Working within the poker business for practically 5 years, I’ve been to extra poker festivals than I can depend.
Some reside lengthy within the reminiscence. Others blur collectively and disappear fairly shortly as soon as the luggage are packed and the flight house is booked. Heading into Kings of Tallinn final yr, I wasn’t fairly certain what sort of expertise it will be. What I didn’t count on was how a lot it will reignite my love for the sport.
Like anybody who writes and talks about poker for a residing, I’d began to really feel a bit fatigued by all of it. When your job and your favorite pastime overlap, burnout can creep in quietly. Kings of Tallinn turned out to be the antidote. It jogged my memory why I fell in love with poker within the first place, why I take pleasure in sitting on the desk, and what this sport has given me over time.
That feeling is precisely what OlyBet’s Kings of Tallinn 2026 is hoping to ship once more this February. Operating from February 6–15, Northern Europe’s largest poker competition returns with an enormous 74-event schedule at Olympic Park On line casino in Tallinn, alongside 24/7 money video games and buy-ins to go well with each bankroll.
On the coronary heart of all of it sits the €1,100 Most important Occasion, as soon as once more carrying a €1,000,000 assure.
I used to be fortunate sufficient to expertise Kings of Tallinn firsthand in 2025, invited courtesy of OlyBet Poker to play the Most important Occasion. I arrived just a little uncertain of what to anticipate and left utterly bought. Right here’s why Kings of Tallinn has change into one of the crucial satisfying poker festivals I’ve performed, and why it deserves a spot in your calendar.
1. The Most important Occasion Is a Actually Pleasurable Match
The Kings of Tallinn Most important Occasion was the primary €1k buy-in I’d ever performed. Earlier than that, my largest match had been a $600 WSOP occasion, so it initially felt like a step up.
As soon as I sat down, it was apparent the sphere was a correct combine and any nerves quickly disappeared. Loads of gamers had certified by satellites, and there have been plenty of leisure gamers. In case you’re a professional, you’d by no means really feel such as you’re sitting down within the incorrect room. There’s loads of edges to be discovered.
The construction helps loads too. One-hour ranges imply you don’t really feel rushed into doing something foolish. I spent most of Day 1 hovering round beginning stack, and even then, it by no means felt uncomfortable. You may be card-dead for lengthy stretches and nonetheless keep within the match with out panicking. You may get your moneys value nonetheless even when the playing cards aren’t as cooperating.
Fortunately I picked up some momentum late and booked my spot for Day 2, bagging shut to a few beginning stacks by the top of the evening, and nonetheless managed to get out at an affordable hour.
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2. You May Play With Gamers You’ve Solely Seen on TV
For the ultimate few ranges of my Day 1 flight, I had on-line poker legend and Excessive Stakes Poker star Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies at my desk. That’s a kind of sentences that also feels a bit odd to put in writing.
Kings of Tallinn additionally has a behavior of attracting large names. Former KoT Most important Occasion winner Juha Helppi was round, Martin Kabrhel was within the combine, and there have been loads of different acquainted faces dotted across the room, akin to Anton “WhatIfGod” Bergstrom.
It does add that further bit of pleasure whenever you look round and realise you may get to play with somebody you’ve watched for years.
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3. Aggressive, However Not Draining
Day 2 for me was all in regards to the bubble, however I didn’t fairly make it by, exiting round ten spots wanting the €2k min-cash.
I’d constructed an above-average stack, however a number of flips went the incorrect method and out of the blue I used to be all-in for my final two large blinds with pocket deuces… straight into aces.
The desk draw wasn’t precisely pleasant. Kaspars Butans, who busted me earlier than happening to win the match, was on my proper, and Pasi Laihinen, who completed third, was on my left.
Even so, it by no means felt depressing. This wasn’t a kind of supposed, tense “euro grind” tables. There was loads of desk speak, a number of beers going round, and a usually relaxed environment. Even busting close to the bubble, it was onerous to remain irritated for lengthy as a result of I’d really loved myself.
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4. Tallinn Is a Nice Place to Spend a Week
Tallinn does numerous the heavy lifting with out actually making an attempt.
It’s a ravishing metropolis, simple to get round, and has simply the correct quantity happening. If you’d like late nights and a little bit of buzz after play, you’ll discover it. In case you’d somewhat take issues slower, there’s nice meals, espresso, and many to discover through the day.
