€1,100 Main Event
Day 1a Started
2020 Kings of Tallinn
€1,100 Main Event
Day: 1a
Welcome to the Kings of Tallinn Main Event
Welcome to Day 1a of the 2020 Kings of Tallinn €1,100 Main Event at the Hilton Tallinn Park and Olympic Park Casino.
Every year, the Kings of Tallinn is the biggest live poker festival. Attendance has grown each year since its inception in 2015 with this year's sixth edition featuring 40 action-packed events from Feb. 17-23.
This year will be by far the biggest to date with the Main Event featuring a huge €500,000 guaranteed prize pool and more sponsors than ever before bringing in qualifiers including Olybet Poker, Coolbet Poker, 32Red Poker, Paf Poker, and Optibet Poker.
The Main Event features two opening flights with players starting with a big stack of 30,000 in chips.
This is a change from previous years when a single opening flight prevailed. Day 1a features eight blind levels of an hour each starting at 12 p.m. EET.
Day 1b will begin shortly after players bag chips at 9 p.m. EET and is a turbo affair with 20-minute blind levels.
Players will have plenty of opportunities to build a massive stack with unlimited re-entries permitted until the conclusion of the first blind level fo Day 2 on Feb. 22.
Day 3 on Feb. 22 will play down to a final table, which will be played out until the sixth Kings of Tallinn Main Event winner is crowned on Feb. 23.
Last year, the Main Event attracted 375 entrants with Latvia's Vitalijs Zavorotnijs winning the trophy and the €85,300 top prize. This year's top prize will be even bigger.
Zavorotnijs has confirmed with PokerNews that he will attempt to defend his title as will 2018 Kings of Tallinn Main Event champion Juha Helppi.
Kings of Tallinn Main Event Day 1 Blind Structure
| Level | Small blind | Big blind | Big Blind Ante |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 100 | 100 | |
| 2 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| 3 | 100 | 200 | 200 |
| 4 | 100 | 300 | 300 |
| 5 | 200 | 400 | 400 |
| 6 | 200 | 500 | 500 |
| 7 | 300 | 600 | 600 |
| 8 | 400 | 800 | 800 |
A handful of side events are also taking place today many of which begin after Day 1a is concluded. The €1,100 4 Card PLO Knockout, the €110 4 Card PLO Knockout, and the Final Day of the Kings €550 Event all take place at 9 p.m. EET, while the €220 Hyper Turbo kicks off two hours later at 11 p.m. EET.
Stay tuned as The PokerNews live reporting team will be on the floor to provide all the action until a champion is crowned.
2020 Kings of Tallinn Schedule
| Date | Time (EET) | Event # | Event | Buy-in | Guarantee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb. 17 | 7 p.m. | 1 | Hit & Run Satellite to the Kings €550 | €60 | Three Seats |
| 10 p.m. | 2 | Freebuy Satellite to Main Event | €0 + €50 rebuys and add-on | One Seat Added | |
| Feb. 18 | 4 p.m. | 3 | Freebuy Satellite to the Kings €550 | €0 + €20 rebuys and add-on | Two Seats |
| 5 p.m. | 4 | Kings €550 Day 1a | €550 | ||
| 7 p.m. | 5 | Celebrty Event | €110 | ||
| 9 p.m. | 6 | Satellite to Main Event | €60 | Three Seats | |
| 11 p.m. | 7 | Hyper Turbo Knockout | €220 | ||
| Feb. 19 | 1 p.m. | 8 | Optibet Super Deep Hold'em | €220 | |
| 5 p.m. | 4 | Kings €550 Day 1b | €550 | ||
| 7 p.m. | 9 | Mega Satellite to Main Event | €110 | Ten Seats | |
| 9 p.m. | 4 | Kings €550 Turbo Day 1c | €550 | ||
| 9 p.m. | 10 | 4 Card PLO Hi/Lo | €330 | ||
| 11 p.m. | 11 | Super Satellite to Main Event | €110 | Five Seats | |
| Feb. 20 | 11:30 a.m. | 12 | Freebuy satellite to Main Event | €0 + €50 rebuys and add-on | Two Seats |
| 12 p.m. | 13 | Kings of Tallinn Main Event Day 1a | €1,100 | €500,000 | |
| 2 p.m. | 14 | Hit & run satellite to Main Event | €120 | Three Seats | |
