Petter Berg Wins the 2026 Coolbet Open Main Event for €65,415

Petter Berg

The ninth Coolbet Open has its champion. Norway’s Petter Berg won the record-breaking €550 Main Event on Saturday at Olympic Park Casino and the Hilton Tallinn Park in the Estonian capital Tallinn, collecting €65,415 after a hard-fought battle and defeating Georgia’s Sergi Kapanadze heads-up in a hand that will be talked about for years. Sad goodbyes are already being shared around the Hilton Tallinn Park as the ninth edition of one of the Baltics’ most beloved poker festivals winds down, with five more trophies awarded on Saturday alongside the Main Event crown, and one final send-off on Sunday before everyone heads home until next time.

Petter Berg Wins the 2026 Coolbet Open Main Event

Petter Berg

Petter Berg got the job done and earned the rights of becoming the ninth Coolbet Open €550 Main Event champion. The Norwegian grinder, well respected by his peers and the holder of a Norwegian Heads-Up Championship title, won the biggest Coolbet Open Main Event in the tournament’s history, navigating a record 753-entry field to claim €65,415 from the €357,675 prize pool. It was his first-ever Coolbet Open cash.

As was the case throughout the Main Event, Christoffer Karlén was live on the ground throughout the final day at poker.pro.

Berg started the final day just outside the top ten but began climbing quickly. By the time the first break arrived, after more than half the 54 returning players had been eliminated in the opening three levels, Berg had worked his way up to third in chips.

He seized the chip lead for the first time when two tables remained, following a decisive clash with overnight leader Oystein Stai that sent the Norwegian out in 12th place for €4,020. Defending champion Guillermo “GGordo” Cifuentes, who had been hoping to make back-to-back Coolbet Open final tables, was eliminated in 11th for €4,820 by Sergi Kapanadze, the Georgian who would become Berg’s opponent in the heads-up. Kapanadze burst the official final table by sending Atte Franssila home in 10th, also for €4,820.

Sergi Kapanadze

At the final table, Kapanadze was the dominant force. He eliminated Roar Wang, Jarno Jokiniemi, and Rene Lazaro in succession and found himself with nearly half the chips in play when four players remained. Berg, meanwhile, had been doubling players up and was down to around ten big blinds.

What followed was one of the hands of the tournament: Berg got in king-nine against Tomi Bondarew’s ace-nine and flopped a king to double through. He recovered, built a stack, then eliminated both Bondarew and third-place finisher Kenneth Olaisen, going into heads-up with nearly a three-to-one chip lead over Kapanadze.

Kapanadze pushed back in the heads-up, even bluffing Berg off a hand early on. But Berg made two key plays that changed the match. First, he went runner-runner to win a big pot he had no right winning, firing into Kapanadze’s trip nines on a paired board with king-eight and catching running eights for a better two pair when Kapanadze wisely folded the river.

Then Berg called down a three-barrel bluff from Kapanadze, catching him with jack-high on a board that had given Berg two pair. Kapanadze was left with nine big blinds.

On the final hand, Berg shoved king-three on the button and Kapanadze called quickly from the big blind with queen-jack. The board ran three-ace-six-six-two. Berg’s pair of threes held and the title was his.

A large Norwegian rail had gathered at the final table and erupted in cheers and applause when the final card was dealt. Berg was swarmed by his friends and after a quick photoshoot headed into the Estonian night with his people and €65,415.

Asked about his win, Berg kept it characteristically brief. “It’s always good to finish first,” he told the Coolbet team.

