Tallinn’s Newest Queen Reflects on WSOPC Win & Being Ready to Defend Title

Of the twelve ring occasions up to now this week at WSOPC Tallinn, few performances have stood out like that of Norway’s Drea Karlsen.

The multi-talented poker participant, photographer, streamer, and writer stormed to victory within the €350 Queens NLH, coming into the ultimate desk as chip chief and knocking out six of her eight opponents on the way in which to the title.

Karlsen, who solely briefly misplaced her chip lead on the ultimate day, shortly regained management, handing over some of the dominant performances of the week on her approach to a maiden WSOP Circuit victory. The Norwegian claimed €6,480 for the win, a €5,000 Ticket to Paradise bundle to the Bahamas, and earned the consideration of changing into Tallinn’s reigning feminine champion.

With OlyBet’s Queens of Tallinn pageant simply across the nook, we caught up with Karlsen to mirror on the victory, her plans to defend her crown later this month, and why girls’s poker is having fun with a extremely unbelievable second.

A Ring and a Journey to Paradise

“It feels actually good, actually enjoyable,” Karlsen beams, reflecting on her match win earlier this week. “It’s all the time good to win a match, however in fact, a hoop is one thing additional,” says the Norwegian, who additionally picked up a Queens title earlier this 12 months at OlyBet’s Showdown collection in Vilnius.

Karlsen topped a gifted area on her approach to victory at an entertaining last desk, amassing €6,480 for first place. However she says the added bonus got here from the WSOP Circuit’s €5,000 Ticket to Paradise, which features a match buy-in and complimentary lodging for December’s WSOP Paradise pageant within the Bahamas.

The bundle, provided to all ring champions in Tallinn this week, will see gamers obtain entry to the $2,500 WSOP Circuit Championship Thriller Bounty, which kicks off this 12 months’s pageant and leads right into a $60 million Tremendous Most important Occasion — the most important assure in dwell poker historical past.

“It’s an ideal bonus. I simply must ebook my flights and I’m prepared,” Karlsen says. “With the Bahamas bundle on high, the win feels even larger.”

Trying to Defend at Queens of Tallinn

Regardless of solely simply being topped the winner of the Queens occasion at this week’s WSOP Circuit, Karlsen has confirmed she’ll be again at Olympic Park On line casino later this month to defend her crown through the Queens of Tallinn pageant, which runs August 21 to 24.

Now in its third 12 months, the four-day collection was the primary of its type when it launched, and stays considered one of Europe’s premier all-female poker festivals. Organizers OlyBet name it considered one of its flagship occasions, and for Karlsen, it clearly holds particular enchantment, too.

“I am actually wanting ahead to Queens of Tallinn,” she says. “Within the match I gained right here, the extent was actually excessive, plenty of actually good girls gamers.”

“It’s so enjoyable to see girls actually evolving, getting higher, enjoying extra. Extra girls are getting in, so I find it irresistible.”

When requested why she all the time finds time for Tallinn on her hectic schedule, Karlsen is fast to reply, “I actually love Tallinn. It’s an ideal metropolis, it’s an ideal lodge right here, it’s an ideal place.”

“I really like the vibe, love enjoying right here, good tournaments, good schedules, good worth. I’m all the time having enjoyable.”

Methods to Watch the WSOPC Tallinn Most important Occasion

Momentum Behind the Ladies’s Recreation

Queens of Tallinn 2025 might hardly be coming at a greater time, with girls’s poker using the crest of a wave following a summer time of unimaginable achievements by feminine gamers on the WSOP.

Essentially the most notable, in fact, was Leo Margets making the WSOP Most important Occasion last desk, the primary girl to take action in 30 years. Shiina Okamoto’s insane achievement of back-to-back Women Occasion titles and Esther Taylor reaching the ultimate desk of the Poker Gamers Championship additionally made it an unforgettable summer time for girls’s poker.

“Ladies’s poker is having a extremely unbelievable second,” says Karlsen. “We’re seeing stronger outcomes from girls, girls are getting extra expert, and I really feel like there’s more room for girls in poker now than ever earlier than.”

“It is inspiring to see what Leo Margets and Shiina Okamoto did this summer time, and all the opposite girls who’re enjoying rather well and doing rather well.”

Images by Elena Kask

Eliot Thomas is a Content material Government at PokerNews, specializing in on line casino and poker protection. He has reported from main occasions together with the European Poker Tour and the World Collection of Poker.