The tenth-anniversary Kings of Tallinn attracted players from all over the world to Olympic Park Casino in the Estonian capital. Greece also sent a delegation, and they had known a strong week with two victories. On the last day of the festival, Theodoros Ampelikiotis added to that by conquering the 65-player field of the €3,000 NLH, winning €51,200.
Ameplikiotis won his first Kings of Tallinn trophy after a long and swingy battle with Estonia’s Mauri Dorbek. The hometown hero was also looking for his first Kings of Tallinn victory but ultimately had to make do with being the runner-up for €34,500. Finnish regular Luka Sorainen came in third for €24,250, while 2024 €555 Championship winner Mikko Ylamaki and Slovenian poker wizard Blaz Zerjav also made appearances at the final table of seven.
€3,000 NLH Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Theodoros Ampelikiotis | Greece | €51,200 |
| 2 |  Mauri Dorbek | Estonia | €34,500 |
| 3 |  Luka Sorainen | Finland | €24,250 |
| 4 |  Martin Tsvetanov | Bulgaria | €17,700 |
| 5 | Mikko Ylamaki | Finland | €12,900 |
| 6 | Jari-Pekka Juhola | FInland | €10,600 |
| 7 |  Blaz Zerjav | Slovenia | €8,650 |
Day 2 Action
After 14 levels were played on Day 1, 14 players returned for the tournament’s final day. Only nine of them would get a share of the €172,900 prize pool, and Roberto Olsen and Julien Henzi would not be among them as they departed within five minutes from the “shuffle up and deal.” Henning Andre and Yves Honore were eliminated in the next 30 minutes, leaving the field on the bubble.
Joni Rantamaki got his aces cracked on the first hand of Day 2. He tried to nurse his remaining chips into an in-the-money finish but was eliminated in tenth as the bubble boy when he shipped in his final six big blinds with ace-four and got called in two spots.
Not long after, Juha Helppi picked up the min-cash of €6,000 after losing a preflop flip, after which the field was on the bubble of the final table. Nearly an hour went by before Igor Pihela Sr. jammed his sevens into the aces of Dorbek. Pihela Sr. could not perform a miracle and earned €7,100 for his eighth place.
It only took one hand for Ampelikiotis to grab the chiplead. He got his queens in against the ace-king of Jari-Pekka Juhola and flopped quads to win the huge flip. He earned even more chips when Zerjav (7th – €8,650) ran an unsuccessful bluff against him.
The remaining six battled for about 90 minutes before Juhola last another flip for his last 25 big blinds, being the first to receive a five-figure payout (€10,600) for his sixth place. Ylamaki (5th – €12,900) missed out on his second Kings of Tallinn trophy when he jammed his short stack into the ace-queen of Sorainen, while Martin Tsvetanov hero called wrongly against Dorbek and received the fourth-place payout of €17,800.
Ampelikiotis had stayed relatively quiet since his early ascent but sprung back to life when he eliminated Sorainen in third for €24,250 after yet another flip. The heads-up battle between Ampelikiotis spanned four levels, with the chiplead seemingly changing every other hand.
Dorbek won the first flip to double up and take the lead. The players then played mostly postflop, with Dorbek seemingly getting the upper hand after an hour or so. That is when Ampelikiotis found kings to strike back, winning a preflop all-in with the second-best starting hand.
Dorbek was left with around 12 big blinds, which he lost in a preflop flip when his ace-eight could not beat the pocket threes of Ampelikiotis.
Ampelikiotis shipped one of the last trophies of the festival, which sadly means that this edition of Kings of Tallinn is nearing its end. However, more OlyBet events have already been announced. OlyBet Showdown Riga Voodoo Spring Edition will run in the Latvian capital from 22-30 March. Meanwhile, Lithuania will host the OlyBet Showdown Vilnius from 17-25 May.
Lastly, the women-only Queens of Tallinn will return for its third edition to the Estonian capital on August 21st, with four days of poker action for ladies only.
The live reporting for the tenth anniversary of Kings of Tallinn concludes, but stay tuned for updates and news regarding the events above.
