Lithuania's Christian Rysgaard earned the nickname "Sleeping Beauty" last night after he took a nap during the dinner break in penultimate day of the €555 Championship thinking the day was over. He had the chip lead at the break and somehow survived nearly four full levels until he made it back thanks to his friend noticing the blog and waking him up.
Rysgaard did his best yesterday to make a run but fell short of punching his ticket to the final day near the end of the evening.
Meanwhile, during the final break today, Rysgaard sat on 72,000 in chips on Day 1a of the 2024 Kings of Tallinn €1,100 Main Event, and we joked that taking a nap now wouldn't be as bad.
It turns out, it wouldn't have been the best situation, as Rysgaard made a run during the final two blind levels to catapult his stack to 304,300 to take the Day 1a chip lead.
Meanwhile, United Kingdom's Maximilian Sanders visited Tallinn during the inaugural WSOP Circuit in September. He is likely glad he made the return trip to one of the most fun places to enjoy poker throughout the world as he bagged up 203,900. While this is a far cry from what Rysgaard accomplished while he was awake, he was the only other player to advance with more than 200,000 in chips.
Sweden's Wissam Polus, Lithuania's Laurynas Ceriauskas, and Estonia's Kaido Mikk round out the top five players for the day.
Many other big names found a bag including Super High Roller Paul Newey, Jussi "PottiJussi" Mattila, Kings of Tallinn Summer Showdown Main Event runner-up Phil Gross, Estonia grassroots poker supporter and former Head of Marketing at OlyBet and Olympic Park Casino poker manager Herli Olop, Rauno "Estonian Jesus" Tahvonen, and 2023 EPT Paris final tablist Henri Kasper all found bags on Day 1a.
The €1,100 Main Event is well on its way to decimating its €500,000 guarantee. Day 1a attracted a huge crowd of 238 entries to add €231,240 into the prize pool with 87 players finding a bag into Friday's Day 2.
The action resumes for Day 1b at noon on Thursday. Stay tuned to see whether the chip lead amassed by Christian "Sleeping Beauty" Rysgaard holds up. The final turbo opening flight takes place tomorrow night at 9 p.m. making tomorrow's leap year day an action-packed one for the 2024 Kings of Tallinn Main Event at Olympic Park Casino and the Hilton Tallinn Park.
Players can also late register and re-enter during the first four blind levels of Friday's Day 4. Check out all of the chip counts from the Day 1a by clicking on the 'Chip Counts' tab within our coverage.
Players are bagging and tagging their chips for Day 1a. We will update the full chip counts within the hour.
Level 8: 500/1,000 (1,000)
Entries: 95/238
There was some action before Jon Gurrutxaga three-bet jammed around a starting stack. The action was on Gundars Zelcs when we caught up to the table with a decision to make having already committed 2,300 to the pot.
"I don't want to end today with a short stack," Zelcs said. "I call."
Jon Gurrutxaga: 
Gundars Zelcs: 
"I folded an ace," Phil Gross said who was also at the table.
Despite Gross likely having an ace, there were at least two more left in the deck.
An ace popped up on the 
board and Gurrutxaga was on the rail.
Gross and Zelcs were having a friendly chat where Gross was questioning why he called.
"It was a bad call, I am not stupid," said Zelcs. "I wanted some chips in my bag."
| Player | Chips | Progress | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gundars Zelcs |  |
80,000 | 50,000 |
| Jon Gurrutxaga |  |
0 | 0 |
Level 8: 500/1,000 (1,000)
Entries: 100/238
Niclas Mjelstad jammed the river for around a pot-sized bet with the 
on the board. Visa Kiviharju tanked for several minutes until he snap-called off his stack of a bit less after a player called time.
Mjelstad turned over the 
for a set of sixes and Kiviharju mucked his hand. Even though it was an all-in and a call, the we will never know what Kiviharju's cards were as they were quickly buried into the deck.
| Player | Chips | Progress | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Niclas Mjelstad | |
100,000 | 70,000 |
| Visa Kiviharju |  |
0 | 0 |
Level 8: 500/1,000 (1,000)
Entries: 107/237
We dubbed Lithuania's Christian Rysgaard last night as Sleeping Beauty. This is because had the chip lead before the dinner break during last night's penultimate day of the €555 Championship with 45 players left only for his seat to be empty when the action resumed.
Several people in the Lithuanian poker community tried to get in touch but had no luck.
"Ah, that was a good nap," Rysgaard said as he came back nearly 3 hours late after missing nearly four blind levels.
We learned after the end of the day from Rysgaard that his friend was reading the blog and managed to wake him up. Rysgaard said he intentionally went to sleep because he thought the day was over.
He came back and made a small run at it despite losing a majority of his stack before bowing out just shy of advancing to today's final day.
