Erik Friberg Wins Kings of Tallinn €5K High Roller; Franke Does it Again

The 2026 Kings of Tallinn roared on at Olympic Park Casino and the Hilton Tallinn Park, with five players finding gold on Wednesday, and the €1 million guaranteed Kings of Tallinn €1,100 Main Event kicking off in style with the first two of four opening flights attracting 279 entries.

Cypriot Georgios Tsouloftas leads the 101 survivors after parlaying his 30,000 opening stack into 276,390. The Kings of Tallinn will host Day 1c at Noon and Day 1d at 7 p.m. on Thursday, with late registration remaining open on Friday’s Day 2 for the first four 60-minute blind levels, before the prize pool and payouts are announced.

Swede Erik Friberg made headlines back in 2006 with an eighth-place finish in the World Series of Poker $10,000 Main Event for $1,979,189. Though less visible on the international felts in recent years, he stole the spotlight again by defeating France’s Alexis Lucarini heads-up in the one-day €5,000 High Roller for €71,700.

Meanwhile, another Swede grabbed attention: The Festival Series founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk. Best known for having fun, Franke has racked up several global wins lately and on Wednesday took a page from Fabian Bartuschk‘s notebook. Neither actively “flag hunts,” as it comes naturally to their nomadic poker lifestyles, but both seem to have evolved into trophy hunters.

Earlier this week, Bartuschk went 2-for-2 at OlyBet-hosted festivals, winning the 2026 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker €250 NLH Wrap-Up before shipping the 2026 Kings of Tallinn €350 Open Face Chinese Pineapple. He sandwiched in an Asian event for victories in three countries this year. Franke can’t match the trio (yet) but joins Bartuschk in OlyBet glory, winning the €200 Sviten Special at the 2026 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker before shipping the €200 PL Sviten/PLO5 on Wednesday at the Kings of Tallinn for €4,550. We will be seeing a lot more of Franke throughout the year with The Festival Series hosting several weekends in all three Baltic capitals, starting at Olympic Casino Lietuva in Vilnius on May 28-31.

Three others struck gold Wednesday: Estonia’s Ergo Maruste shipped the €350 NLH Progressive Knockout for €7,320 plus bounties; Natalia Manuyko bested 2025 Queens of Tallinn Main Event champ Giedre Valgemäe in the €555 NLH Queens for €3,535; and Finland’s Jyri Laitimo won the €200 NLH Turbo for €6,780.

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Erik Friberg Shines in Star-Studded €5,000 NLH High Roller

The €5,000 NLH High Roller attracted 46 high-stakes runners to create a €209,760 prize pool. The event delivered as promised, with some of the most successful poker players competing for Kings of Tallinn glory and the €71,700 top prize.

Two-time WSOP bracelet winner and Finnish poker legend Juha Helppi had a rare bubble, just missing out on the €13,000 min-cash awarded to Ukraine’s Yevhen Sukhov before Finland’s Juho Suutari (fourth – €25,700) and Latvian resident from Israel Yaniv Peretz (fifth – €19,200) bowed out at the international final table, where all six players were representing different countries.

Lithuanian poker hero Kasparas Klezys won his first WSOP gold bracelet this year. While he advanced to the podium in the €5,000 High Roller, he won’t add a trophy to his collection and will instead settle for the healthy third-place prize of €33,060, leaving Sweden’s Erik Friberg and France’s Alexis Lucarini heads-up for the title.

Friberg came out on top to earn the trophy and the €71,700 top prize, while Lucarini valiantly earned the €47,100 runner-up prize.

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Erik Friberg	Sweden	€71,700
2	Alexis Lucarini	France	€47,100
3	Kasparas Klezys	Lithuania	€33,060
4	Juho Suutari	Finland	€25,700
5	Yaniv Peretz	Israel	€19,200
6	Yevhen Sukhov	Ukraine	€13,000

Is Franke Unstoppable?

This author might be biased due to a close relationship with The Festival Series founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk for more than a decade. Franke has been a staple in the Estonian poker scene for many years, having hosted many Cash Game Festivals and, more recently, the partnership with The Festival Series.

