Three gold rings changed hands on Wednesday at the 2026 WSOP Circuit Tallinn, powered by OlyBet Poker, as the felt stayed busy across Olympic Park Casino and the Hilton Tallinn Park. Norway’s Tarjei Forus topped Ring Event #6: €1,100 PLO4/PLO5 for €43,930, Finland’s Luka Sorainen captured the one-day Ring Event #7: €5,000 NLH for €66,762, and earlier in the day, Sweden’s Mehdi Yazdanpanah outlasted a 677-player field to win Ring Event #3: €555 NLH for €59,465. Christoffer Karlén already put together a full recap of that event, so click here to read more.
With three more rings in the books, attention is quickly turning to the €1,000,000-guaranteed Main Event, which added two more starting flights and 274 fresh entries on Wednesday. France’s Baptiste Caim bagged up a massive 1,098,000 to lead Day 1B, while Israel’s Ben Gur heads to Day 2 with the top stack from Day 1C at 578,000. Two more flights, Day 1D and Day 1E, are still to come on Thursday.
Ring Event #8: €1,100 8-Game restarts today with 10 players left in the hunt, with Germany’s Michael Schmitz and Norway’s Tarjei Forus, who jumped straight into the field after winning his PLO4/PLO5 ring, sharing the chip lead heading into Day 2. Also among the finalists is poker.pro’s own Head of Media, Jason Glatzer, sitting in seventh place.
As if that wasn’t enough action for one day of the festival, three more trophies were handed out in the side events. Lithuania’s Tomas Kovalenka won the €250 NLH Progressive Bounty for €5,272, Finland’s Juho Suutari took down the €555 PLO4/PLO5 6-Handed for €10,510, and Norway’s Jae Kim capped off the night by claiming the late-night €200 NLH Turbo for €6,683.
Full coverage continues at poker.pro and OlyBetEvents.com throughout the series.
- Read more: WSOP Circuit Live Reporting at poker.pro
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- Read more: Tallinn Kicks Off Second Half of European WSOP Circuit Season
- Read more: The 2026 WSOP Circuit Tallinn Schedule Features Multiple Women-Only Events
- Read more: Beyond the Felt: What to Do in Tallinn During the 2026 WSOP Circuit
Forus Wins Ring Event #6: €1,100 PLO4/PLO5
Ring Event #6, the €1,100 PLO4/PLO5, drew 198 entries to build a €188,100 prize pool, and with plenty of prominent Pot-Limit Omaha specialists in the field, the standard was sky-high all the way through. Thirty players survived Day 1 to advance already in the money, but all eyes were on the gold ring, the €43,930 top prize, and a WSOP Paradise Bahamas package.
All six of the biggest stacks from Day 1 played their way through to the final table, with Finland’s Rasmus Ekstroem bringing the largest stack of all into the final day. Ekstroem couldn’t finish the job, though, falling in the heads-up battle against Norway’s Tarjei Forus and settling for second place and €28,370.
Forus had already flashed his Pot-Limit Omaha credentials earlier in the series with a win in the €350 PLO5/PLO5 Hi-Lo side event, and two other Omaha titles, with a wins at the 2024 edition of the Circuit festival and last year’s Kings of Tallinn. On top of that, he is a two-time Norwegian mixed games champion (2024, 2013). Now he can add a WSOP Circuit ring and the career-best result to go with it.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Tarjei Forus | Norway | €43,930 |
| 2 |  Rasmus Ekstroem | Finland | €28,370 |
| 3 |  Vladislavs Petrovs | Latvia | €18,930 |
| 4 | Pasi Sormunen | Finland | €13,030 |
| 5 | Pyry Kyroejoki | Finland | €9,250 |
| 6 |  Ranno Sootla | Estonia | €6,790 |
| 7 |  Etienne Bargibant | France | €5,160 |
| 8 | Einars Muhajevs | Latvia | €4,060 |
| 9 | Alberts Cevers | Latvia | €4,060 |
| 10 | Tony Kokko | Finland | €3,310 |
| 11 | Marcis Zeltmatis | Latvia | €3,310 |
| 12 | Vaeinoe Ketvell | Finland | €2,810 |
| 13 | Jari Kurikka | Finland | €2,810 |
| 14 |  Frederik Brink | Denmark | €2,810 |
| 15 | Steven Tool | Estonia | €2,810 |
| 16 | Morten Norland | Norway | €2,810 |
| 17 | Roope Tarmi | Finland | €2,810 |
| 18 |  Martin Schamaun | Austria | €2,480 |
| 19 | Onni Huttunen | Finland | €2,480 |
| 20 | Christian Steinbo | Norway | €2,480 |
| 21 | Georgi Voomets | Estonia | €2,480 |
| 22 |  Aurimas Bielskas | Lithuania | €2,480 |
| 23 | Juho Suutari | Finland | €2,480 |
| 24 | Pasi Laihinen | Finland | €2,480 |
| 25 |  Daniel Clifford | Sweden | €2,280 |
| 26 | Joona Nyholm | Finland | €2,280 |
| 27 | Markus Ristola | Finland | €2,280 |
| 28 | Nicklas Dehli | Denmark | €2,280 |
| 29 | Kaspars Renga | Latvia | €2,280 |
| 30 | Totti Arosuo | Finland | €2,280 |
Sorainen Tops High Roller Field to Win Ring Event #7: €5,000 NLH
Ring Event #7, a €5,000 NLH one-day event, brought together the best of Northern Europe’s poker scene. Forty-two entries built a €195,552 prize pool, with seven players making the money, and it came down to an all-Finnish final between Luka Sorainen and Mikael Haapaniemi.