Perhaps that was all meant to be. We caught up with Rysgaard on the break when he had 72,000 in chips.
"It wouldn't be too bad this time if I took a nap," Rysgaard joked.
It is a good thing Rysgaard opted to play as he has been on a roll since the break and appears to hold the chip lead with 260,000 in chips. It isn't every day that a player achieves the overall chip lead in two separate big events in the same festival, so that is at least one check box marked off.
We wish Rysgaard the best of luck. He took everything in stride yesterday and was in incredible spirits today even before he had a big stack.
Meanwhile, a welcome back to Finland's Jussi Mattila who arrived today and hopped into the Main Event.
| Player | Chips | Progress | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christian Rysgaard |  |
260,000 | 230,000 |
| Jussi Mattila | |
30,000 | 0 |
Level 8: 500/1,000 (1,000)
Entries: 107/237
The blinds have just increased to 500/1,000 with a 1,000 big blind ante.
"This is the final blind level of the evening," the floor announced.
The clock will be stopped with a few minutes left near the end of Day 1a when the floor will randomly determine the number of hands each table still needs to play.
This same blind level will be repeated again on Day 2, giving Day 2 entries a 30 big blind stack to start the day off with.
Meanwhile, the €555 Championship has been heads-up between Finland's Mikko Ylämäki and Lithuania's Andrius Bielskis (pictured below) for some time with the short stack doubling time and time again. The blog for this event provides plenty of updates on the biggest hand.
Level 7: 400/800 (800)
Entries: 114/237
Andrei Silencov opened for 1,700 from under the gun. Herli Olop (pictured below), who last night won a a stylish Kings of Tallinn cap autographed by an Estonian musician after he busted him in the Celebrity Special last night, called from the cutoff before Totti Arouso three-bet jammed for around 20,000.
Silencov four-bet shoved for slightly more than a starting stack and Olop folded.
Totti Arouso: 
Andrei Silencov: 
Arouso was out of chips for Silencov to win the hand after he bricked the 
board.
| Player | Chips | Progress | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Herli Olop |  |
107,000 | 77,000 |
| Andrei Silencov | |
60,000 | 30,000 |
| Totti Arouso | |
0 | 0 |
Level 7: 400/800 (800)
Entries: 126/236
We were walking past Table 14 when a pot of around 200,000 was being passed onto Maximilian Sanders (pictured below) with aces tabled.
We learned later that Georgi Abuladze called a four bet with kings, before calling another small bet on a blank flop by Sanders. Sanders bet small again on turn before calling a jam by Abudladze. No love came for Abulzadze on the river and he was down to just a couple of chips.
Abuladze donated these small chips as well and will need to re-enter for a chance at Main Event glory.
| Player | Chips | Progress | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maximilian Sanders |  |
225,000 | 127,000 |
| Georgi Abuladze | |
0 | 0 |
Level 7: 400/800 (800)
Entries: 127/235
Artur Kulanurk (pictured below) four-bet jammed from middle position and was called by Thomas Larsen, who three-bet the button, leaving Kularnurk at risk.
Artur Kulanurk: 
Thomas Larsen: 
Kulanurk won the flip but didn't pull ahead until his king connected on the river with the 
rolling out on the board.
| Player | Chips | Progress | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thomas Larsen | |
45,000 | 15,000 |
| Artur Kulanurk | |
40,000 | 10,000 |
Level 7: 400/800 (800)
Entries: 129/231
Ragnar Toompere checked the 
board after the river before Gedminas Dirmantas jammed for 7,500 into a pot of nearly 18,000.
Toompere confirmed the amount of the jam before he tanked for about 30 seconds. Eventually he made the call but tried to muck his cards after Dirmantas turned over the for the top pair and top kicker.
The dealer pushed the cards back to Toompere and asked him to show what he had to the table. He was one pair shy with and the pot officially was awarded to Dirmantas.
| Player | Chips | Progress | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ragnar Toompere | |
45,000 | 15,000 |
| Gediminas Dirmantas | |
35,000 | 5,000 |
| Player | Chips | Progress | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yaniv Peretz |  |
152,000 | 23,000 |
| Mindaugas Kriauciunas | |
137,900 | 107,900 |
| Jon Martinez | |
135,000 | 31,000 |
| Adria Comas I Roura | |
130,000 | 100,000 |
| Kris Tikka | |
130,000 | 40,000 |
| Ignas Navickas | |
126,000 | 38,500 |
| Steven Tool | |
125,900 | 45,900 |
| Mathias Siljander | |
121,100 | 91,100 |
| Wissam Polus | |
114,700 | 84,700 |
| Peter Jaksland | |
110,000 | 80,000 |
| Vytautas Laurinaitis | |
110,000 | 40,000 |
| Maximilian Sanders | |
98,000 | 68,000 |
| Laurynas Cerniauskas | |
91,300 | 27,000 |
Players are on their final break of Day 1a. The blinds will increase to 400/800 (800) before heading into 500/1,000 (1,000).