Runner-up Sergi Kapanadze, a former member of the Georgian parliament, collected €43,060, by far the largest score of his career. Georgia has a growing poker community and Kapanadze’s performance in Tallinn will have been noticed back home.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1stNorway Petter BergNorway€65,415
2ndGeorgia Sergi KapanadzeGeorgia€43,060
3rdNorway Kenneth OlaisenNorway€30,750
4thFinland Tomi BondarewFinland€23,080
5thSpain Lazaro CifuentesSpain€17,670
6thLithuania Tomas BulksasLithuania€13,580
7thFinland Jarno JokiniemiFinland€10,620
8thNorway Roar WangNorway€7,990
9thIceland Jon ThorvaldssonIceland€6,080
10thFinland Atte FranssilaFinland€4,820
11thSpain Guillermo GordoSpain€4,820
12thNorway Oystein StaiNorway€4,020
13thNorway Pal KoppegodtNorway€4,020
14thSweden Tomas FernkvistSweden€3,410
15thFinland Ville KeränenFinland€3,410
16thEstonia Ragnar LindeEstonia€2,970
17thNorway Payam SeyedzadehNorway€2,970
18thEstonia Ranel KäsiEstonia€2,560
19thFinland John BlombergFinland€2,560
20thSweden Maria LingSweden€2,560
21stLatvia Kristaps RengaLatvia€2,250
22ndBrazil Frederico Dos SantosBrazil€2,250
23rdFinland Pekka IkonenFinland€2,250
24thFinland Conny ErikssonFinland€1,960
25thFinland Julia KuusijärviFinland€1,960
26thUnited States of America Xavier LyuUnited States€1,960
27thNorway Erik HamreNorway€1,960
28thEstonia Mihkel UstavEstonia€1,680
29thChile William AravenaChile€1,680
30thFinland Lauri TuominenFinland€1,680
31stFinland Joonas HelinFinland€1,680
32ndNorway Kristian DahlNorway€1,480
33rdNorway Olaf LarssenNorway€1,480
34thEstonia Ranno SootlaEstonia€1,480
35thNorway Kjetil HanstvedtNorway€1,480
36thNorway Bjorn OphaugNorway€1,480
37thFinland Leo AlataloFinland€1,480
38thSpain Gabriel TerolSpain€1,480
39thSpain Lluis MurciaSpain€1,480
40thIceland Halldor SverrissonIceland€1,350
41stGermany Robert RohrGermany€1,350
42ndFinland Raimo AholaFinland€1,350
43rdIceland Gunnar LeifssonIceland€1,350
44thFinland Atso LindellFinland€1,350
45thFinland Andreas BacklundFinland€1,350
46thFinland Jarmo SalonenFinland€1,350
47thLithuania Dominykas BudaLithuania€1,350
48thUkraine Yevhen PavlenkoUkraine€1,350
49thEstonia Priit BrikkerEstonia€1,350
50thPoland Korneliusz JelinskiPoland€1,350
51stIceland Axel HilmissonIceland€1,350
52ndSweden Arasch MirzaiSweden€1,350
53rdEstonia Alger PissarevEstonia€1,350
54thNorway Sindre RönquistNorway€1,350
55thLithuania Jonas LapinskasLithuania€1,350
56thChile Luis PalmaChile€1,230
57thFinland Jerry VillaFinland€1,230
58thEstonia Toivo OjasooEstonia€1,230
59thEstonia Mark MetslaEstonia€1,230
60thNorway Jan HolteNorway€1,230
61stEstonia Siim SuvisteEstonia€1,230
62ndEstonia Daniel VasserEstonia€1,230
63rdSweden Mounir TajiouSweden€1,230
64thFinland Toomas MäkikokkoFinland€1,230
65thIceland Baldvin BorgarssonIceland€1,230
66thFinland Heikki HaapasaariFinland€1,230
67thFinland Miska VihervuoriFinland€1,230
68thFinland Jami JuutilaFinland€1,230
69thSweden Johan StoråkersSweden€1,230
70thFinland Matti MustonenFinland€1,230
71stNorway Gunnar JacobsenNorway€1,230
72ndSweden John HagstrandSweden€1,120
73rdNorway Brage AasenNorway€1,120
74thFinland Jere LaitinenFinland€1,120
75thLithuania Stanislovas VinicenkaLithuania€1,120
76thFinland Timo RantamäkiFinland€1,120
77thFinland Joel HolmbergFinland€1,120
78thFinland Teemu LeppälahtiFinland€1,120
79thFinland Jarkko SuokasFinland€1,120
80thIceland Gretar SteindorssonIceland€1,120
81stSweden Daniel ÅkessonSweden€1,120
82ndPoland Karol OlszewskiPoland€1,120
83rdDenmark Denise FodorDenmark€1,120
84thEstonia Peeter TalvisteEstonia€1,120
85thEstonia Steven ToolEstonia€1,120
86thSweden Martin WillborgSweden€1,120
87thNorway Anders BjorkheimNorway€1,120
88thFinland Markus VolkFinland€1,120
89thItaly Mario ColavitaItaly€1,120
90thFinland Kalle KuljuFinland€1,120
91stNorway Peter SbertoliNorway€1,120
92ndFinland Pyry KekäläinenFinland€1,120
93rdFrance Sebastien SchangFrance€1,120
94thIceland Adalbjörn JonssonIceland€1,120
95thNorway Jonatan WeddeNorway€1,120

