Tapani Pulkkinen Wins the Main Event as EMPC 2026 Tallinn Crowns 12 Champions

Finland’s Tapani Pulkkinen won the €800 8-Game Main Event at the 2026 European Mixed Poker Championship, taking the festival’s biggest prize and giving Finland its second title of the week in Tallinn. Pulkkinen topped a 146-entry field at Olympic Park Casino on Saturday to claim €22,250, the headline result of a six-day series powered by OlyBet Poker that produced 12 champions across 12 events and cemented Norway’s position as Europe’s dominant mixed-game nation.

The first half of the series produced five champions, covered in our earlier recap. This recap covers the seven events from the second half. Norway had the most wins in that stretch: Alexander Aaneland won the €1,500 6-Game High Roller, Eirik Kristiansen won the €300 Senkel’s Paradise Pick’em, and Marius Toverud took down the €300 6-Game Mystery Bounty.

Canada’s Patrick Stacey won the €1,500 S.O.R.B.E.T. High Roller, Austria’s Robin Panholzer won the €700 20-Game Dealer’s Choice, and Germany’s Philipp Krieger closed the festival by winning the €200 Omaha Dealer’s Choice. Seven events in the second half, seven champions from six countries.

A huge thank-you to Olympic Park Casino for hosting a spectacular week, and to EMPC founders Tobias Leknes and Frode Fagerli for building one of the world’s best mixed-game festivals.

• Read more: Norway on Top in Tallinn at the 2026 European Mixed Poker Championship
• Read more: Your Guide to Every Event at EMPC 2026: Games, Rules and Schedule
• Read more: EMPC 2026 Heads to Tallinn With 12 Mixed-Game Events and a Growing Legacy
• Read more: Your Guide to the 2026 Kings of Vilnius Schedule and Events
• Read more: Join Poker Pro on Telegram for Breaking Tournament News and Results

Robin Panholzer Wins Event #4: €700 20-Game Dealer’s Choice

Austria’s Robin Panholzer entered Day 2 of the €700 20-Game Dealer’s Choice in eighth place in chips, then turned that modest stack into the biggest prize of the early EMPC week. Panholzer outlasted a nine-player final table to win €12,093 from a €40,313 prize pool across 69 entries, giving Austria its first title of the series. For Panholzer, it is his second EMPC event win: he won the €600 High-Low Mix at EMPC Ireland 2025 and also cashed in the Dealer’s Choice at EMPC 2024 in Šamorín. He is fast becoming one of the most reliable mixed-game tournament players in Central Europe, with 26 career live cashes tracked at The Hendon Mob and a résumé built almost entirely in mixed-game and Omaha events across the EMPC, EPT, and the Austrian domestic circuit.

The 20-Game Dealer’s Choice is exactly what it sounds like: the button picks from a menu of 20 games each orbit. That menu includes No-Limit Texas Hold’em, Fixed-Limit Texas Hold’em, Pot-Limit Omaha, Fixed-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8-or-Better, Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8-or-Better, No-Limit 2-7 Single Draw, Fixed-Limit 2-7 Triple Draw, Fixed-Limit Razz, Fixed-Limit Seven-Card Stud, Fixed-Limit Stud Hi-Lo 8-or-Better, Fixed-Limit Badugi, No-Limit Badugi, Fixed-Limit 2-7 Razz (A-5 Stud Lo), Fixed-Limit Badeucy, Fixed-Limit 5-Card Stud, Fixed-Limit Sviten Special, Pot-Limit 5-Card Omaha, Fixed-Limit Courchevel Hi-Lo, Fixed-Limit Sökö (Scandinavian Stud), and No-Limit Short Deck Hold’em. The format rewards breadth of knowledge above everything else.

Norway’s Martin Dahle took runner-up for €8,040, and Austria’s Jean-Michael Kabbaj, still alive with a short stack at the start of Day 2, rallied to finish third for €5,650. Germany’s Philipp Krieger took fourth for €4,120, and England’s Alexander Rizvi, second in chips at the start of Day 2, finished fifth for €3,010.

