Giedre Valgemäe Claims Historic Victory in Queens of Tallinn Main Event

August 25, 2025

As the curtain fell on the 2025 Queens of Tallinn, the energy inside Olympic Park Casino was still buzzing from four days of world-class celebration of women’s poker like nowhere else in Europe. This year for the third-edition of the women-only festival, the spotlight belonged to Lithuania’s Giedre Valgemäe, Tallinn’s adopted daughter, who kept her scorching streak alive in her own backyard. Having just banked $142,054 in the $1M guaranteed $150 GGMasters at OlyBet Poker, Valgemäe cemented herself as one of the top female players to watch, outlasting a star-studded field to etch her name on the €350 NLH Queens of Tallinn Main Event trophy.

The final stages witnessed a deal between Valgemäe and her three worthy opponents: Germany’s Queens of Tallinn PLO side event champion Annika Abmayr, Sweden’s Elin Holmgren, and the United Kingdom’s Aytan Eldarova, poker.pro’s “Head of Semi-bluff Studies,” with an extra €1,800, the trophy, and all the bragging rights still up for grabs. When the dust settled, Valgemäe took her place in the exclusive company of 2023 Queens of Tallinn Main Event champion Marta Porter and 2024 Queens of Tallinn Main Event champion Saara Benlamine as the third-ever champion while banking the €5,690 top prize.

“I hope my story inspires a lot of women that want to play poker or try to play poker,” shared Valgemäe to poker.pro’s Eldarova about her amazing month. “I hope I can make at least one of them inspired and make them realize that anything is possible.”
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The 2025 €350 NLH Queens of Tallinn Main Event redefined the standards for women’s poker tournaments across Europe. Drawing a historic 96 entries, the event created a prize pool of €27,677, the largest ever for a women-only poker event in the Baltic region. This achievement is even more remarkable because the buy-in increased from €250 to €350, yet the field still grew year over year by 11 entries. This surge signals growing interest and showcases that women’s poker events have evolved from inclusive gatherings into fiercely competitive arenas where the top female players continue to raise the bar and inspire their peers.

Meanwhile, Norway’s Elisabeth Harestad, who was one of the early casualties at the Main Event final table, snatched the festival’s final trophy, besting Finland’s Susanna Haapasalmi heads-up to claim the €1K top prize—and a mountain of bounties, heading home with a story and memory of her own.

Christina Solli Exits Early After Starting With Final Table Chip Lead

The final table crystalized at the close of Day 2 as Norway’s Kjersti Jocumsen, Lithuania’s reigning 2023 queen Marta Porter, Estonia’s Siiri Saar, and Sweden’s Lina Olofsson all hit the rail within the money and made way for the big dance. The live stream swung into action the following day at Noon on OlyBet Poker’s channels, with hole cards exposed 30 minutes later, setting the stage for a gripping Sunday showdown.

Starting deep in the pack with just 21 big blinds in eighth place, Lithuania’s Giedre Valgemäe soon began her climb up the leaderboard. Norway’s Christina Solli held the chip lead heading into the day but would find herself unable to convert that advantage into a deep run. Estonia’s Annemar Rimmel, the shortest stack at 18 big blinds, was the first casualty of the final table, falling in ninth spot for €810 after her ace-queen was outflipped by Elin Holmgren’s pocket jacks.

Valgemäe wasted no time climbing the chip counts. She launched a three-bet all-in shove from the big blind holding ace-five and doubled up through Solli, who called with king-ten. Shortly after, Valgemäe eliminated Norway’s Elisabeth Harestad in eighth place for €1,020 when her ace-ten held against Harestad’s ace-eight. A twist of fate, perhaps, as Harestad went on to capture the festival’s final trophy just hours later by winning the €250 NLH Progressive Bounty event.

While Valgemäe gritted her teeth to stave off elimination for her first double, the United Kingdom’s Aytan Eldarova danced a different dance. The poker.pro strategic author jammed the river with ace-king and bluffed her way past defending champion Saara Benlamine’s king-ten second pair on the river. A couple of orbits later, Eldarova doubled through Solli, to change the table dynamics where she held two pair with ace-ten against Solli’s ace-six for top pair, taking chunks away from the once commanding leader’s stack.

Valgemäe had the chip lead and padded it after he tens held against ace-seven to eliminate the once chip leader Solli in seventh place for €1,270.

Tamm and Benlamine Out Before the Deal

Fireworks ignited on the very next hand, reigniting hopes for 2024 Queens of Tallinn Main Event champion Saara Benlamine as she sought to defend her crown. Benlamine won a flip to pad her stack after her tens were good against ace-ten to end the impressive run of Estonia’s Helina Tamm (sixth – €1,580), who began Saturday’s Day 2 with the chip lead.

It appeared runner-up Annika Abmayr would be the next to go after she was down to just two big blinds after losing most of her stack to Valgemäe. However, she doubled through Valgemäe with jack-ten suited against four-deuce suited.

