Johan Karlsson battled through one of the toughest fields possible, filled with past Kings and Queens of Tallinn winners, to emerge as the 2025 Royal Showdown Invitational champion. This victory adds another title to his poker resume, after winning the 2020 Kings of Tallinn Main Event for €126,900.
The freebuy invitational event at the 2025 Kings of Tallinn featured seven invited players with an optional €500 rake-free re-entry, which was used five times, adding €2,500 to the prize pool. Karlsson rode on his initial invitation from the start, even though he was close to packing up his bag in a hand when his pocket sixes ran into Saara Benlamine’s pocket kings, only to spike a case six on the flop.
That lucky break started his deep run, and when he later eliminated Benlamine in sixth place, he found himself among the true contenders. Karlsson kept a steady presence throughout, and after knocking out Ranno Sootla in third place, he entered heads-up play with a lead over Juha Helppi.
He didn’t need much to control the match, using well-time bluffs, capitalizing on key hands, and having a bit of good fortune as well. The final hand saw him win a crucial coin flip, as his ace-nine held against Helppi’s pocket deuces, securing the title and with it a a €3,000 tournament ticket, €1,000 in prize money, and an exclusive VIP football trip.
2025 The Royal Showdown Invitational Final Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Johan Karlsson | €3,000 Ticket + €1,000 + VIP football trip |
| 2 |  Juha Helppi | €3,000 Ticket + €1,000 |
| 3 |  Ranno Sootla | €1,100 Main Event Ticket + €500 |
| 4 | Matias Knaapinen | €1,100 Main Event Ticket |
