2025 Kings of Tallinn Day 6: Benyamin Canatan Wins €555 KoT Championship (€66,050)

Seven trophies were awarded on Tuesday at the 2025 OlyBet Kings of Tallinn at Olympic Park Casino and the Hilton Tallinn Park. It was a day of honoring the past champions for the 10th anniversary of this iconic event with both a live-streamed Royal Showdown Invitational, where previous winners battled against each other for prize money, tickets, and a VIP football trip to Florence, and the €200 Royal Showdown where €200 bounties on each previous champions of the Kings of Tallinn and Vilnius and Queens of Tallinn were added by OlyBet to add some additional fun and excitement.

The 2020 Kings of Tallinn Main Event champion Johan Karlsson was the King of all Kings and Queens after shipping the Royal Showdown for €1,000 in cash, a €3,000 Kings of Tallinn ticket, and a football VIP trip for two to Florence. Meanwhile, Vilius Zabarauskas made the most of the €200 Royal Showdown, winning a five-figure prize of €10,610.

• Read the poker.pro live reports about Johan Karlsson’s road to victory in the Royal Showdown Invitational.

Denmark’s Benyamin Canatan was easily the star of this busy day at the Kings of Tallinn. The heads-up action was live-streamed after the conclusion of the Royal Showdown Invitational, where poker fans around the world witnessed Ahmet Canatan win the three-day €555 Kings of Tallinn Championship for €66,050, representing easily the largest cash thus far this festival.

• Read the poker.pro live reports about Benyamin Canatan’s road to victory in the €555 Kings of Tallinn Championship.

Siarhei Narozhny shipped the €350 Open-Face Chinese Pineapple for €8,980, but the story here is that players in the top 10 spots were from different countries for the first time in Kings of Tallinn history. To make this more unique, Estonians were locked out of this group even though there were many impressive OFC players from their home country.

Robert Kaggerud won the two-day €555 Mystery Bounty for €16,045 plus bounties, Aleksi Roine shipped the €150 NLH Turbo for €5,470, and Slovenia poker superstar Blaz Zerjav won the €200 PL Razz for €3,190.

If you thought the day was already busy, yesterday also marked the start of the €1 million guaranteed 2025 Kings of Tallinn Main Event. The first of five opening flights was busy with 175 entries getting into the mix with Estonia’s Rauno Ratt advancing to Day 2 with the Day 1a chip lead over the 60 survivors after parlaying his 30,000 starting stack into a whopping pile of 253,500 in chips after battling it out for nine levels of one-hour each.

Read on to learn more about Day 6 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
• Read more: 2025 Kings of Tallinn Day 2: Two Finns Win First Two Titles
• Read more: 2025 Kings of Tallinn Day 3: Stanislav Smeljov Wins Largest of 5 Titles on Saturday
• Read more: 2025 Kings of Tallinn Day 4: Poker Journalist Among Five Trophy Winners on Sunday
• Read more: 2025 Kings of Tallinn Day 5: Finns Go 3 for 3 to Sweep the Board

A Memorable Debut: Benyamin Canatan Ships Largest-Ever €555 Kings of Tallinn Championship for €66,050

The Kings of Tallinn is celebrating its tenth anniversary this edition and, while a lot of returning faces are wandering the halls of Olympic Park Casino, the promises of big fields, a good atmosphere, and plenty of events also draw new names to the Estonian capital.

Benyamin Canatan is one of the players experiencing the festival for the first time, and he made sure it would be one to never forget as he stood victorious at the end of the €555 Championship. A record field of 710 entries was recorded for this event, with Canatan defeating his final opponent, Michel Karim, another newcomer to Tallinn, after a dominating heads-up performance. Canatan took home €66,050 along with the shiny Kings of Tallinn trophy, while Karim received €41,650 as a consolation prize, both scores being the largest-ever recorded cash for the players.

Other players who made the final table include Hanna Heinlo (4th – €20,150), who achieved the feat of being the highest-placing Estonian for the second Championship in a row, and 2023 Main Event champion Priit Parmasto (5th – €15,250).

Long before Canatan would be crowned champion, 24 players returned for the third and final day of the tournament. English high roller Paul Newey (24th – €1,800) was immediately eliminated as his Ace-King got sucked out on by Ace-Queen on the first hand. Newey’s fellow high-stakes regular Martin Kabrhel ran his top pair into aces before surrendering his final few blinds and ending in 18th place for €2,150.

Following the rapid pace of eliminations, the final two tables were reached within an hour. Bodhan Hyshko (16th – €2,150) could not hold on much longer than that after his aces were cracked in a pre-flop all-in against Mounir Tajiou. Not much later, Tajiou found aces himself and used them to eliminate Marius Hakonsen in 12th, taking home €3,600. Tajiou could not put the chips to much use, however, as he was next to depart in 11th, being awarded €4,700, leaving the field on the final table bubble.