Sorainen prevailed to collect €66,762 and his first-ever WSOP Circuit ring, one-upping his win earlier this year in the high roller side event at the 2026 Kings of Tallinn. As with all Circuit winners in Tallinn, Sorainen also earns a WSOP Paradise package and will be heading to the Bahamas in December. Haapaniemi wasn’t far behind, banking €42,540 for the runner-up finish, still the biggest cash of his career.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luka Sorainen | Finland | €66,762 |
| 2 | Mikael Haapaniemi | Finland | €42,540 |
| 3 | Noah Rogers | Norway | €28,550 |
| 4 | Casimir Seire | Finland | €20,220 |
| 5 |  Aliaksandr Shylko | Czech Republic | €15,160 |
| 6 |  Piotr Sztenkiel | Poland | €12,070 |
| 7 | Vladas Tamasauskas | Lithuania | €10,250 |
Ring Event #8: €1,100 8-Game Down to Ten
While the €1,000,000 GTD Main Event is the centerpiece of the festival, for some players, the €1,100 8-Game is their own “main event” and tournament that matters the most. Sixty-three entries created a €59,850 prize pool for Ring Event #8, and ten players survived the opening day, with everyone already guaranteed a payday.
Germany’s Michael Schmitz and Norway’s Tarjei Forus (fresh off his PLO4/PLO5 ring win and eyeing a second title of the week) share the overall chip lead with 576,000 apiece heading into Day 2, which gets underway at 13:00 local time on Thursday and plays to a first-place prize of €18,380.
Also among the ten finalists is poker.pro’s own Head of Media, Jason Glatzer, currently sitting in seventh place with 231,000. Good for roughly 15 big bets, or 28 big blinds. Plenty of chips to work with on an exciting final day, and still very much anybody’s game.
| Position | Player | Country | Chips | Big Bets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Michael Schmitz | Germany | 576,000 | 38 |
| 1 | Tarjei Forus | Norway | 576,000 | 38 |
| 3 | Bernd Reich | Germany | 398,000 | 26 |
| 4 | Aki Pyysing | Finland | 328,000 | 21 |
| 5 | Marius Toverud | Norway | 267,000 | 17 |
| 6 | Mikko Ylamaeki | Finland | 244,000 | 16 |
| 7 | Jason Glatzer | Lithuania | 231,000 | 15 |
| 8 |  Simeon Tsonev | Bulgaria | 209,000 | 13 |
| 9 | Sascha Manns | Germany | 163,000 | 10 |
| 10 | Riku Koivurinne | Finland | 159,000 | 10 |
Kovalenka Wins €250 NLH Progressive Bounty
Event #50, the €250 NLH Progressive Bounty with €100 bounties and 8-handed play, attracted 256 entries, with 39 players sharing a €27,904 regular prize pool. Lithuania’s Tomas Kovalenka defeated Brazil’s Frederico Alves Dos Santos heads-up. As is the case with progressive bounty events, both finalists collected an equal €5,272 from the regular prize pool, but the bounties collected along the way, and the trophy, made all the difference for Kovalenka.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tomas Kovalenka | Lithuania | €5,272 |
| 2 |  Frederico Alves Dos Santos | Brazil | €5,272 |
| 3 | Gintaras Naglius | Lithuania | €2,780 |
| 4 |  Federico Caielli | Italy | €1,930 |
| 5 | Carina Wald | Sweden | €1,380 |
| 6 |  Xavier Lyu | United States | €1,010 |
| 7 | Jyrki Lampinen | Finland | €760 |
| 8 | Emil Mortensen | Denmark | €590 |
| 9 | Marius Sopp | Norway | €470 |
| 10 | Morten Halvorsen | Norway | €390 |
| 11 | Matias Knaapinen | Finland | €390 |
| 12 | Kristaps Sipols | Latvia | €330 |
| 13 | Rasmus Lundstrom | Finland | €330 |
| 14 | Jere Hedman | Finland | €330 |
| 15 | Hannes Oun | Estonia | €330 |
| 16 | Kristian Heilmann | Finland | €290 |
| 17 | Jonas Lapinskas | Lithuania | €290 |
| 18 | Peter Onnestam | Sweden | €290 |
| 19 | Rolftomas Jauring | Sweden | €290 |
| 20 | Meelis Ahman | Estonia | €290 |
| 21 | Robertas Visockas | Lithuania | €270 |
| 22 | Nedas Nanys | Lithuania | €270 |
| 23 |  Yevhen Roshchebak | Ukraine | €270 |
| 24 | Alberto Martinez Gonzalez | Estonia | €270 |
| 25 | Lavrenti Hirvonen | Finland | €270 |
