Starstudded final table when Queens of Tallinn 2026 goes live

August 30, 2026

The year was 2023. Founders Teresa Nousiainen and Christer Larsson had already experimented with putting a greater focus on women in poker during their festivals. Eventually, they decided it was time to take that commitment one step further and create something dedicated entirely to the women of the game.

That idea became the foundation for Queens of Tallinn, the sister event to Kings of Tallinn.

Queens of Tallinn was born, and the concept followed in the footsteps of its big brother: a premium poker festival with the same branding, the same hand-picked world-class dealers and the same atmosphere. There was, however, one major difference – only women were allowed to play.

When I arrived for the inaugural edition as a live reporter and photographer, I honestly didn’t know what to expect.

What I experienced turned out to be, by far, the best poker tournament I had ever covered.

The atmosphere, the sense of community, the laughter and the feeling I took home with me after that weekend are almost impossible to put into words. It really was something extraordinary.

Whenever someone busted from a tournament, she would often be the first person to stick around and support the very player who had knocked her out. In 22 years of working in poker, I had never seen anything quite like it.

I didn’t just leave Tallinn that year with an amazing feeling. I left with a whole new group of friends from the poker community.

The Biggest Queens of Tallinn Yet

This year, it was time for the fourth edition of Queens of Tallinn, which kicked off on Thursday at Olympic Casino in the Estonian capital. And in 2026, the festival is bigger than ever.

Players representing 17 different nationalities made their way to Estonia for this year’s festival.

The Main Event buy-in had been increased to €555, but that certainly didn’t stop the players from showing up. Yesterday, it was confirmed that the Main Event had set a new record with 108 entries.

That also created a record-breaking prize pool for a women-only poker tournament in Europe, with more than €50,000 up for grabs.

A total of 13 players made the money, but naturally, all eyes are now on the final nine.

And what a final table it is.

We have arguably never seen a stronger final table in the history of Queens of Tallinn than the one getting underway today at noon.

As with previous editions, the action will be livestreamed on a 30-minute delay, allowing everyone at home to follow the battle for the title.

Two Former Champions Chasing Another Title

Among the nine finalists are not one, but two former Queens of Tallinn Main Event champions.

Saara Fatiha Benlamine, who won the title in 2024, is back with a chance to become a two-time champion. She is joined by defending champion Giedre Valgemäe, who won last year’s Main Event and enters today’s final table as the short stack.

They will face plenty of tough competition.

Swedish champion Noelia Ivars Rico sits third in chips heading into the final, while Latvia’s Agnese Barca leads the field with 658,000.

Here is the complete final table lineup:

Position	Player	Country	Chips
1	Agnese Barca	Latvia	658,000
2	Outi Helena Reinilä	Finland	559,000
3	Noelia Ivars Rico	Sweden	466,000
4	Anne Bezdek	Finland	410,000
5	Indre Martoviciute-Kasten	Lithuania	374,000
6	Saara Benlamine	Finland	310,000
7	Celine Rolando	France	251,000
8	Annika Abmayr	Germany	122,000
9	Giedre Valgemäe	Estonia	86,000

Follow the Final Table Live

Make sure to tune in to our livestream, where the excellent Jason Glatzer will guide you through the action alongside a number of special guests throughout the day.

And the first guest on the schedule is none other than Jenny Westerlund, winner of last year’s WSOP Circuit Tallinn Main Event.

The Main Event isn’t the only poker being played today either. For anyone who still hasn’t had enough after a weekend featuring ten events in total, an €80 tournament will also get underway at noon.

Of course, we’ll be back once we have a winner to report – and to reveal which of these nine women gets to take home one of the most beautiful trophies in poker.

Queens of Tallinn has something a little different waiting for its champions.

Every year, local jeweller Roman Tavast creates a unique collection of necklaces exclusively for the festival, with the beautiful Queens of Tallinn logo forming the centrepiece of the design.

And for the woman who wins the Main Event?

Hers will be made in gold.

Nine players remain. Two former champions are still in contention. A record-breaking Main Event title is on the line.

Now it’s time to crown the next Queen of Tallinn.

#7 €200 NLH PokerNews Queens Crown 8-Max – 44 entries – €6,956 prize pool

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Monica Thingbo	Norway	€2,366
2	Algina Juknaite	Lithuania	€1,530
3	Celine Zimmermann	Switzerland	€1,110
4	Viktorija Rakejevaite	Lithuania	€830
5	Leone Kala	Estonia	€630
6	Vita Veidemane	Latvia	€490

#8 €100 NLH Win TV Series – Unibet Live, Open to All – 245 entries – €19,784 prize pool (former Queens of Tallinn champion beats them all, only one not on today’s Main Event FT)

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Marta Porter	Lithuania	€3,698
2	Kristiana Stauere	Latvia	€3,026
3	Ivonne Harms	Germany	€1,850
4	Imro Kirsipuu	Estonia	€1,410
5	Ingvar Linne	Sweden	€1,100
6	Reda Ighanoussene	France	€880
7	Rando Järve	Estonia	€720
8	Arko Akenpärg	Estonia	€600
9	Anton Makejev	Estonia	€520
10	Gert Orav	Estonia	€460
11	Luukas Nisula	Finland	€460
12	Sava Krink	Germany	€390
13	Shiva Arunachalam	Estonia	€390
14	Hannes Õun	Estonia	€330
15	Anca Eggenberger	Switzerland	€330
16	Jegor Iljuhhin	Estonia	€290
17	Robin Tiits	Estonia	€290
18	Danil Lebedev	Russia	€250
19	Glen Kolmer	Estonia	€250
20	Eleryn Tiit	Estonia	€250
21	Oleksii Lubnin	Ukraine	€230
22	Allan Pukk	Estonia	€230
23	Madis Müür	Estonia	€230
24	Katariina Ingerma	Estonia	€210
25	John Anders Sara	Norway	€210
26	Ardi Valgemäe	Estonia	€210
27	Joonas Kulli	Estonia	€210
28	Lucas Miguel Cravero	Italy	€190
29	Andro Reimal	Estonia	€190
30	Silvester Oidekivi	Estonia	€190
31	Karita Koppinen	Finland	€190