After these two levels, surviving players will bag their stacks into Friday's Day 2.
Level 6: 300/600 (600)
Entries: 135/221
Roope Tarmi got his short stack in with a three-bet jam and was quickly called by Kris Tikka.
Roope Tarmi: 
Kris Tikka:
Tarmi was behind but he ran into a monster as Tikka won the hand with four of a kind on the board.
While the photo below is from Tikka at the WSOPC Tallinn last year, he is wearing the same outfit today and looks very similar.
"I decided to intentionally wear the same as I did during the WSOP Circuit," Tikka explained with a big smile.
| Player | Chips | Progress | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kris Tikka | |
90,000 | 60,000 |
| Roope Tarmi | |
0 | 0 |
Level 6: 300/600 (600)
Entries: 149/212
Long-time poker grinder Yaniv Peretz has made a few trips up to Estonia from his home in Latvia over the years and is back for the 10th edition hoping to carve his name into the tour's Main Event history books.
Peretz already had a big stack and just added a bit more in the following hand:
Peretz paused for a few moments with around a starting stack already in the pot and the 
on the board before he jammed his huge stack.
Erki Andressoo went into the tank for more than a minute before he called off his stack of 16,000. Peretz turned over the 
for a set of ducks. Andressoo pushed his cards forward face down. The dealer flipped them over to show the table Andressoo's .
| Player | Chips | Progress | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yaniv Peretz | |
175,000 | 145,000 |
| Erki Andressoo | |
0 | 0 |
Level 6: 300/600 (600)
Entries: 149/212
Vytautas Laurinaitis owned one of the bigger stacks at break. He just added some chips compliments of Tarmo Tammel, who for many years, leads the leaderboard on the most cashes in international tournaments at Olympic Park Casino with 74 entering this festival according to The Hendon Mob.
Laurinaitis fired out for 15,000 into a pot of around 20,0000 with the 
on the board. Tammel tanked for several minutes even saying out loud what hands Laurinaitis might have.
Eventually, Tammel called but didn't show his cards as Laurinaitis couldn't be beat tabling for quad nines.
"Nice hand," Tammel said to Laurinaitis. "Very nice hand."
| Player | Chips | Progress | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vytautas Laurinaitis | |
150,000 | 40,000 |
| Tarmo Tammel | |
10,000 | 20,000 |
Level 5: 200/500 (500)
Entries: 146/202
Steven Tool, who a few weeks ago was battling at the Vilnius Ace Breaker alongside fellow Estonian Urmo Velvelt, jammed for about 20,000 into a pot of more than double that with the 
on the board. Jyri Merivirta went into the tank for a few moments before he called.
Tool turned over the for a full house and Merivirta pushed his cards forward face down. The dealer immediately turned them over to show Merivirta was ahead preflop with but his two pair wound up not being enough by the end of the hand.
| Player | Chips | Progress | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steven Tool | |
80,000 | 50,000 |
| Jyri Merivirta | |
0 | 0 |
Level 5: 200/500 (500)
Entries: 145/201
The €500,000 guarantee slapped on the €1,100 Main Event appears to be a footnote as it is inevitable that the guarantee with be smashed with the Day 1a field recently popping over 200 entries.
Super High Roller Paul Newey (pictured below), Kaido Mikk, Audrius Navickas, Herli Olop, and Neeme Org are among the faces noticed in the field.
| Player | Chips | Progress | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neeme Org | |
30,000 | 0 |
| Herli Olop | |
30,000 | 0 |
| Audrius Navickas | |
30,000 | 0 |
| Kaido Mikk | |
30,000 | 0 |
| Paul Newey | |
30,000 | 0 |
Level 5: 200/500 (500)
Entries: 146/199
Ranno Sootla and the Kings of Tallinn were both relatively unknown when the festival launched in 2015. Now, Sootla has a poker resume that most can only dream about with both a WSOP bracelet and a WSOP Circuit Tallinn ring among many other big wins.
Sootla was already a known local player, but began to get some international attention after he defeated a field of 140 entries to win the €37,730 top prize. Sootla is back in action today, but hasn't gotten much going yet with just 20,000 of his 30,000 starting stack remaining. This is still better than 50+ other entries who witnessed their chips vanish into their opponent's stacks.
| Player | Chips | Progress | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ranno Sootla | |
20,000 | 10,000 |
Check out the video highlights below from Day 5 of the 2024 Kings of Tallinn powered by OlyBet at Olympic Park Casino and the Hilton Tallinn Park:
Level 5: 200/500 (500)
Entries: 149/196
We have seen enough from Cyprus's Georgios Tsouloftas (pictured below) that he isn't afraid to fire multiple bullets in an event if needed. He saved at least one bullet after winning a flip against Patrikas Aglinskas to get back above starting stack as follows.
