The Festival Weekend Tallinn, powered by OlyBet Poker, officially got underway on July 1 at Olympic Park Casino, but the momentum had already been building a day earlier with a landmark moment for Estonian poker. In a first for the country, The Festival Series and Olympic Casino hosted an outdoor poker tournament, setting the tone for a unique and energetic few days in the capital.
That buzz carried straight into the opening day schedule, where a packed slate of mixed games, novelty formats, and the start of the €555 NLH Main Event Mystery Bounty drew players from across the Nordics and beyond. Early trophies were quickly claimed as Finland’s Ville Hakala led the charge, capturing the €350 Sviten Special title for €6,513 after overcoming a strong Norwegian presence at the final table.
Elsewhere, Sweden’s Andreas Höglund took down the €150 Blackjack Tournament, while Spain’s Raul Nieto Garcia came out on top in the €200 NL Crazy Pineapple. Finland continued to dominate the early headlines thanks to Olli Kalso, who shipped the €150 PLO 4/5/6 Madness event, adding another trophy to the country’s impressive start to the series.
Attention also turned to the €555 NLH Main Event Mystery Bounty, where Australia’s Jarrod Coughtrie bagged a commanding chip lead of 1,001,000. He will return for Day 2 ahead of Norway’s Johnny Hofseth and Finland’s Markus Vesala, with Estonia’s Mati Pirn and Anton Komissarov still in contention on home soil.
- Read more: The 2026 WSOP Circuit Tallinn Schedule Features 12 Ring Events
- Read more: The 2026 Festival Weekend Tallinn Schedules Feature More Mixed Games Than You Could Ask For
Ville Hakala Wins €350 Sviten Special
Players filed in from across the globe to kick off the 2026 The Festival Weekend Tallinn at Olympic Park Casino. The opening event boasted Sviten Special, a game growing in popularity that combines both five-card pot-limit Omaha and five-card draw in the same game. The game was invented in Sweden, but the Swedish poker community was shut out of the payout circles.
Sviten Special author Martin Smith, made the trip over from Malta and earned a cash right away with a seventh place finish worth €980. The prizes continued to climb from there before Finland’s Ville Hakala earned the trophy and the €6,513 top prize after defeating Norway’s Terje Sirnes, who earned €4,180 for his runner-up performance.
The event attracted 65 entries to create €19,143 in prizes with the top seven players taking a piece of the pie.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Ville Hakala | Finland | €6,513 |
| 2 |  Terje Sirnes | Norway | €4,180 |
| 3 | Raymond Forsland | Norway | €2,780 |
| 4 |  Max Lohse | Denmark | €1,980 |
| 5 |  Alexander Freund | Austria | €1,500 |
| 6 | Olav Loken | Norway | €1,210 |
| 7 |  Martin Smith | Malta | €980 |
Andreas Höglund Wins €150 Blackjack Tournament
The €150 Blackjack Tournament will likely be the smallest event this extended weekend, but it was important none the less. The event attracted five entries in a winner-takes-all format due to the contrite field.
The Festival poker host Andreas “Wiseguy” Höglund, who will soon be in the commentating booth with this author for the upcoming WSOP Circuit Tallinn from July 23 to August 2, won trophies in back-to-back The Festival Series Weekend. While one might debate the skill element in the Blackjack Tournament, his trophy at The Festival Weekend Vilnius was in the €150 PLO 4/5/6 Madness (Bomb Pot Feature) for €2,344.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Andreas Höglund | Sweden | €618 |
Raul Nieto Garcia Wins €200 NL Crazy Pineapple
The €200 NL Crazy Pineapple witnessed 32 runners competing for a €5,168 prize pool. A three-way deal was agreed before Spain’s Raul Nieto Garcia defeated Estonia’s Erik Põlluveer heads-up to win the title and €1,428 top prize.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Raul Nieto Garcia | Spain | €1,428 |
| 2 |  Erik Põlluveer | Estonia | €1,280 |
| 3 | Timo Ruuska | Finland | €1,370 |
| 4 | Erlend Kristiansen | Norway | €630 |
| 5 | Tapio Karhu | Finland | €460 |
Olli Kalso Wins €150 PLO 4/5/6 Madness (Bomb Pot Feature)
The €150 PLO 4/5/6 Madness (Bomb Pot Feature) was popular in Vilnius and is back again in Tallinn with a similar reception with 57 entries creating a €7,040 prize pool. While Wiseguy was unable to win this time around as he did during the opening day at The Festival Series Vilnius, primarily because he changed his mind about defending his title after winning a trophy earlier in the day, this left the field open for a new champion.
Another trree way deal was agreed, with Finland’s Olli Kalso crowned the champion and awarded €1,660 for his efforts with Sweden’s Kambiz Kashi and Finland’s Fredrik Zitting both earning €1,650 as part of the deal.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Olli Kalso | Finland | €1,660 |
| 2 | Kambiz Kashi | Sweden | €1,650 |
| 3 | Fredrik Zitting | Finland | €1,650 |
| 4 | Jonatan Snöbohm | Sweden | €730 |
| 5 | Jakob Löfgren | Sweden | €550 |
| 6 | Mika Hällström | Finland | €440 |
| 7 |  Larry Loupolover | Bulgaria | €360 |
Jarrod Coughtrie Leads €555 NLH Main Event Mystery Bounty
Meanwhile, Day 1A of the €555 NLH Main Event Mystery Bounty witnessed 50 entries get into the mix to add €23,750 in prizes already including €10,000 in mystery bounties that start to get opened on Day 2.
The field played down to 12.5% with the final six players earning already at least a min-cash. Australia’s Jarrod Coughtrie had a day to remember, by ending the day as the sole chip millionaire from the starting stack of 50,000 in chips.
| Position | Player | Country | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Jarrod Coughtrie | Australia | 1,001,000 |
| 2 | Johnny Hofseth | Norway | 575,000 |
| 3 | Markus Vesala | Finland | 415,000 |
| 4 | Mati Pirn | Estonia | 220,000 |
| 5 |  Vladyslava Shestakova | Ukraine | 182,000 |
| 6 | Anton Komissarov | Estonia | 107,000 |
The Festival Weekend Tallinn Schedule (July 2)
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| 12:00 | Event #2: €555 Main Event (Mystery) Day 1b |
| 12:30 | Event #6: €555 Mixed Games Main Event T.O.R.S.E.S. Day 1 |
| 19:00 | Event #7: €200 NLH Freezeout |
| 19:30 | Event #8: €150 Roulette |
| 20:00 | Event #9: €150 PL Baducey/Badacey |
WSOP Circuit Tallinn Just Around the Corner
While The Festival Weekend Tallinn is already delivering plenty of action at Olympic Park Casino, the spotlight will soon shift to one of the biggest highlights of the Baltic poker calendar.
The 2026 WSOP Circuit Tallinn returns from July 23 to August 2, bringing 12 WSOP Circuit ring events and a packed schedule that is expected to attract players from across Europe and beyond. With a mix of marquee tournaments, accessible buy-ins, and strong local turnout, the series continues to cement Tallinn as a key destination on the live poker map.
Many players competing this week are expected to stick around or return later in the month, making The Festival Weekend Tallinn a perfect warm-up for what promises to be another record-breaking WSOP Circuit stop.
- Article originally produced by Jason Glatzer at poker.pro.
- Photos taken by Mairo Toom courtesy of The Festival Series.