€700 buy-in | 69 entries | €40,313 prize pool

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Robin Panholzer	Austria	€12,093
2	Martin Dahle	Norway	€8,040
3	Jean-Michael Kabbaj	Austria	€5,650
4	Philipp Krieger	Germany	€4,120
5	Alexander Rizvi	England	€3,010
6	Lee Horton	England	€2,470
7	Christophe Stammet	Luxembourg	€2,020
8	Sampo Ryynänen	Finland	€1,610
9	Jan Holte	Norway	€1,300

Patrick Stacey Wins Event #7: €1,500 S.O.R.B.E.T. High Roller

Canada’s Patrick Stacey arrived at the EMPC 2026 as one of the most decorated mixed game specialists in the field, and he proved it emphatically in the €1,500 S.O.R.B.E.T. High Roller. Stacey won €20,230 from a field of six paid finishers, giving Canada its first title of the series and adding another marquee result to a resume that already includes a 2026 WSOP bracelet in the $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball event, worth $223,177. Stacey is widely known for having studied mixed game theory intensively, and that preparation was evident across the final table.

S.O.R.B.E.T. is a six-game fixed-limit rotation: Stud, Omaha Hi-Lo 8-or-Better, Razz, Badugi, Stud Eight (Stud Hi-Lo 8-or-Better), and Triple Draw (2-7 Triple Draw). Games rotate every eight hands or when a dealer button passes, and each game plays fixed-limit throughout.

Germany’s Nicolas Bokowski, already the €300 Nordic Blood Mix champion from earlier in the week, was runner-up for €12,830, adding to what had become a standout week for him. Sweden’s Jerry Tommy Ödeen took third for €9,330, and American Andrew Kelsall was fourth for €7,000. Austria’s Jean-Michael Kabbaj, who had already finished third in Event #4: €700 20-Game Dealer’s Choice, made another deep run in fifth for €5,250. Ireland’s Matthew Grapenthien rounded out the paid field in sixth for €3,680. Austria’s Alexander Freund was the unfortunate bubble player.

€1,500 buy-in | 45 entries | €58,320 prize pool

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Patrick Stacey	Canada	€20,230
2	Nicolas Bokowski	Germany	€12,830
3	Jerry Tommy Ödeen	Sweden	€9,330
4	Andrew Kelsall	United States	€7,000
5	Jean-Michael Kabbaj	Austria	€5,250
6	Matthew Grapenthien	Ireland	€3,680

Eirik Kristiansen Wins Event #8: €300 Senkel’s Paradise Pick’em

Norway’s Eirik Kristiansen, who had already cashed in the Lowball Draw Mix earlier in the week, won the €300 Senkel’s Paradise Pick’em for €4,766, giving Norway its third title of the festival and continuing the country’s dominance of the series leaderboard.

Senkel’s Paradise Pick’em is one of the most distinctive formats on the EMPC schedule. It plays like Seven-Card Stud, with three cards dealt face-down in the first round, but before betting begins, the button chooses the game from a menu of five fixed-limit options for that hand. Those five options are Seven-Card Stud, Razz, Stud Hi-Lo 8-or-Better, Seven-Card Draw, and Lowball Draw. The game reverts to normal after the hand resolves, and the button rotates each hand. The format demands versatility across stud variants and rewards players who can quickly read both their cards and their opponents’ tendencies.

England’s Seun Oluwole, who would go on to make the Main Event final table, finished runner-up for €3,170. Oluwole’s countrymate Isaac Barker was third for €2,230, and Finland’s Ilkka Heikkilä placed fourth for €1,620. Norway’s Martin Dahle, previously runner-up in Event #4: €700 20-Game Dealer’s Choice, cashed again in fifth for €1,190. Norwegians took five of the nine paid spots total, including eighth-place Andreas Lund (€630) and ninth-place Raymond Forsland (€510).

€300 buy-in | 65 entries | €15,886 prize pool

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Eirik Kristiansen	Norway	€4,766
2	Seun Oluwole	England	€3,170
3	Isaac Barker	England	€2,230
4	Ilkka Heikkilä	Finland	€1,620
5	Martin Dahle	Norway	€1,190
6	Krzysztof Kozlowski	Poland	€970
7	Jonas Grusnius	Lithuania	€800
8	Andreas Lund	Norway	€630
9	Raymond Forsland	Norway	€510

Tapani Pulkkinen Wins Event #9: €800 8-Game Main Event

Finland’s Tapani Pulkkinen won the centerpiece of the entire EMPC 2026 festival, defeating Christian Elgstrom heads-up to claim the €800 8-Game Main Event title and €22,250. Pulkkinen’s victory is the signature result of the series, the culmination of two opening flights, 146 entries, and a final day at Olympic Park Casino that brought 42 survivors back to the felt.