The self-proclaimed farmer may need to put down his shovel, as since moving more than a year ago to 0.0% adult beverages, his skills have shown numerous times, while creating tons of fun and banter.

Just like in Vilnius, where he needed second place to be in profit before catapulting his final bullet into a victory, it was a similar pattern in the €200 PL Sviten / PLO5, which attracted 130 entries for a €20,553 prize pool.

Franke was surrounded by Finnish poker players at the final table, being the only player representing a different country. In many ways, Franke represents two countries as he holds Estonia dear to his heart, having lived a good portion of his adult life in the Estonian capital, while embracing his nomadic nature and living out of a suitcase.

This did not deter Franke as the Finns hit the rail one by one, leaving Franke heads-up with Miika Töyräs for the title. The spoiler is already out of the bag as Franke earned his second trophy of the year for €4,550, while Töyräs collected the runner-up prize of €3,270.

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk	Sweden	€4,550
2	Miika Töyräs	Finland	€3,270
3	Jarkko Suokas	Finland	€2,490
4	Veikko Oittinen	Finland	€1,940
5	Andreas Backlund	Finland	€1,510
6	Semi Rantanen	Finland	€1,200
7	Timo Lämsä	Finland	€900
8	Aleksandr Arutjunov	Estonia	€650
9	Siim Nikopensius	Estonia	€650
10	Trond Aanestad	Norway	€510
11	Mika Hautakangas	Sweden	€510
12	Torgil Hellman	Sweden	€430
13	Pasquale Vinci	Italy	€430
14	Klaus Grönberg	Finland	€430
15	Aki Pyysing	Finland	€361
16	Joel Holmberg	Finland	€361
17	Carlo Braccini	Italy	€361

Ergo Maruste Wins €350 NLH Progressive Knockout

The €350 NLH Progressive Knockout attracted 228 runners to create €65,732 in prizes, including €22,800 in progressive bounties.

The title was guaranteed to stay on home soil with two Estonians battling heads-up after Lithuania’s Albert Ostrovskij ended his impressive run in third place for €4,870. Both Ergo Maruste and Henrik Puija earned the top prize of €7,320 before Maruste defeated his opponent to earn the trophy and the big bounty prize for the final elimination.

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Ergo Maruste	Estonia	€7,320
2	Henrik Puija	Estonia	€7,320
3	Albert Ostrovskij	Lithuania	€4,870
4	Dawid Zielinski	Poland	€3,490
5	Victor Prior Fernandez Amat	Spain	€2,550
6	Vilius Zabarauskas	Lithuania	€1,950
7	Rostyslav Sabishchenko	Ukraine	€1,570
8	Per Nilsson	Sweden	€1,300
9	Benjamin Sibley	United Kingdom	€1,062
10	Hans Fernkvist	Sweden	€920
11	Vasilis Nikolas	Sweden	€920
12	Robert Schiffbauer	United States	€810
13	Conny Eriksson	Finland	€810
14	Joonas Haapala	Finland	€720
15	Stefan Olofsson	Sweden	€720
16	Frederico Alves Dos Santos	Brazil	€640
17	Juha Suurholma	Finland	€640
18	Christian Gjertsen	Norway	€580
19	Linus Matsson	Sweden	€580
20	Robert Kallikorm	Estonia	€580
21	Eli Malca	Sweden	€540
22	James Wynne	Ireland	€540
23	Daniels Vorobjovs	Latvia	€540
24	Mette-Marica Puromäki	Finland	€490
25	Michael Ibba	Italy	€490
26	Alf Hjärtberg	Sweden	€490
27	Eedi Kirves	Estonia	€245
28	Martin Piik	Estonia	€245

Manuyko Denies Valgemäe Another Queens Title

Estonian resident from Lithuania Giedre Valgemäe was in the spotlight this summer after shipping the standalone 2025 Queens of Tallinn €350 Main Event for €5,690.

Valgemäe managed another deep run in the €555 NLH Queens, which boasted a tidy field of 19 entries to create a €8,835 prize pool. A pair of Finns were the first players in the money with Phenporn Laatikainen banking €1,590 for third place, and Linda Lahdenpää min-cashing in fourth place for €1,240, leaving her heads-up with Natalia Manuyko.