Shortly after, Abmayr gained more breathing room with two more doubles through the chip leader Valgemäe, both times getting it in with the goods.

Around this time, Aytan Eldarova began amassing chips and confidently took over the chip lead, while defending champion Saara Benlamine found herself dangerously short-stacked. Benlamine pushed all in with queen-ten but could only claim the crumbs in her dwindling stack, ultimately settling for a fifth-place finish worth €1,950, falling short of a rare back-to-back Queens of Tallinn Main Event victory.

Deal Made With Eldarova on Top

After Saara Benlamine’s exit, the four remaining players took a break before hashing out a deal with €1,800 left to play for, along with the coveted trophy and a place on OlyBet’s celebrated “Stairs of Fame”—a hallmark of major events like the Kings of Tallinn. As table captain, Aytan Eldarova came out best from the deal, but without ICM pressure, the atmosphere lightened and the game opened up.

Valgemäe soon climbed back into contention, reclaiming the chip lead, before passing the torch to Sweden’s Elin Holmgren. Meanwhile, Germany’s Annika Abmayr fought her way back onto the chip lead, pushing Eldarova into precarious territory after delivering a brutal double with ace-seven against Eldarova’s pocket tens. Eldarova’s comeback efforts fell short as she lost her remaining stack to Valgemäe when her jack-eight couldn’t hold against king-ten.

Despite the late setback, Eldarova shared with poker.pro that she was thrilled with the deal that secured her the second-largest payout of €4,458.

Valgemäe regained a small chip lead over Abmayr. Shortly after, Holmgren jammed her six big blind stack with queen-trey and was out in third place for €4,313 after not getting beyond Valgemäe’s jacks.

Valgemäe Closes it Out Against Abmayr

Valgemäe began the heads-up action with a 3:2 chip advantage. She padded it early before Abmayr won a big pot to take a narrow chip lead.

Abmayr was unable to continue the momentum, and soon after, Valgemäe was back with the chip lead. Shortly after, a pot was building up with Valgemäe holding jack-eight suited for both a flush draw and a gutshot to the straight on the turn. Abmayr was put to the test with queen-eight suited, connecting with her and the queen to give her two pairs on the board when Valgemäe jammed. Abmayr called off her stack and was one player shy of winning her second title this festival after previously winning the €150 PLO4/PLO5 on Friday.

Instead, Abmayr walked away with a healthy €3,890 runner-up prize. At the same time, Giedre Valgemäe celebrated with her husband Ardi and others as she entered her name into poker history books for winning the largest Queens of Tallinn Main Event in poker history for €5,690.

2025 Kings of Tallinn €350 NLH Main Event Results

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Giedre Valgemäe	Lithuania	€5,690
2	Annika Abmayr	Germany	€3,890
3	Elin Holmgren	Sweden	€4,313
4	Aytan Eldarova	United Kingdom	€4,458
5	Saara Benlamine	Finland	€1,950
6	Helina Tamm	Estonia	€1,580
7	Christina Solli	Norway	€1,270
8	Elisabeth Harestad	Norway	€1,020
9	Annemar Rimmel	Estonia	€810
10	Kjersti Jocumsen	Norway	€700
11	Marta Porter	Lithuania	€700
12	Siiri Saar	Estonia	€650
13	Lina Olofsson	Sweden	€650

2025 Queens of Tallinn Main Event Final Table

Elisabeth Harestad Wins €250 NLH Progressive Bounty

The final trophy event of the 2025 Queens of Tallinn started at the same time as the final table of the €350 NLH Queens of Tallinn Main Event. This didn’t stop Norway’s Elisabeth Harestad, who finished in eighth place in the Main Event, from defeating Finland’s Susanna Happasalmi heads-up to win the €1,000 top prize and the big bounty at the end.

The event turned out to be a who’s who of women in poker. Lithuanian FLIP founder Daiva Byrne took third place for €730 plus bounties, with the popular Ave Lepik, the 2025 WSOP Circuit Main Event champion Jenny Westerlund, and the 2023 Queens of Tallinn Main Event winner from Lithuania, Marta Porter, also finishing in the money.

The event attracted 37 entries for €7,570 in prizes, including €3,700 dedicated to progressive bounties.

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Elisabeth Harestad	Norway	€1,000
2	Susanna Haapasalmi	Finland	€1,010
3	Daiva Byrne	Lithuania	€730
4	Ave Lepik	Estonia	€510
5	Jenny Westerlund	Sweden	€370
6	Marta Porter	Lithuania	€250

No Filter Poker Series Up Next in Tallinn (Oct. 17-22)

Kudos once again to Giedre Valgemäe for pulling off a second monumental victory in under a month at the 2025 Queens of Tallinn. This wraps up the poker.pro coverage of what was truly a festival to remember.

But the poker calendar in Tallinn barely slows down. Next up is the No Filter Poker Series, co-founded by the Swedish power duo Mounir Tajiou and Michel Karim, set to storm Olympic Park Casino October 17-22. The buzz is building fast, and all signs point to another unforgettable festival on the horizon.