Estonians Shine on Second Day of 2026 OlyBet Showdown Tallinn

The 2026 OlyBet Showdown Tallinn rolled into its second day with all eyes on the Olympic Park Casino floor, where the atmosphere was electric from the first shuffle to the final call. The room was buzzing with excitement as hundreds of players battled across the felt, turning the heart of Tallinn’s poker scene into a spectacle of strategy, adrenaline, and pure passion.

Adding to the local pride, Estonian players made their mark early in the weekend, dominating the Superlive events powered by Win TV. Alger Pissarev was the first local hero on Saturday after defeating Finland’s Phenporn Laatikainen heads-up in the two-day €250 NLH OlyBet Win TV Superlive for €7,927. Later in the day, Estonia’s Kert Hallik won the one-day €555 NLH Superlive for €8,720, the largest prize thus far at this festival.

In other news, Latvia’s Uldis Lejnieks shipped the €200 PLO4/PLO5 for €2,310, while the Finnish duo of Jussi-Pekka Saarinen and Teemu Leikas won the €200 NLH OlyBet Win TV Superlive Pairs Event for €1,971.

• Read more: OlyBet Showdown Tallinn Welcomes Vibrant Opening Day Crowd
• Read more: Inaugural 2026 OlyBet Showdown Tallinn Features Massive Tournament Schedule

Alger Pissarev Wins €250 NLH OlyBet Win TV Superlive

The €250 NLH OlyBet Win TV Superlive attracted 163 entries on its opening day on Friday to create a €34,067 prize pool. The second and final day brought tons of excitement, culminating in a who’s who of the regional poker scene at the final table, with many Olympic Park Casino veterans in the mix.

A pair of Estonian expats hit the rail just before the podium, with Spain’s Jon Alba snagging fourth place for €2,970 after Finland’s Tapio Aaltonen secured the fifth-place prize of €2,310.

The two remaining local players, Alger Pissarev and Meelis Ahman, locked up in a crucial hand according to Kairit Leibold’s reporting in Estonian at Win TV, resulting in Ahman hitting the rail in third place for €3,810 when his ace-eight was unable to hold against king-queen.

Finland’s Phenporn “Lek” Laatikainen was unable to mount a comeback as a short-stack and settled for the runner-up prize of €5,280, while Pissarev earned the first multi-day trophy at the 2026 OlyBet Showdown Tallinn along with the €7,927 top prize.

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Alger Pissarev	Estonia	€7,927
2	Phenporn Laatikainen	Finland	€5,280
3	Meelis Ahman	Estonia	€3,810
4	Jon Alba	Spain	€2,970
5	Tapio Aaltonen	Finland	€2,310
6	Kestutis Navickas	Lithuania	€1,800
7	Uldis Lejnieks	Latvia	€1,400
8	Joonas Lyttinen	Finland	€1,130
9	Anthony Lesoismier-Geniaux	France	€910
10	Julien Correia Monteiro	Portugal	€750
11	Raigo Vaikma	Estonia	€750
12	Marek Kõiv	Estonia	€660
13	Imre Leibold	Estonia	€660
14	Karl-Martin Marrandi	Estonia	€590
15	Laur Sibold	Estonia	€590
16	Kert Hallik	Estonia	€530
17	Timo Tamminen	Finland	€530
18	Mark Metsla	Estonia	€490
19	Sarunas Dargis	Lithuania	€490
20	Dmitri Dudakov	Estonia	€490

Kert Hallik Wins €555 NLH Superlive

The one-day €555 NLH Superlive attracted 54 entries, creating €25,650 in prizes. Like the previous event, two Estonians and one Finn advanced to the final three, including Kert Hallik, who was fresh off a 16th-place finish in the €250 NLH Superlive for €490.

Also similar to the previous event, the two remaining Estonians faced off according to the Win TV blog, with Taago Tamm running his rivered two-pair into Hallik’s rivered nut-flush to earn the third-place prize of €4,100. A deal was briefly discussed but not agreed to before Ville-Matti Keränen (second – €5,640) lost his final flip with ace-king against pocket sevens for Hallik to win the second big title of the day worth €8,720.

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Kert Hallik	Estonia	€8,720
2	Ville-Matti Keränen	Finland	€5,640
3	Taago Tamm	Estonia	€4,100
4	Martin Zobel	Germany	€3,080
5	Armenak Sahnazarjan	Armenia	€2,310
6	Andrzej Wanclaw	Poland	€1,800

Uldis Lejnieks Wins €200 PLO4/PLO5

The €200 PLO4/PLO5 attracted 40 runners, with the top five players competing for a share of the €6,460 prize pool.

The Estonian dominance displayed during the first two larger hold’em events faded once more cards were in play, with the local crowd shut out from the payout table.

Latvia earned its first title of the festival after Uldis Lejnieks defeated Finland’s Joni Haltia (second – €1,620) to win the €2,310 top prize.

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Uldis Lejnieks	Latvia	€2,310
2	Joni Haltia	Finland	€1,620
3	Pasquale Vinci	Italy	€1,160
4	Andrejs Krasovskis	Latvia	€790
5	Mateusz Kulis	Poland	€580

Team Saarinen & Leikas Win €200 NLH OlyBet WinTV Superlive Special – Pair Event

The €200 NLH OlyBet WinTV Superlive Special – Pair Event was a tag-team affair with players tagging in, with the main rule being that each player on the team was required to play at least three full blind levels, which most teams got out of the way early. The event attracted 34 teams of two, creating a €5,491 prize pool.

Finland got on the board for its first trophy, but it nearly didn’t start out that way, with the team of Jussi-Pekka Saarinen & Teemu Leikas becoming the first to hit the rail. However, their second bullet proved to be the secret sauce, as the Finnish duo cruised to victory to earn the trophies and the €1,971 top prize in the banter-filled event.

Place	Team	Country	Prize
1	Jussi-Pekka Saarinen & Teemu Leikas	Finland	€1,971
2	Sander Eentalu & Kait Hinn	Estonia	€1,370
3	Viktor Chaikin & Andreis Krasovskis	Latvia	€990
4	Tanel Evert & Rain Kandla	Estonia	€670
5	Gert Laanemets & Steven Seller	Estonia	€490

2026 OlyBet Showdown Tallinn Schedule (Sunday, April 12)

Sunday starts off with an inclusive Freebuy Mega Satellite to the €200 NLH OlyBet Showdown Mini Main Event at 12 p.m., with a whopping 10 seats guaranteed, giving players a free shot at playing later today with the Mini Main Event hosting its Day 1a at 2:30 p.m.

Later in the day, players will be battling for a trophy in the €350 PLO4/PLO5 Progressive bounty at 5 p.m., with the Omaha theme continuing with an €80 PLO5 Satellite guaranteeing at least four seats to Monday’s €555 PLO4/PLO5 Progressive Bounty.

Check out today’s schedule below and head to OlyBetEvents.com to check out the full schedule, a player’s guide, and more.

• Article originally produced at poker.pro.