It was Manuyko’s turn to shine, just like she did back in 2013, where, according to The Hendon Mob, she won a €500 Superweekend Main Event in Tallinn for €28,135 before Olympic Park Casino existed at Olympic Casino Hotel Olumpia.

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Natalia Manuyko	Russia	€3,535
2	Giedre Valgemäe	Lithuania	€2,470
3	Phenporn Laatikainen	Finland	€1,590
4	Linda Lahdenpää	Finland	€1,240

Jyri Laitimo Wins €200 NLH Turbo

The €200 NLH Turbo attracted 190 night owls to create a prize pool of €30,039. Sweden’s Lennart Andersson, who on Tuesday defeated the United Kingdom’s Gary Fisher heads-up to win the inaugural €555 NLH Seniors for €9,480, found himself heads-up again, this time against Finland’s Jyri Laitimo.

While Andersson would have loved back-to-back trophy victories in two days, he instead will need to settle for a first and a second after finishing runner-up for €4,380.

Meanwhile, Laitimo earned the €6,780 top prize while adding his name to the ever-growing list of Kings of Tallinn royalty.

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Jyri Laitimo	Finland	€6,780
2	Lennart Andersson	Sweden	€4,380
3	Gintautas Danilevicius	Lithuania	€3,130
4	Samuel Saariaho	Finland	€2,450
5	Lluis Grano	Spain	€1,880
6	Jae Han Kim	Norway	€1,460
7	Sergejs Piratovs	Latvia	€1,160
8	Tomi Arponen	Finland	€970
9	Lars Maaseide	Norway	€830
10	Saara Ylianttila	Finland	€700
11	Linda Lahdenpää	Finland	€700
12	Bengt Johansson	Finland	€600
13	Scott Kenyon	United Kingdom	€600
14	Shadi Jamil	Finland	€530
15	Kristian Hagevik	Norway	€530
16	Joonas Laamanen	Finland	€470
17	Christoffer Karlen	Sweden	€470
18	Herli Olop	Estonia	€420
19	Samuel Adnoy	Norway	€420
20	Miko Miettinen	Finland	€420
21	Inese Petrova	Latvia	€380
22	Morten Johansen	Norway	€380
23	Aigars Petrovs	Latvia	€380

2026 Kings of Tallinn Schedule (February 11)

Thursday promises to be filled with excitement at the 2026 Kings of Tallinn for players and poker fans alike with tons of action as the €1 million guaranteed Kings of Tallinn €1,100 Main Event boasts its final two opening flights at 12 p.m. and 7 p.m. Players will also have one final shot to get a share of the kitty at a fraction of the buy-in cost with the €80 Last Chance Satellite at 12 p.m. awarding at least five seats to the Kings of Tallinn €1,100 Main Event.

The €1,100 PLO4/PLO5 Championship resumes at 1 p.m. with just 16 players remaining out of the 139-entry strong field. United Kingdom’s Sebastian Crane leads the way with eyes also on all of the other players, including 2026 Vilnius Ace Breaker and 2026 Kings of Tallinn trophy winner Fabian Bartuschk, kicking off the final table just behind Crane.

At the same time, an even larger buy-in one-day pot-limit Omaha affair begins with the €3,000 PLO4/PLO5 expected to be a who’s who in poker. Kings of Tallinn commentator Andreas Hoglund and poker.pro CEO Jason Glatzer will announce the action after the first break at around 3:50 p.m. with guests planned throughout the day. So be sure to tune in at OlyBet Poker social media channels and/or the PokerProWorld YouTube channel.

The day continues with the €200 NLH Deep Stack Progressive Bounty at 3 p.m., with more Omaha still to come at 7:30 p.m. with the €350 PLO4/PLO5/PLO6 Progressive Bounty promises an action-packed affair. The day concludes with two more chances to win Kings of Tallinn trophies at Olympic Park Casino with the €555 NLH beginning at 9 p.m., followed by the €200 NLH Turbo at 10:30 p.m.

Check out the full schedule for Thursday below and head to the Kings of Tallinn landing page at OlyBetEvents.com to review the full schedule, sign up for the OlyBet Team Challenge, a player’s guide, and more.

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