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5. A Schedule That Lets You Play Your Manner
The 2026 schedule is large: 74 occasions over 11 days.
There are apparent centrepieces just like the €1,100 Most important Occasion, the €555 Championship, and the €3,000 Excessive Curler, however there’s additionally a gentle stream of smaller occasions, turbos, and aspect tournaments operating all through the day.
You’ll be able to hearth large occasions, choose and select spots, or simply maintain your self busy with out ever feeling pressured into one thing. There’s at all times an alternative choice across the nook.
Kings of Tallinn 2026 Schedule
6. Combined Video games With out the Worry Issue
One factor Kings of Tallinn does exceptionally effectively is combined video games.
I’m an enormous believer that gamers ought to attempt different codecs, however the traditional response is: “Yeah, sounds enjoyable… however I don’t need to burn a load of cash studying.”
Right here, the buy-ins make it a simple choice.
You’ve received inexpensive choices like:
€200 PLO5 / PLO5 Hello-Lo€200 PL Baducey / Badacey€200 PL Razz€350 8-Recreation€350 Seller’s Selection€350 TORSE
It appears like a low-risk technique to department out, and the price of tuition will not set you again an excessive amount of both. My colleague Brad Whitehouse even managed to choose up a trophy there, and he is perhaps the worst poker participant I’ve ever seen!
7. A number of Methods to Qualify (Together with for Free)
Kings of Tallinn can be very simple to play into.
There are on-line satellites by OlyBet Poker, reside satellites at Olympic On line casino venues throughout the area, and many operating on-site through the competition itself. A few of the early occasions even embrace freebuy mega-satellites, which is at all times a pleasant sentence to learn.
In case you don’t need to purchase straight right into a €1,100 Most important Occasion, you don’t must.
8. It’s Clear the Folks Operating It Care
You’ll be able to often inform fairly shortly whether or not a competition is being run by individuals who genuinely care, and Kings of Tallinn falls firmly into that class.
Between Christer Larsson on the OlyBet aspect and Teresa Nousiainen operating the match ground, all the pieces felt organised, honest, and constant. Questions have been dealt with shortly, rulings have been clear, and nothing felt rushed or improvised. It makes an enormous distinction, particularly for those who’re on the market grinding on a regular basis.
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9. Poker, However With a Little bit of Staff Spirit
The OlyBet Staff Problem is a kind of concepts that sounds small however finally ends up including loads to the week for gamers.
It’s free to enter, groups earn factors for outcomes throughout the competition, and for 2026 each occasion counts. You find yourself sweating associates, leaping into occasions you may in any other case skip, and forming little rivalries alongside the way in which.
At one level, high-roller Blaz Zerjav jumped right into a low-stakes Razz occasion purely to chase factors for his group, regardless of it clearly not being probably the most profitable use of his time. That alone tells you all the pieces it’s essential know in regards to the vibe.
Final yr’s prime prize was an all-expenses-paid journey to an ACF Fiorentina soccer match, shared by your entire group.
10. A Participant Occasion Price Sticking Round For
The competition finishes with the OlyBet Participant Occasion, and that is the place Kings of Tallinn actually leans into the social aspect.
Folks really mingle. Gamers, employees, organizers, everybody’s in the identical room, and it by no means felt awkward or pressured. The foods and drinks flowed freely, which helped, however the environment did numerous the work by itself.
The reside band was genuinely wonderful, fronted by pop star Laura Põldvere, with a lineup {of professional} musicians that wouldn’t have seemed misplaced on a correct stage. The shock look of match director Olivier Franceschi on bass solely added to it.
By the point karaoke began, no one was pretending they’d an early begin. The evening wound down round 3 a.m., and it felt like a becoming finish to a competition that by no means takes itself too severely, however nonetheless does all the pieces correctly.
It was a stable 10/10 evening and completely capped off a ten/10 poker competition.
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Calum Grant
Senior Editor & Stay Occasions Govt
Calum has written for varied poker shops however discovered his house at PokerNews, the place he has contributed to varied articles and reside updates, offering insights and reporting on main poker occasions, together with the World Sequence of Poker (WSOP).