Stanislav Smeljov was looking to make his second final table appearance of the series, having taken down the €350 Cup for €26,100 earlier this week. However, short-handed Smeljov ran his jacks into the kings of Canatan, sending him packing in tenth for €4,700, denying him a second victory and creating a final table of nine players.

Kareem was looking unstoppable, even widening the chip discrepancy to six-to-one early on in the heads-up. Canatan was unfazed by Kareem’s display of power, however, and clawed his way back by winning most of the small pots the pair played. Without an all-in and a call, Canatan suddenly found himself with a two-to-one chip advantage, which he put to full use when Karim three-bet jammed his second pair on the turn.

Canatan was patiently waiting with top set and had his opponent drawing dead. About 45 minutes after the heads-up had started, Karim and Canatan shook hands as, against all odds, Canatan was the one who hoisted the trophy. His rail cheered on as he was presented as the winner, taking home his largest-ever live score which more than doubled his total live earnings.

_{*Frank Visser live reported this event and was the author of this section.}

Place	Player	Prize
1	Benyamin Canatan	€66,050
2	Michel Karim	€41,650
3	Tommy Piiroinen	€28,000
4	Hanna Heinlo	€20,150
5	Priit Parmasto	€15,250
6	Jonas Silfver	€11,300
7	Siim Nikopensius	€8,750
8	Yurri Zabrodotskyi	€7,200
9	Morten Olsen	€5,900
10	Stanislav Smeljov	€4,700
11	Mounir Tajiou	€4,700
12	Marius Hakonsen	€3,600
13	Marten Norland	€3,600
14	Totti Arosuo	€2,850
15	Lorentzo Boci	€2,850
16	Bohdan Hyshko	€2,150
17	Risto Parnat	€2,150
18	Martin Kabrhel	€2,150
19	Per Engstrom	€2,150
20	Zdenek Zizka	€2,150
21	Serhii Leonov	€2,150
22	Mikko Harmaa	€2,150
23	Giedrius Karpavicius[	€2,150
24	Paul Newey	€1,800
25	Bernt Wetten	€1,800
26	Kyosti Isberg	€1,800
27	Maikel Homin	€1,800
28	Maro Leonzio	€1,800
29	Erik Polluveer	€1,800
30	Harri Karenius	€1,800
31	Max Rotko	€1,800
32	Henri Ojala	€1,600
33	Kasper Mellanen	€1,600
34	Thomas Elvestad	€1,600
35	Gisle Olsen	€1,600
36	Urmas Lepik	€1,600
37	Marek Zigel	€1,600
38	Dimitrios Siantikos	€1,600
39	Sauli Haapaniemi	€1,600
40	Karl Karlsson	€1,400
41	Jakub Matusiak	€1,400
42	Kristiana Stauere	€1,400
43	Stavros Petychakis	€1,400
44	Presiyan Tsvetanov	€1,400
45	Atso Lindell	€1,400
46	Per Persson	€1,400
47	Angel Alonso	€1,400
48	Pekka Ikonen	€1,400
49	Roberts Leja	€1,400
50	Raigo Vaikma	€1,400
51	Vytautas Baltrusaitis	€1,400
52	Dmitri Damaskin	€1,400
53	Tanel Tammela	€1,400
54	Niklavs Zindulis	€1,400
55	Martin Zobel	€1,400
56	Panagiotis Mavritsakis	€1,200
57	Tommi Lankinen	€1,200
58	Lukas Kviecinskas	€1,200
59	Tarmo Tammel	€1,200
60	Mauri Dorbek	€1,200
61	Ville Lonngren	€1,200
62	Daniel Kannerstedt	€1,200
63	Egon Kaljulaid	€1,200
64	Kestutis Jungevicius	€1,200
65	Taago Tamm	€1,200
66	Karol Bogusz	€1,200
67	Peter Kvisthammar	€1,200
68	Paulo Barbosa	€1,200
69	Georgios Tsouloftas	€1,200
70	Joergen Andersen	€1,200
71	Benjamin Gros	€1,200
72	Jonatan Fors	€1,100
73	Johan Storakers	€1,100
74	Renan Bruschi	€1,100
75	Joonas Helin	€1,100
76	Matias Knaapinen	€1,100
77	Ulf Grahs	€1,100
78	Ville-Tapio Mesiranta	€1,100
79	Konsta Heikkila	€1,100
80	Kari Martikainen	€1,100
81	Oleksii Shchukin	€1,100
82	Thomas Leyrer	€1,100
83	Glen Gaines	€1,100
84	Erik Lindqwist	€1,100
85	Claudio Muller	€1,100
86	Henri Kasper	€1,100
87	John Watz	€1,100

Johan Karlsson is the King of all of Kings of Tallinn Royalty

Johan Karlsson battled through one of the toughest fields possible, filled with past Kings and Queens of Tallinn winners, to emerge as the 2025 Royal Showdown Invitational champion. This victory adds another title to his poker resume, after winning the 2020 Kings of Tallinn Main Event for €126,900.