Pulkkinen more than doubled his live poker earnings tracked by The Hendon Mob to around $21,500, with his best previous result a runner-up finish at the Killarney Omaha Championship on the Irish Poker Tour just 16 days earlier, where he collected €15,000. The Main Event win roughly doubles his career live earnings in a single result, and marks him as a rising name among the Nordic and Baltic mixed-game specialists who have built EMPC into a genuine destination festival.

The 8-Game format rotates through eight disciplines in fixed order: No-Limit Texas Hold’em, Fixed-Limit Stud, Fixed-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8-or-Better, Fixed-Limit Razz, Pot-Limit Omaha, Fixed-Limit Texas Hold’em, Fixed-Limit Stud Hi-Lo 8-or-Better, and Fixed-Limit 2-7 Triple Draw. Each game is played for a set number of hands before rotating, testing every dimension of a player’s mixed game knowledge. Many in the community consider the 8-Game the most complete test of poker skill available in a tournament format.

Denmark’s Christian Elgstrom finished runner-up for €15,070, and England’s Seun Oluwole, fresh from his runner-up finish in the €300 Senkel’s Paradise Pick’em, picked up another deep run in third place for €10,930. England’s Wantao Tang was fourth for €8,590, and Norway’s Erik Sonsteby took fifth for €6,730.

€800 buy-in | 146 entries | €97,090 prize pool

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Tapani Pulkkinen	Finland	€22,250
2	Christian Elgstrom	Denmark	€15,070
3	Seun Oluwole	England	€10,930
4	Wantao Tang	England	€8,590
5	Erik Sonsteby	Norway	€6,730
6	Jerry Tommy Ödeen	Sweden	€5,260
7	Ilkka Heikkilä	Finland	€3,840
8	Norberto Korn	Germany	€2,830
9	Kayan Intwala	England	€2,830
10	Gunnar Wedde	Norway	€2,320
11	Tor Welo	Norway	€2,320
12	Thor Morstol	Norway	€1,920
13	Joshua Chudnovsky	Israel	€1,920
14	Frode Fagerli	Norway	€1,920
15	Dinesh Khatri	England	€1,720
16	Didier Rabl	Switzerland	€1,720
17	Jonas Grusnius	Lithuania	€1,720
18	Mati Pirn	Estonia	€1,600
19	Georgina James	England	€1,600

Marius Toverud Wins Event #10: €300 6-Game Mystery Bounty

Norway’s Marius Toverud won the €300 6-Game Mystery Bounty for a combined €6,028 in base prize and bounties, giving Norway yet another title on a remarkable final day of the EMPC 2026 in Tallinn.

The 6-Game rotation that underpins Events 10 and 11 cycles through Stud Hi-Lo 8-or-Better, Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8-or-Better, Razz, No-Limit Texas Hold’em, Badugi, and No-Limit 2-7 Single Draw: six very different disciplines that collectively punish any gaps in a player’s game. The Mystery Bounty format added a wrinkle: the top bounty prizes were drawn randomly from an envelope, meaning any knockout could produce a bounty worth far more than the standard amount. American Brandon Webb turned that into a feature rather than a bug, knocking out opponents to collect €2,500 in bounties despite finishing sixth in the base prize standings.

Finland’s Pasi Laihinen was runner-up with €2,020 in base prize plus €300 in bounties for a €2,320 total. Sweden’s Kenneth Naoki Wiik took third for €1,420 in base prize with no bounties. Poland’s Tomasz Gluszko finished fourth with €1,030 plus €900 in bounties for a €1,930 total.

€300 buy-in | 70 entries | €10,108 prize pool

Player	Country	Prize	Bounties	Total
Marius Toverud	Norway	€3,028	€3,000	€6,028
Pasi Laihinen	Finland	€2,020	€300	€2,320
Kenneth Naoki Wiik	Sweden	€1,420	€0	€1,420
Tomasz Gluszko	Poland	€1,030	€900	€1,930
Toomas Mäkikokko	Finland	€750	€0	€750
Brandon Webb	United States	€620	€2,500	€3,120
Kjersti Grini	Norway	€510	€0	€510
Jens Vörtmann	Germany	€400	€200	€600
Anders Auset	Norway	€330	€0	€330

Alexander Aaneland Wins Event #11: €1,500 6-Game High Roller

Norway’s Alexander Aaneland defended his EMPC 6-Game High Roller title from Dublin 2025, winning the €1,500 6-Game High Roller at EMPC 2026 Tallinn for €10,886. Aaneland, one of Scandinavia’s most accomplished mixed game players, had previously won this exact event at the Dublin edition of the EMPC and made the trip to Tallinn to do it again. Back-to-back titles in the same event at consecutive editions of the same festival is a rare achievement by any measure.

