Ahmet Canatan Leads 24 Remaining Players After Day 2 of Kings of Tallinn €555 Championship

The second day of the €555 Kings of Tallinn Championship saw a record-breaking 710 entries after the late registration had closed. After a long day of battling, only 24 remained to be in contention for the title and the trophy. Leading the bunch is Ahmet Canatan from Denmark. This marks Canatan’s first-ever cash at a Kings of Tallinn event, and he is in prime position for a shot at the first-place prize of €66,050. Canatan started the day with just 15,000, half a starting stack, but worked his way up to a massive stack of 2,135,000 when all was said and done, good for 71 big blinds when play resumes for the final day.

Following Canatan closely is Yurii Zabrodotskyi from Ukraine. Unlike Canatan, Zabrodotskyi was one of the chipleaders at the start of the day and held that momentum all day to end up with 2,125,000. Norwegian Morten Norland completes the top three and is the only other player to cross the two-million mark. Meanwhile, Siim Nikopensius sits in fourth with a stack of 1,845,000, while start-of-day big stacks Michel Karim and Stanislav Smeljov also navigated their way to another top rank.

The name sticking out most by far is that of Czechian high roller Martin Kabrhel, however. Kabrhel’s divisive table antics could be heard throughout the day, to the amusement of some and the frustration of others. Kabrhel’s fellow high-stakes regular Paul Newey also made it through with a stack of 515,000, while Hanna Heinlo is looking for back-to-back final tables in this event with her short stack of 350,000.

Day 2 Action

The day started with 244 players returning from the 516 entries made during the starting flights. However, with four more levels of late registration to go, those numbers would soon be left in the dust. At the end of late registration, 710 entries had been made, creating the largest-ever field for the €555 Championship. An eye-watering prize pool of €330,150 accompanied that number, and 87 players would receive a piece.

Such fortunes were not in store for the likes of Robbie Schiffbauer, Ranno Sootla, Ilari Sahanies, Michael Dwyer, and Espen Sandvik, as they were eliminated shortly after the late registration had been closed. Mathias Siljander, Jyri Merivirta, Robert Kaggerud, Aleksi Naski, and Roope Tarmi bowed out before the field was brought down to double digits as well, with Blaz Zerjav, Sondre Stormyr, Elias Suhonen, and Juha Helppi departing with just a few tables to go. Eventually, Roman Isaienko became the bubble boy in 88th place, locking up the min-cash of €1,100 for the rest of the field.

Many more eliminations were needed before the end of the night would be reached, however. Henri Kasper, Joonas Helin, and Renan Bruschi quickly picked up their min-cash, while the likes of Benjamin Gros, Georgios Tsouloftas, Tarmo Tammel, and Tommi Lankinen reached a small pay jump. Kristiana Staure‘s dream of consecutive final tables was crushed in 42nd place for €1,400, while Kasper Mellanen (33rd – €1,600) and Henri Ojala (32nd – €1,600) bowed out around the final four tables.

Meanwhile, the tournament staff had announced that the day would end once 24 players were reached. Eventually, Bernt Wetten bluffed off the remainder of his chips and ended in 25th, marking the end of the night. The remaining 24 players bagged up and will return tomorrow at 1 p.m. local time to crown a champion.

The tournament will resume with 29 minutes and 35 seconds to play in Level 26: 15,000/30,000 (30,000). All levels will remain 40 minutes in length and the night will not conclude before a winner is crowned. All players have secured themselves €1,800 for their efforts, but all eyes will be on the €66,050 reserved for first place.

Remaining Payouts

The live reporting will be back bright and early tomorrow, so tune back in then to not miss any of the action from the €555 Kings of Tallinn Championship.