The fourth edition of the Kings of Tallinn Main Event hosted by Olympic Park Casino and Hilton Tallinn Park was a huge success with 241 entrants ponying up the €1,100 buy-in.
This represents just six players less than that of the record 247 entrants to play in last year's event. However, a new record at this point is a mere formality with many players stating their intentions to enter for the first-time or re-enter before the late registration period ends at the start of tomorrow.
Players began the today's deep-stacked action with 30,000 in chips and battled it out for seven blinds levels of 60 minutes each.
About half of today's field survived today's action with Finland's Feras Abid leading the way with 137,700 in chips. Also finishing the day in good shape was Estonia's Tonis Viik in second place with 119,000 in chips. Viik admitted he got lucky in a big hand where he the river delivered one of the cards he needed to complete a flush draw or a gut-shot straight draw on the river to haul in a big pot.
Henri Vaisanen ended the day in third place with 118,300 in chips, giving Finnish players two of the top three spots to enter Day 2.
Juha Helppi
Another Finn in Juha Helppi looked like he had a good chance to advance to the second day with the chip lead after once having more than 140,000 in chips. He is one of Europe's most successful poker players with more than $7.1 million in cashes and was easily the most accomplished poker player in today's Day 1 field. While Helppi did give some chips away during the final blind level of the day, he will enter Day 2 near the top of the pack with a healthy stack of 112,200.
Also in today's field were three Team OlyBet pros in Raigo Aasmaa, Carmen-Elena Vist and Dmitrijs Meless. All three players were busy accumulating chips throughout the day and will be in the mix on Day 2.
Day 2 of the Main Event will kick off at 12 p.m. local time tomorrow with blinds at 400/800 and an ante of 100. We will have updated chip counts for all of the players as well as starting seat assignments before the action resumes.
As was the case today, the PokerNews live reporting team will be back on the floor to provide complete coverage tomorrow and beyond until a winner is declared.
Rauno Tahvonen, otherwise known as "Estonian Jesus" has just been eliminated from the Day 1 field. It doesn't appear he will re-enter today with 20 minutes left on the blind level but might opt to do so tomorrow before Day 2 begins.
With about 16,000 in chips to start the hand, Tahvonen opened with a min-raise of 1,200 from late position and got a call from Team OlyBet pros Carmen-Elina Vist and Dmitrijs Meless.
Vist bet 1,600 on the rainbow flop. Meless folded before Tahvonen raised to 4,700 and Vist called.
Vist check-called an all-in bet from Tahvonen of around 10,000 when the appeared on the turn. Tahvonen turned over and needed help against Vist who held for top pair.
A blank spiked the river and Tahvonen packed up his personal belongings for the day. Meless shared after the hand he folded and would have had the straight on the turn if the action didn't chase him out of the pot before then.
Estonia's Tonis Viik has the early chip lead in the tournament thanks to a hand that he shared afterward, "I got lucky."
The hand began with Viik opening from early position. He got two players to call before Tapio Ilmari Vihakas three-bet to 1,800. Viik and his two opponents called.
Vikhakas bet 5,000 into a pot of a little more than 7,000 on a flop. Viik called before the other two players folded.
The action got even bigger after the appeared on the turn with Vikhakas declaring himself all-in for 13,700. Viik called and turned over , which gave him a flush-draw and a gut-shot straight draw.
Vikhakas turned over pocket aces and was about a 3:1 favorite to win the hand. However, luck wasn't on his side after the spiked the river to give his opponent a flush.
Viik's stack soared to 85,000 to put him in the early chip lead while Vikhakas temporarily hit the rail before he re-entered.
Veli-Pekka Alakorva has the honor of being the first player eliminated after scattering his chips around the table to a variety of his opponents.
The Finn opted the re-enter and his second bullet thus far is going a bit better and just won his biggest pot of the day.
Alakorva started the hand with a little more than a starting stack. With a pile of chips already in the pot, Alakorva check-called a bet of 1,000 from his opponent on a flop.
He turned up the gas and check-raised from 1,500 to 4,000 when the appeared on the turn. Alakorva's opponent thought about it for a minute before he called.
Alakorva then fired out for 8,000 after the completed the board on the river. His opponent went into the tank for about four minutes and seemed to be frustrated by the bet. After a little mumbling, Alakorva's opponent folded.
Alakorva then showed the table he didn't bet with air and turned over the for all players to see.
The Kings of Tallinn at Olympic Park Casino is the biggest live poker tournament festival in the Baltics and Nordics of the year. It has grown each year since its inception in 2015 with this year's edition featuring 46 action-packed events from Feb. 12-18.
The showcase of the festival, the Kings of Tallinn €1,100 Main Event, kicks off the first of its five days of action today at 12 p.m. Some of the biggest names in poker, especially from Finland, are expected to be part of today's action including Patrik Antonius, Jani Vilmunen, Juha Helppi, Ville Wahlbeck and Theo Jorgensen.
The Main Event boasts an amazing structure with players kicking off the action with 30,000 in chips and blinds increasing every 60 minutes. Players are scheduled to play seven blind levels today and can re-enter an unlimited amount of times up until the start of Day 2.
Players bagging chips after Day 1 will compete for four more days on Feb. 15-18 until a winner is crowned. Last year, Finland's Matias Knaapinen banked €45,007 and the coveted trophy after agreeing to a three-way deal with Estonia's Roland Luik (second place - €46,667) and Finland's Kasper Mellanen (third place - €36,016).
Kings of Tallinn Main Event Day 1 Blind Structure
Level
Small blind
Big blind
Ante
1
25
50
2
50
100
3
75
150
4
100
200
25
5
150
300
25
6
200
400
50
7
300
600
75
Stay tuned as The PokerNews live reporting team will be on the floor to provide all the action until a champion is crowned.
rainbow flop. Meless folded before Tahvonen raised to 4,700 and Vist called.
appeared on the turn. Tahvonen turned over 
and needed help against Vist who held 
for top pair.
and would have had the straight on the turn if the action didn't chase him out of the pot before then.
flop. Viik called before the other two players folded.
appeared on the turn with Vikhakas declaring himself all-in for 13,700. Viik called and turned over 
, which gave him a flush-draw and a gut-shot straight draw. 
spiked the river to give his opponent a flush.
flop. 
appeared on the turn. Alakorva's opponent thought about it for a minute before he called.
completed the board on the river. His opponent went into the tank for about four minutes and seemed to be frustrated by the bet. After a little mumbling, Alakorva's opponent folded.