A fresh new poker event is about to launch in Tallinn, and it is all about the players. The inaugural No Filter Poker Series will be held from June 12 to 15 at the luxurious Olympic Park Casino.
The Swedish duo Mounir Tajiou and Michel Karim were looking for a legal poker avenue to play with the rumors that eventually became reality circling about the only licensed Swedish casino in the Cosmopol Casino was closing and thus creating a disaster for the Swedish poker community with not only the Swedish Championship in June canceled, but the regulated avenues closing its doors on Swedish soil.
“The Swedish Casino is now permanently closed,” No Filter Poker shared on Instagram. “This is a disaster for every Swede who wants to play poker legally. No Filter Poker started to enable legal and fun poker. Now we need to push for privately owned casinos in Sweden. Because history has told us what happens when gambling, alcohol, or other ‘vices’ are shut down. Other forces enter.”
Tajiou and Karim were ahead of the game, already planning their poker festival in Tallinn while the rumors were still circulating. Now that they have become reality, expect a full house on the casino floor, where chips are flying, friends are made and reunited, and laughs are shared as players from Sweden and across the globe plan for what promises to be an amazing player experience.
The festival boasts six poker events, highlighted by the two-day €1,100 No Filter Main Event on June 13-14, along with nonstop cash games across a variety of games and stakes. In a unique twist highlighting the festival’s commitment to the player experience, No Filter opted not to include any poker events Saturday evening on June 14 and instead will be hosting a player’s party where more memories will be created.
The poker.pro team sat down with No Filter Poker co-founder Mounir Tajiou to learn more about the festival and how it came to light.
Amazing Experience at Kings of Tallinn Comes at Perfect Time
Tajiou and Karim both had amazing experiences during the 2025 Kings of Tallinn, where OlyBet celebrated its glorious 10th anniversary of this prestigious event. The 2025 Kings of Tallinn €1,100 Main Event final table was full of life in no small part due to Tajiou’s infectious friendly table chat. Tajiou earned his largest live tournament cash of €115,000 after finishing runner-up to Latvia’s Kaspars Butans, who earned the trophy and the €182,000 top prize.
- Read more: Mounir Tajiou Finishes Runner-Up to Kaspars Butans in the 2025 Kings of Tallinn Main Event
This wasn’t the only deep run for Tajiou as he was nearly at another final table earlier at the festival in another big multiday event before hitting the rail just before the final table in the €555 NLH Championship in 11th place for €4,700. However, Karim was still flying high in this event and perhaps as a prelude to come for Tajiou finished runner-up to Benyamin Canatan to earn €41,650.
Both players experienced more success later in the year while planning the No Filter Poker Series, with Tajiou advancing to three final tables at the Marrakech Poker Open in April before traveling to the Irish Poker Open with Karim.
While Tajiou recorded a cash at the Irish Poker Open, Karim was busy notching his largest live tournament cash. Karim advanced to the final table of the Irish Poker Open €1,150 Main Event, which attracted a festival-record 4,562 entries. Eventually, Karim exited in fifth place for a cool €130,000 before Ireland’s Simon Wilson entered poker’s history books with an amazing victory along with the €600,000 top prize.
For both players, the Kings of Tallinn was a jump start on the Sweden GPI Player of the Year, where Tajiou is in the lead by a wide margin over Marcus Hallabro. Meanwhile, Karim also popped into the top five but is just a handful of points behind Hallabro to jump into second place. Perhaps a victory at the No Filter Poker Series will be enough to leave the race to the top of the leaderboard between the No Filter founders Tajiou and Karim.
While both players were visibly enjoying the atmosphere at Olympic Park Casino, along with the camaraderie of their fellow poker players left and right, they understood that they needed to take matters into their own hands to find a safe place for events with regulated live poker in Sweden about to go up in smoke.
Currently, players can find action at local clubs in Stockholm and other areas of Sweden, but safety and a lack of regulatory oversight are concerns. To amplify the dangers, recently one of the Swedish poker clubs in Stockholm was robbed. The players, including Tajiou, continued to play until a winner was crowned after the robbery.
“I’ve been working for justice a long time,” shared Tajiou who is an attorney by trade. “I’ve been working to do the right thing my whole life. I was a law clerk and a junior judge for two years, a member of the bar for several years. So, I have been working on the right side of the tracks my whole life.
Tallinn seemed like the perfect solution, and Tajiou and Karim approached OlyBet about their appetite for a new event.
“I shared with Olympic Entertainment Group’s head of poker, Christer Larson, that we need a place for us to play poker tournaments legally,” Tajiou said. “Why don’t we do an event? Why don’t we have tournaments here four or five times a year that allow Swedish people to play legally? And also it should be fun.”
Larson, alongside OlyBet tournament director Teresa Nousiainen and others, has spearheaded significant growth for live poker in the Baltics and is also about creating an amazing poker experience. It didn’t take too much arm twisting for Larson to immediately love the concept and the No Filter Poker Series in Tallinn where the player experience takes top priority whether its the amazing staff, the encouragement of banter at the tables, or the fact there will be dedicated player’s host assisting anyone in town looking for places to go, eat, and relax throughout the extended weekend.
No Filter Poker Series Schedule
The No Filter Poker Series boasts five trophy events alongside a €80 satellite on the opening day on June 12 at 6 p.m. The opening day will also crown its first winner with players battling in the €200 No-Limit Hold’em at 9 p.m.
The highlight of the festival begins the following day with a single opening flight in the two-day €1,100 No Filter Main Event with Omaha players get a taste of the festival in the evening with the €200 PLO4/PLO5 kicking off at 9:30 p.m.
The Main Event will crown a winner with its second and final day beginning on Saturday, June 14 at 12 p.m. followed by the €555 NLH Progressive Bounty 8-Max at 2 p.m. Saturday night also boasts what promises to be the highlight away from the tables for many in the Players Party at 9 p.m.
The festival wraps up on June 15 with the €200 NLH No Filter Closer Turbo, capped off by a brilliant weekend for all those enjoying the warm atmosphere inside Olympic Park Casino and the perfect weather the Baltics are known for in June.
Check out the full schedule below and we look forward to seeing you in Tallinn.
| Date | Time | Event |
|---|---|---|
| June 12 | 6 p.m. | Event #1: €200 No Limit Hold’em |
| 9 p.m. | Event #2: €80 Satellite to No Filter Main Event | |
| June 13 | 5 p.m. | Event #3: €1,100 No Filter Main Event Day 1 |
| 9:30 p.m. | Event #4: €200 PLO4/PLO5 | |
| June 14 | 12 p.m. | Event #3: €1,100 No Filter Main Event Final Day |
| 2 p.m. | Event #5: €555 NLH Progressive Bounty 8-Max | |
| 9 p.m. | Players Party | |
| June 15 | 1 p.m. | Event #7: €200 NLH No Filter Closer Turbo |