Tsouloftas four-bet jammed for 15,800 and was called by Aglinskas who three-bet from the blinds.
Georgios Tsouloftas:
Patrikas Aglinskas:
"Yes!" said Tsouloftas in a voice slightly higher than a whisper after his snowmen held on the 
board.
| Player | Chips | Progress | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Patrikas Aglinskas | |
40,000 | 10,000 |
| Georgios Tsouloftas | |
33,000 | 3,000 |
Spanish poker refugee living in Estonia Jon Martinez led the way at the break with an impressive stack of 166,600. Check out the other big stacks at the break below:
| Player | Chips | Progress | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jon Martinez | |
166,000 | 136,000 |
| Laurynas Cerniauskas | |
118,300 | 6,700 |
| Vytautas Laurinaitis | |
110,000 | 80,000 |
| Reinis Zageris | |
105,000 | 75,000 |
| Ignas Navickas | |
87,500 | 57,500 |
| Igor Pihela Sr. | |
80,200 | 50,200 |
| Jonatan Fors | |
80,000 | 50,000 |
| Eduards Rakuss | |
79,900 | 49,900 |
| Juha Elo | |
79,300 | 49,300 |
| Tapio Aaltonen | |
78,000 | 48,000 |
| Edgaras Kausinis | |
78,000 | 48,000 |
| Ville-Tapio Mesirahta | |
30,000 | 0 |
Players are on a 15-minute break. The floor announced that opening flights consisting of one pineapple hold'em flip will be taking place for the €150 OlyBet Flip & Go Mystery Bounty in the main hall.
Opening flights will run all week long with players hoping to be the one to pull the €10,000 top mystery bounty guaranteed in this event.
Level 4: 200/400 (400)
Entries: 147/193
There was around 40,000 in the pot when Yuval Rosenberg jammed for about 20,000 with the 
on the board after the river. Laurynas Cerniauskas (pictured below) snap-called and turned over the for the top two pair.
Rosenberg attempted to muck his cards, but as it was an all-in and a call, the cards were exposed to show Rosenberg was attempting to make a move on the river with .
| Player | Chips | Progress | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Laurynas Cerniauskas | |
125,000 | 95,000 |
| Yuval Rosenberg | |
0 | 0 |
Level 4: 200/400 (400)
Entries: 151/193
The coverage of the Main Event has just kicked off with the final table of the €555 Championship underway in full force. Frank Visser is providing the written updates at OlyBet.tv while you can also check out the stream of the final table with hole cards exposed at OlyBet.tv as well.
Day 1a of the €500,000 guaranteed 2024 Kings of Tallinn €1,100 Main Event has already drawn 193 entries after starting the day with 50 players in their seats.
Feras Abid, Egidijus Digrys, Jimmy Dewerdt, Kairit Leibold, Roope Tarmi, Jonatan Fors, Vadim Guk, former Kings of Tallinn Main Event champion Matias Knaapinen, and Luca Beretta are among the early entries.
The second break of the day is coming in about 10 minutes, after which time we will update you on the biggest stacks from around the room.
| Player | Chips | Progress | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jimmy Dewerdt | |
30,000 | 0 |
| Luca Beretta |  |
30,000 | 0 |
| Matias Knaapinen | |
30,000 | 0 |
| Vadim Guk | |
30,000 | 0 |
| Jonatan Fors | |
30,000 | 0 |
| Roope Tarmi | |
30,000 | 0 |
| Kairit Leibold | |
30,000 | 0 |
| Egidijus Digrys | |
30,000 | 0 |
| Feras Abid | |
30,000 | 0 |
Welcome to the 10th version of the Kings of Tallinn €1,100 Main Event at Olympic Park Casino.
The event provides plenty of play with players starting with 30,000 in chips from Feb. 28 to March 3. The only exception is Thursday evening's third and final opening flight which isn't quite a turbo but does play out faster with 30-minute blind levels. Each opening flight boasts eight levels with late registration still open for the first four blind levels of Day 2.
Our coverage of the Main Event will begin about 30 minutes after the final table is reached in the €555 Championship. There will be 13 players remaining when the action in this prestigious event resumes at 12:30 p.m. You will be able to watch the action of the feature table and final table live-streamed on a 30-minute delay at OlyBet.tv and also follow along the biggest hands in our dedicated blog for this event.
In the meantime, we wish the best of luck to everyone battling it out in the Main Event. Cards will be in the air at 12:00 and we will pick up on the action during the middle of the day.
£ GBP
$ USD
€ EUR