Anders Karlsen Wins Second Trophy of the Festival in the €1,100 High Roller

Anders Karlsen

Norway’s Anders Karlsen had already collected more bounty money than anyone else in the Mystery Bounty earlier in the week. On Saturday he added a trophy to his Coolbet Open haul, winning the €1,100 NLH High Roller for €27,070 from a record 97-entry field worth €92,150.

Karlsen defeated Latvia’s Edgars Hauks heads-up, with Germany’s Martin Zobel, who had led the field overnight, finishing third for €12,160. Spain’s David Marfil, who finished fourth in the 2026 WSOP Circuit Tallinn Main Event for €68,575 earlier this summer, as covered by poker.pro, finished fifth here for €6,530. Sweden’s Rohan Oberoi, who recently founded the Pebel staking app, finished ninth for €2,810.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1stNorway Anders KarlsenNorway€27,070
2ndLatvia Edgars HauksLatvia€17,590
3rdGermany Martin ZobelGermany€12,160
4thFinland Antti TakalaFinland€8,840
5thSpain David MarfilSpain€6,530
6thLatvia Raivo GrislisLatvia€4,940
7thFrance Paul Le ChevillerFrance€4,040
8thNorway Tommy SorensenNorway€3,350
9thSweden Rohan OberoiSweden€2,810
10thNorway Eskil KvamvoldNorway€2,410
11thFinland Jari-Pekka JuholaFinland€2,410

Mathias Christensen Wins the €350 PLO4/PLO5 Mystery Bounty

Mathias Christensen

Sweden’s Mathias Christensen won the €350 PLO4/PLO5 Deepstack Mystery Bounty for a combined total of €12,000. The prize pool paid out €4,000 for first place, and Christensen also pulled €8,000 in mystery bounties during the course of Day 2, giving him €12,000 in all.

Portugal’s Manuel Lopes, who had led the 13-player field overnight, collected €5,258 between his prize pool finish and the bounty envelopes he opened during the day. The 104-entry event generated a €15,028 prize pool in addition to €15,600 in mystery bounties ranging from €300 to the €4,000 top bounty.

PlacePlayerCountryPrizeBountyTotal
1stSweden Mathias ChristensenSweden€4,000€8,000€12,000
2ndPortugal Manuel LopesPortugal€2,758€2,500€5,258
3rdFinland Jani ForstenFinland€1,900€2,300€4,200
4thSweden Bo GöthlinSweden€1,380€500€1,880
5thFinland Tommi HakalaFinland€1,060€0€1,060
6thNorway Andre SivertsenNorway€860€0€860
7thFinland Antti PietarinenFinland€690€300€990
8thFinland Toni OjalaFinland€560€0€560
9thFinland Mikko HarmaaFinland€440€2,000€2,440

Arild Haugland Wins the €200 Open-Face Chinese Pineapple

Arild Haugland

Norway swept the entire podium in the €200 OFC Pineapple, with Arild Haugland winning for €2,771, Borge Dypvik finishing second for €1,930, and Eirik Bjorbak third for €1,380 from a 47-entry field worth €7,591.

Three Norwegians, three spots, zero room for anyone else. Bjorbak had also made the final table of the Tuesday PLO4, making him one of the more active mixed game players across the week.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1stNorway Arild HauglandNorway€2,771
2ndNorway Borge DypvikNorway€1,930
3rdNorway Eirik BjorbakNorway€1,380
4thFinland Toni JärvisaloFinland€930
5thEstonia Sven ReimaaEstonia€580

Jukka Moisio Wins the €350 NLH Deepstack with Added Prizes

Finland’s Jukka Moisio has been a frequent visitor to Tallinn over the years and on Saturday he recorded the biggest score of his poker career. Moisio won the €350 NLH Deepstack with Added Prizes from a massive 242-entry field for €15,029, pushing his lifetime recorded earnings past $100,000 on the Hendon Mob.