The freebuy invitational event at the 2025 Kings of Tallinn featured seven invited players with an optional €500 rake-free re-entry, which was used five times, adding €2,500 to the prize pool. Karlsson rode on his initial invitation from the start, even though he was close to packing up his bag in a hand when his pocket sixes ran into Saara Benlamine’s pocket kings, only to spike a case six on the flop.

That lucky break started his deep run, and when he later eliminated Benlamine in sixth place, he found himself among the true contenders. Karlsson kept a steady presence throughout, and after knocking out Ranno Sootla in third place, he entered heads-up play with a lead over Juha Helppi.

He didn’t need much to control the match, using well-time bluffs, capitalizing on key hands, and having a bit of good fortune as well. The final hand saw him win a crucial coin flip, as his ace-nine held against Helppi’s pocket deuces, securing the title and with it a a €3,000 tournament ticket, €1,000 in prize money, and an exclusive VIP football trip.

Place	Player	Prize
1	Johan Karlsson	€3,000 Ticket + €1,000 + VIP football trip
2	Juha Helppi	€3,000 Ticket + €1,000
3	Ranno Sootla	€1,100 Main Event Ticket + €500
4	Matias Knaapinen	€1,100 Main Event Ticket

Event #26: €350 Open-Face Chinese Pineapple DeepStack Results

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Siarhei Narozhny	Belarus	€8,980
2	Tarjei Forus	Norway	€5,830
3	Nikolay Ponomarev	United Kingdom	€4,030
4	Vladimirs Svesnikovs	Latvia	€2,930
5	Sami Peisanen	Finland	€2,170
6	Artem Berliand	Ukraine	€1,670
7	Kasparas Grigunas	Lithuania	€1,310
8	Steinn Thanh Du Karlsson	Iceland	€1,020
9	Eva Jiretorn	Sweden	€1,020
10	Fabian Bartuschk	Germany	€800
11	Silje Lierhagen	Norway	€800

Event #21: €555 Mystery Bounty Results

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Robert Kaggerud	Norway	€9,045
2	Theodoros Ampelikiotis	Greece	€6,040
3	Bo Sehlstedt	Sweden	€4,320
4	Roberto Olsen	Sweden	€3,300
5	Algirdas Saveikis	Lithuania	€2,520
6	Oleh Pritsak	Ukraine	€1,920
7	Markus Pohjola	Finland	€1,540
8	Athanasios Kostouros	Greece	€1,280
9	Joni Nenonen	Finland	€1,050
10	Andres Lõiv	Estonia	€900
11	Viktors Caikins	Latvia	€900
12	Timo Ruuska	Finland	€800
13	Michael Ibba	Italy	€800
14	Aleksei Smirnov	Estonia	€710
15	Jawad Habib	Sweden	€710
16	Fabian Bartuschk	Germany	€630
17	Justas Vaiciulionis	Lithuania	€630
18	Tobias Napel	Norway	€570
19	Kim-Erik Pihl	Finland	€570
20	Darius Tamulevicius	Lithuania	€570
21	Riku Koivurinne	Finland	€530
22	Thomas De Leiris	France	€530
23	Samuel Saariaho	Finland	€530
24	Rain Heeringas	Estonia	€490
25	Henri Schalin	Finland	€490
26	Sondre Stormyr	Norway	€490
27	Juho Suutari	Finland	€490

_{*Results exclude mystery bounty prizes}

Event #28: €150 NLH Turbo Results

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Aleksi Roine	Finland	€5,470
2	Tapio Vihakas	Finland	€3,660
3	Samuel Saariaho	Finland	€2,620
4	Eleftherios Sinnos	Cyprus	€1,990
5	Hugh O´Donnell	United Kingdom	€1,520
6	Henri Tanskanen	Finland	€1,160
7	Jarkko Suokas	Finland	€930
8	Per-Thorben Kasten	Germany	€771
9	Nestor Ygborn	Sweden	€640
10	Valentin Francois	France	€550
11	Miska Vihervuori	Finland	€550
12	Jukka-Pekka Nordman	Finland	€490
13	Tomasz Gluszko	Poland	€490
14	Blaz Zerjav	Slovenia	€430
15	Irmantas Bzeskis	Lithuania	€430
16	Martti Jaako	Finland	€380
17	Raivo Grislis	Latvia	€380
18	Martynas Saltis	Lithuania	€350
19	Andrei Mjagkov	Estonia	€350
20	Jack Karadas	Norway	€350
21	Konsta Heikkilä	Finland	€320
22	Darren Floyd	Ireland	€320
23	Sven Reimaa	Estonia	€320
24	Joel Haapio	Finland	€290
25	Darius Svirskas	Lithuania	€290
26	Matts Jakobsson	Sweden	€290
27	Granit Haziraj	Norway	€290