| 26 | Dalius Balciunas | Lithuania | €270 |
| 27 | Mikael Zackariasen | Sweden | €270 |
| 28 |  Andrew Ward | United Kingdom | €250 |
| 29 | Jimmy Dewerdt | Estonia | €250 |
| 30 | Joakim Stoere | Norway | €250 |
| 31 | Alexander Ekstroem | Sweden | €250 |
| 32 | Dmitrijs Petrenko | Latvia | €250 |
| 33 | Mart Rinken | Estonia | €250 |
| 34 | Fan Yang | Estonia | €250 |
| 35 | Torben Beltz | Germany | €250 |
| 36 | Jonas Klaus | Austria | €250 |
| 37 | Sander Lithun | Norway | €250 |
| 38 | Mathias Bayer | Austria | €250 |
| 39 | Terje Finsveen | Norway | €250 |
Suutari Claims €555 PLO4/PLO5 6-Handed
Event #52, another action-packed €555 PLO4/PLO5 played in a Button Round Each, 6-Handed format, brought together 76 entries for a €36,100 prize pool. After eight hours of play, Finland’s Juho Suutari claimed the win and the €10,510 top prize, defeating Sweden’s Magnus Edengren heads-up. Edengren pocketed €6,970 for his runner-up finish.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Juho Suutari | Finland | €10,510 |
| 2 |  Magnus Edengren | Spain | €6,970 |
| 3 | Pyry Kyroejoki | Finland | €4,530 |
| 4 | Thomas Rott | Norway | €3,100 |
| 5 |  Roy Van Der Reijnst | Netherlands | €2,230 |
| 6 | Adem Can | France | €1,700 |
| 7 | Joona Koivisto | Finland | €1,380 |
| 8 | Vidar Assersen | Norway | €1,190 |
| 9 | Abbe Mardiny | Sweden | €1,190 |
| 10 | Jelco Burger | Netherlands | €1,100 |
| 11 | Onni Huttunen | Finland | €1,100 |
| 12 | Tson Hu | Netherlands | €1,100 |
Kim Wins Late-Night €200 NLH Turbo
The late-night €200 NLH Turbo, 8-handed, saw 159 entries battle for a €26,433 prize pool with 24 players cashing. Norway’s Jae Kim topped the list, collecting €6,683 for his “night shift.” Kim denied 2024 Queens of Tallinn champion Finland’s Saara Benlamine a trophy of her own, though Benlamine still walked away with a respectable €4,220 for the runner-up finish.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jae Kim | Norway | €6,683 |
| 2 | Saara Benlamine | Finland | €4,220 |
| 3 | Thomas Haverstad | Norway | €2,820 |
| 4 | Antti Hakala | Finland | €1,950 |
| 5 | Kristian Heilmann | Finland | €1,390 |
| 6 | Jari-Pekka Juhola | Finland | €1,040 |
| 7 | Anders Holm | Denmark | €800 |
| 8 | Michal Dydymski | Poland | €640 |
| 9 |  Danqiu Shen | China | €540.75 |
| 10 | Nico Segersven | Finland | €470 |
| 11 | Simon Svinth | Denmark | €470 |
| 12 | Daniel Rantanen | Finland | €430 |
| 13 | Miika Toyras | Finland | €430 |
| 14 | Adomas Juozapavicius | Lithuania | €430 |
| 15 | Even Flatekvaal | Norway | €430 |
| 16 | Morten Norland | Norway | €410 |
| 17 | Richard Melby | Norway | €410 |
| 18 | Satu Kaihoniemi | Finland | €410 |
| 19 | Mindaugas Grigaitis | Lithuania | €410 |
| 20 | Iiro Elomaa | Finland | €410 |
| 21 | Abraham Uittenbogaard | Netherlands | €410 |
| 22 | Edvinas Tenikaitis | Lithuania | €410 |
| 23 | Vilde Ekren | Norway | €410 |
| 24 | Toni Jaervisalo | Finland | €410 |
Thursday, July 30 Schedule at 2026 WSOP Circuit Tallinn
Thursday brings Day 8 of the 2026 WSOP Circuit Tallinn, and a fourth gold ring is already on the cards, with Ring Event #8: €1,100 8-Game set to crown its champion. The Main Event also rolls on with two more starting flights, Day 1D and Day 1E, and there’s plenty more side action lined up to keep both rooms buzzing.
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| 12:00 | Ring Event #5: €1,500 NLH Main Event Flight 1D |
| 13:00 | Ring Event #8: €1,100 8-Game Final Day |
| 13:00 | Event #54: €750 NLH Mystery Bounty |
| 15:00 | Event #55: €200 Five-Card Mix |
| 18:00 | Ring Event #5: €1,500 NLH Main Event Flight 1E |
| 18:30 | Event #56: €50 PLO5 Satellite to WSOPC €555 SVITEN |
| 19:00 | Event #57: €555 NLH 6-Handed |
| 21:00 | Event #58: €200 PLO4/PLO5 Bomb Pot |
| 22:00 | Event #59: €200 NLH Turbo |
- Images courtesy of Elena Kask / OlyBet
- Poker Article originally produced at poker.pro.