The event featured added prizes raffled during play, including packages to the 2027 Coolbet Open and tickets to the 2026 Festival Weekend Tallinn in November. Norway’s Markus Mortensen finished runner-up for €9,340 and Norway’s Ole Johnny Karlsen took third for €6,680.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1stFinland Jukka MoisioFinland€15,029
2ndNorway Markus MortensenNorway€9,340
3rdNorway Ole Johnny KarlsenNorway€6,680
4thSweden Jawad HabibSweden€5,070
5thSweden Martin WillborgSweden€3,960
6thFinland Tommi HakalaFinland€3,160
7thLatvia Evija BeizakaLatvia€2,600
8thGreece Enea SubashiGreece€2,170
9thEstonia Aleksandr GellerEstonia€1,890

Sascha Manns Wins the €250 PLO4/PLO5/PLO6 Progressive Bounty

Sascha Manns

Sascha Manns has made the trip to Tallinn many times and the mixed game events on the Coolbet Open schedule are where he is most comfortable. On Saturday he claimed the €250 PLO4/PLO5/PLO6 Progressive Bounty title from a 122-entry field, with Germany producing an all-German heads-up as Victor Hochheiden finished runner-up.

Both players collected €2,669 from the prize pool itself, with bounty money accumulated throughout the day on top for each. Manns won the tournament and walked away with the largest total, with no deal struck between the two going into heads-up.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1stGermany Sascha MannsGermany€2,669
2ndGermany Victor HochheidenGermany€2,669
3rdSweden Dennis HolstSweden€1,730
4thFinland Jani ForstenFinland€1,200
5thFinland Jarmo SalonenFinland€920
6thFinland Joonas SaloFinland€720
7thFinland Julia KuusijärviFinland€600
8thSweden Thomas LindSweden€500
9thFinland Jani MäkinenFinland€430

Ville-Matti Keränen Wins Sycksbe’s Hyper Turbo

Finland’s Ville-Matti Keränen, a player well known to Estonian poker rooms, won the €200 NLH Sycksbe’s Hyper Turbo from a strong 138-entry field for €5,527, defeating Finland’s Toni Järvisalo heads-up in an all-Finnish final. Both players know Estonia well and Keränen’s win was a fitting close to a night where Finland dominated across the board.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1stFinland Ville-Matti KeränenFinland€5,527
2ndFinland Toni JärvisaloFinland€3,610
3rdSweden Bo GöthlinSweden€2,580
4thNorway Knut GronliNorway€1,930
5thFinland Mikko HarmaaFinland€1,460
6thFrance Frederic JanikFrance€1,170
7thNorway Roar WangNorway€960
8thIceland Hafsteinn BaldurssonIceland€790
9thNorway Kjetil HanstvedtNorway€640

See You at the Coolbet Closer

The ninth Coolbet Open is not quite over. Sunday brings one final event at Olympic Park Casino: the €200 NLH Coolbet Closer Hyper Turbo, the traditional send-off event that gives players one last chance to sit across from each other before everyone heads home. The goodbyes being shared around the Hilton Tallinn Park on Saturday night will continue through Sunday as the ninth edition winds down. Plans for the 2027 Coolbet Open are already in the works. Until then, congratulations to Petter Berg and every player who made the trip to Tallinn. The ninth edition was the biggest and best in the festival’s history, and the record it set will take some beating.

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Jason Glatzer

Jason Glatzer is a seasoned poker player, journalist, commentator, and content creator with over a decade of experience in the industry. His journey in poker began in the 1980's playing for pennies on kitchen tables and enjoying stud game in the 1990s in Atlantic City, before transitioning to online poker in the early 2000s. Glatzer's career in poker media took off at PocketFives, which led to opportunities with PokerNews and other prominent poker media outlets. Throughout his career, he has covered major poker events, and has contributed to various poker publications as a writer, editor, and live reporter.