The 6-Game High Roller uses the same rotation as Event 10: Stud Hi-Lo 8-or-Better, Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8-or-Better, Razz, No-Limit Texas Hold’em, Badugi, and No-Limit 2-7 Single Draw. But at a €1,500 buy-in with only four places paid, the field was smaller and the pressure higher from the first hand. Fellow Norwegian Gunnar Wedde, who had also made the Main Event money, was runner-up for €7,620. England’s Antony Kelly finished third for €4,900, and Finland’s Sampo Ryynänen, the €800 T.O.E. Turbo champion from earlier in the week, made the money again in fourth for €3,810.

€1,500 buy-in | 21 entries | €27,216 prize pool

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Alexander Aaneland	Norway	€10,886
2	Gunnar Wedde	Norway	€7,620
3	Antony Kelly	England	€4,900
4	Sampo Ryynänen	Finland	€3,810

Philipp Krieger Wins Event #12: €200 Omaha Dealer’s Choice

Germany’s Philipp Krieger closed out the EMPC 2026 with a win in the €200 Omaha Dealer’s Choice, taking €3,004 as the festival’s final champion. Krieger had cashed in the 20-Game Dealer’s Choice in fourth place earlier in the week, making him one of the most consistent performers across the full schedule.

The Omaha Dealer’s Choice gives the button a menu of six Omaha variants, all played pot-limit: Pot-Limit Omaha (Hi), Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8-or-Better, Pot-Limit 5-Card Omaha, Pot-Limit 5-Card Omaha Hi-Lo 8-or-Better, Pot-Limit Courchevel, and Pot-Limit Courchevel Hi-Lo. The format is a pure celebration of the Omaha family, and the rebuy option keeps stacks deep, rewarding aggression and comfort across all six variants.

Estonia’s Heiti Riisberg gave the host country something to cheer about with a runner-up finish for €1,950, one of the best individual results for an Estonian player across the full series. Norway’s Joakim Bakke was third for €1,400, and Sweden’s Eva “Chic” Jiretorn took fourth for €1,010. The closing event had five Norwegian players in the money, a fitting way for the country to end its strongest week in European mixed games in recent memory.

€200 buy-in | 61 entries | €10,035 prize pool

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Philipp Krieger	Germany	€3,004
2	Heiti Riisberg	Estonia	€1,950
3	Joakim Bakke	Norway	€1,400
4	Eva Jiretorn	Sweden	€1,010
5	Rodolphe Zagoury	France	€750
6	Ylva Thorsrud	Norway	€620
7	Kenneth Aspestrand	Norway	€500
8	Jan Holte	Norway	€400
9	Morten Antonsen	Norway	€400

EMPC 2026 Tallinn: All Champions

Tournament	Winner	Prize
Event #1: €200 Welcomer Big Bet Mix	Christophe Stammet	€3,417*
Event #2: €555 Lowball Draw Mix	Thor Morstol	€9,967
Event #3: €300 Nordic Blood Mix	Nicolas Bokowski	€6,150
Event #4: €700 20-Game Dealer’s Choice	Robin Panholzer	€12,093
Event #5: €200 S.O.R.B.E.T.	Raymond Forsland	€4,051
Event #6: €800 T.O.E. Turbo	Sampo Ryynänen	€8,072
Event #7: €1,500 S.O.R.B.E.T. High Roller	Patrick Stacey	€20,230
Event #8: €300 Senkel’s Paradise Pick’em	Eirik Kristiansen	€4,766
Event #9: €800 8-Game Main Event	Tapani Pulkkinen	€22,250
Event #10: €300 6-Game Mystery Bounty	Marius Toverud	€6,028**
Event #11: €1,500 6-Game High Roller	Alexander Aaneland	€10,886
Event #12: €200 Omaha Dealer’s Choice	Philipp Krieger	€3,004

* Heads-up deal | ** Includes bounties

EMPC 2026 Tallinn: FAQ

• Article originally produced at poker.pro.
• Photos courtesy of EMPC / OlyBet Poker / Vaclav Dusek