings of Tallinn Main Event Holds a €1 Million GTD – Bigger than Ever Before
• Read more: Ten Multi-Day Events During the 2025 Kings of Tallinn
• Read more: OlyBet Rolls Out Red Carpet for Kings of Tallinn 10th Anniversary
• Read more: Your Guide to Mixed Games at the 2025 Kings of Tallinn
• Read more: Redtooth Poker Tour Heads to Tallinn for European Leg of the 2024/25 Season
• Read more: 2025 Kings of Tallinn Day 1: Packed House Kicks the Action Off

Timo Tamminen Wins €200 NLH DeepStack Opening Event

The two-day €200 NLH Deepstack attracted 319 entries to create a €50,434 prize pool, representing an amazing start to the festival with a total of 41 players earning at least a €390 min-cash for nearly double the buy-in.

The final table was a fun one and there were three different countries represented on the podium. Estonia’s hopes were dashed from winning the first title of the 2025 King of Tallinn after Raigo Vaikma hit the rail in third place for €4,890 leaving Timo Tamminen and the formidable Max Sanders heads-up for the title. Sanders, who has attended many festivals in Tallinn over the past few years, wasn’t able to earn a trophy and settled for the €6,900 runner-up prize as an amazing start to the festival, while Timo Tamminen notched his third-ever five-digit prize after earning the trophy which came with a €10,260 top prize.

Event #2: €200 NLH DeepStack Opening Event Results

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Timo Tamminen	Finland	€10,260
2	Maximilian Sanders	United Kingdom	€6,900
3	Raigo Vaikma	Estonia	€4,890
4	Niko Heikkinen	Finland	€3,460
5	Stefan Olofsson	Sweden	€2,460
6	Kaspar Anderson	Estonia	€1,844
7	Hardi Karolin	Estonia	€1,410
8	Vadims Milovs	Latvia	€1,180
9	Ahto Järve	Estonia	€1,020
10	Hendry Kullamäe	Estonia	€900
11	Veli-Pekka Penttinen	Finland	€900
12	Enea Subashi	Greece	€800
13	Marek Martin	Estonia	€800
14	Niko Penttinen	Finland	€720
15	Kaspars Mamons	Latvia	€720
16	Thuy Anh Dao	Vietnam	€650
17	Glen Gaines	United Kingdom	€650
18	Peter Roslund	Sweden	€580
19	Juho Korhonen	Finland	€580
20	Elias Suhonen	Finland	€580
21	Dmitri Damaskin	Estonia	€530
22	Illia Petrytsia	Ukraine	€530
23	Robert Kallikorm	Estonia	€530
24	Andrei Mjagkov	Estonia	€480
25	Maksim Solodilov	Estonia	€480
26	Aleksei Gontsar	Estonia	€480
27	Hugh O´Donnell	United Kingdom	€480
28	Mikael Slavov	Finland	€430
29	Lukas Kviecinskas	Lithuania	€430
30	Juho Suutari	Finland	€430
31	Ardo Tsukker	Estonia	€430
32	Joni Nenonen	Finland	€390
33	Steinn Thanh Du Karlsson	Iceland	€390
34	Ardo Pinna	Estonia	€390
35	Haitian Yang	China	€390
36	Yurii Zabrodotskyi	Ukraine	€390
37	Fred Martens	Estonia	€390
38	Jouni Huovila	Finland	€390
39	Sergejs Piratovs	Latvia	€390
40	Valentin Francois	France	€390
41	Ingvar Linne	Sweden	€390

Andreas Backlund Wins Event #5: €150 PLO4/PLO5/PLO6

The one-day Event #5: €150 PLO4/PLO5/PLO6 attracted a banner field of 209 players to create a €25,268 prize pool. The top 29 players earned at least a €280 min-cash with the prizes moving up quickly from there.

It seemed destined with four Finns remaining out of the final five players that Finland would sweep the day with trophies. However, the possibility that Sweden would be able to take some of Finland’s thunder after Risto Pönniö (fourth – €1,780) and Jukka Juvonen (fifth – €1,400) hit the rail.

The lock was secure for Finland after Sweden’s Mounir Tajiou was first out on the podium in third place for €2,380. Henri Schalin, who has been witnessed in the winner’s circle at previous Kings of Tallinn festivals, fell one spot shy of securing an early trophy and settled for the €3,430 runner-up prize, while Andreas Backlund earned the trophy and the €5,228 top prize.

Event #5: €150 PLO4/PLO5/PLO6 Payouts

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Andreas Backlund	Finland	€5,228
2	Henri Schalin	Finland	€3,430
3	Mounir Tajiou	Sweden	€2,380
4	Risto Pönniö	Finland	€1,780
5	Jukka Juvonen	Finland	€1,400
6	Michal Cornak	Czech Republic	€1,150
7	Olli-Pekka Huuskonen	Finland	€920
8	Joni KNenonen	Finland	€730
9	Aleksandrs Sotnikovs	Latvia	€730
10	Kaspar Laursoo	Estonia	€580
11	Timo Koivuniemi	Finland	€580
12	Tapio Vihakas	Finland	€480
13	Martin von Zweigbergk	Sweden	€480
14	Barrie Dear	England	€480
15	Pyry Remesaho	Finland	€410
16	Elias Suhonen	Finland	€410
17	Mikael Koistinen	Finland	€410
18	Steinn Thanh Du Karlsson	Iceland	€360
19	Tomasz Gluszko	Poland	€360
20	Roope Tarmi	Finland	€360
21	Tommi Lankinen	Finland	€310
22	Henri Ojala	Estonia	€310
23	Vesa Nieminen	Finland	€310
24	Tommi Koskela	Finland	€280
25	Egon Kaljulaid	Estonia	€280
26	Tobias Napel	Norway	€280
27	Khalid Dghaim	United States	€280
28	Veli-Pekka Penttinen	Finland	€280
29	Ranel Käsi	Estonia	€280

2025 Kings of Tallinn Schedule Day 3 (Saturday, Feb. 22)

Five trophies will be awarded on Saturday, February 22 with the action kicking off with the final day of the €350 Kings of Tallinn Cup and the Redtooth Invitational simultaneously beginning at Noon. The team at poker.pro will live report the Redtooth Invitational for the first time to give a taste of grassroots poker to the poker world.

Players were already practicing for the €200 Open-face Chinese Pineapple at 2 p.m. when also the first opening flight of the €555 Kings of Tallinn Championship at 2 p.m. The second of four opening flights begins at 7 p.m. with players also able to hop into the €200 Progressive Bounty at 3 p.m..

The final trophy event will begin at 7 p.m., with the games rotating in the €200 NLH/PLO4/PLO5. Two mega satellites will award at least 10 seats each to the €555 Championship and the €1 million guaranteed Kings of Tallinn €1,100 Main Event at 7:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., respectively.

Check out Friday’s schedule below or head to the OlyBetEvents.com landing page to see the full schedule and more.

Time	Event
12:00	Event #4: €350 KoT Cup Final Day
12:00	Redtooth Invitational
14:00	Event #7: €555 KoT Championship Day 1a
14:00	Event #8: €200 Open-face Chinese Pineapple
15:00	Event #9: €200 Progressive Bounty
19:00	Event #7: €555 KoT Championship Day 1b
19:00	Event #10: €200 NLH/PLO4/PLO5
19:30	Event #11: €80 Mega Satellite to €555 KoT Championship (10 seats GTD)
22:30	Event #12: €150 Mega Satellite to €1,100 KoT Main Event (10 seats GTD)

*Photos courtesy of Elena Kask