Event #29: €200 PL Razz Results

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Blaz Zerjav	Slovenia	€3,190
2	Barrie Dear	United Kingdom	€2,110
3	Juho Suutari	Finland	€1,480
4	Johnny Johansen	Norway	€1,080
5	Emil Geijstedt	Sweden	€790
6	Michel Leibgorin	France	€650
7	Nils Kollandsrud	Norway	€530
8	Mark Adams	United Kingdom	€420
9	Tobias Leknes	Norway	€343

Event #30: €200 NL Royal Showdown

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Vilius Zabarauskas	Lithuania	€10,610
2	Jari-Pekka Juhola	Finland	€7,100
3	Riku Määttä	Finland	€5,060
4	Joel Holmberg	Finland	€3,580
5	Lorenc Boci	United Kingdom	€2,550
6	Karol Bogusz	Poland	€1,900
7	Pekka Lähdekorpi	Finland	€1,460
8	Sarah Link	Germany	€1,223
9	Piotr Sztenkiel	Poland	€1,050
10	Taago Tamm	Estonia	€930
11	Juho Härkönen	Finland	€930
12	Christian Fuglholt	Denmark	€830
13	Joel Niemelä	Finland	€830
14	Sindy Ygborn	Sweden	€750
15	Juha Helppi	Finland	€750
16	Henri Schalin	Finland	€670
17	Johan Karlsson	Sweden	€670
18	Tapio Vihakas	Finland	€600
19	Priit Vanem	Estonia	€600
20	Roope Keminen	Finland	€600
21	Martti Jaako	Finland	€540
22	Darren Floyd	Ireland	€540
23	Petter Karstad	Norway	€540
24	Toni Vuolle	Finland	€490
25	Marek Selgeveer	Estonia	€490
26	Jussi Julkunen	Finland	€490
27	Nils Linden	Sweden	€490
28	Vygerdas Jonikas	Lithuania	€450
29	Tanel Tammela	Estonia	€450
30	Jukka Kalliokoski	Finland	€450
31	Stanislav Smeljov	Estonia	€450
32	Urmo Einard	Estonia	€410
33	Arasch Mirzai	Sweden	€410
34	Andre Haakestad	Norway	€410
35	Janek Tammsaar	Estonia	€410
36	Jukka-Pekka Nordman	Finland	€410
37	Vllaznin Dida	Sweden	€410
38	Vadim Guk	Estonia	€410
39	Karri Uusi-Äijö	Finland	€410
40	Dan Tolppanen	Finland	€410
41	Ulf Bredenberg	Finland	€410

2025 Kings of Tallinn Schedule Day 7 (Wednesday, Feb. 26)

The action heats up for the €1 million guaranteed Kings of Tallinn €1,100 Main Event on Wednesday with two more of the five opening flights set to kick off at 12 p.m. and 7 p.m. respectively.

Meanwhile, Wednesday boasts two other prestigious events in the €5,000 NLH High Roller at 12 p.m. and the opening day of the two-day €1,100 PLO4/PLO5 Championship at 7 p.m.

Those playing lower stakes will enjoy the €200 NLH Progressive Bounty at 3 p.m. and the €200 PLO 2-7 Triple Draw at 8 p.m. The day also starts and ends with satellites, with a €150 satellite to the €1,100 PLO4/PLO5 Championship starting at 12 p.m. and the €150 Mega Satellite to the €1,100 Main Event beginning at 10 p.m. Both satellites are guaranteeing at least 10 seats.

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

Time	Event
12:00	Event #25: €1,100 NLH Kings of Tallinn Main Event Day 1b
12:00	Event #33: €5,000 NLH High Roller 6-Handed
12:00	Event #34: €150 Satellite to €1,100 PLO4/PLO5 Championship (5 Seats GTD)
15:00	Event #35: €200 NLH Progressive Bounty
19:00	Event #36: €1,100 PLO4/PLO5 Championship Day 1
19:00	Event #25: €1,100 NLH Kings of Tallinn Main Event Day 1c
20:00	Event #37: €200 PL 2-7 Triple Draw
22:00	Event #38: €150 Mega Satellite to the €1,100 Kings of Tallinn Main Event (10 Seats GTD)

*Images courtesy of Elena Kask