| 5 p.m. | 15 | Satellite to Main Event Day 1b | €60 | Three Seats | |
| 9 p.m. | 16 | 4 Card PLO Knockout | €1,100 | ||
| 9 p.m. | 17 | 4 Card PLO Knockout | €110 | ||
| 9 p.m. | 4 | Kings €550 Final Day | |||
| 9 p.m. | 13 | Kings of Tallinn Main Event Turbo Day 1b | €1,100 | ||
| 11 p.m. | 18 | Hyper Turbo | €220 | ||
| Feb. 21 | 12 p.m. | 13 | Kings of Tallinn Main Event Day 2 | €1,100 | |
| 3 p.m. | 19 | Satellite to €3K Highroller | €110 | Three Seats | |
| 3 p.m. | 20 | PL Sviten by Svensk Poker | €220 | ||
| 5 p.m. | 21 | The Hendon Mob Championship Day 1 | €220 | ||
| 5 p.m. | 22 | Open Face Chinese Poker | €550 | ||
| 7 p.m. | 23 | Hyper Satellite to €3K High Roller | €60 | Two Seats | |
| 9 p.m. | 24 | Knockout | €1,100 | ||
| 9 p.m. | 25 | Bounty Special - Hunt Them All | €110 | ||
| 11 p.m. | 26 | 4 Card PLO Hyper Turbo | €110 | ||
| Feb. 22 | 11:30 a.m. | 27 | Freebuy Satellite to Event #28 | €0 + €20 rebuys and add-on | Seven Seats |
| 12 p.m. | 21 | The Hendon Mob Championship Day 2 | |||
| 12 p.m. | 13 | Kings of Tallinn Main Event Day 3 | |||
| 1 p.m. | 28 | Hyper Turbo Deep Satellite to €3K Highroller | €165 | Two Seats | |
| 1 p.m. | 29 | H.O.R.S.E. | €330 | ||
| 2 p.m. | 30 | Paf Queens of Tallinn (Ladies Only) | €60 | ||
| 3 p.m. | 31 | Kings of Tallinn High Roller Day 1 | €3,000 | ||
| 3 p.m. | 32 | Olybet Special Day 1 | €110 | ||
| 5 p.m. | 33 | Soko - PL Five Card Stud | €110 | ||
| 7 p.m. | 34 | PL Omaha 4 & 5 Cards (ROE) Day 1 | €220 | ||
| 9 p.m. | 35 | Coolbet Progressive Knockout Championship Day 1 | €440 | ||
| 11 p.m. | 36 | Hyper Turbo Win The Button | €110 | ||
| Feb. 23 | 12 p.m. | 37 | Estonian Poker 20 freezeout | ||
| 12 p.m. | 13 | Kings of Tallinn Main Event Final Day | |||
| 12 p.m. | 31 | Kings of Tallinn High Roller Final Day | |||
| 12 p.m. | 32 | Olybet Special Final Day | |||
| 12 p.m. | 34 | PL Omaha 4 & 5 Cards Final Day | |||
| 12 p.m. | 35 | Coolbet Progressive Knockout Championship Final Day | |||
| 3 p.m. | 38 | 32Red's Hyper-Turbo version of the Main Event | €110 | ||
| 5 p.m. | 39 | Super Hyper Turbo Freezeout | €110 | ||
| 8 p.m. | 40 | Estonian Poker Awards Gala |
Play Starts Soon
Players are filing into the tournament area and the action is expected to begin soon.
Level: 1
Blinds: 100/100
Ante: 0
Shuffle Up and Deal
Level 1
: 100/100, 0 ante
The tournament director made some announcements before asking the dealers to "shuffle up and deal."
There are already 157 entrants to start the event with this figure likely to double during Day 1a.
Update Your Own Chip Count Using the PokerNews My Stack App!
Level 1
: 100/100, 0 ante
PokerNews has activated the My Stack App for this event, allowing you to directly adjust your chip counts in our live reporting blog using your iPhone or Android phone.
You can download the app for iPhone or Android now to get started. Then, create a new PokerNews account or update your current one to start updating your status immediately. Your followers can see all the live action that you're involved in.
Click here to download the My Stack app for iPhone, or click here to download the My Stack app for Android.
Defending Champ Zavorotnijs in the Field
Level 1
: 100/100, 0 ante
Defending champ Vitalijs Zavoritnjis is among the players registered to start Day 1a along with Vytautas Kacerauskas, Daiva Byrne, Hassan Sey, and Mantas Urbonas.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 |
Mardosa Picks off an Early Bluff
Level 1
: 100/100, 0 ante
Justinas Mardosa checked with the 
on the board before Roman Gluhovtsenko bet 2,500 into a pot of around 7,000.
Mardosa tanked for a minute before he made the call.
Gluhovtsenko was asked to turn over his cards. Instead, he tossed them face down into the muck and by default, Mardosa was awarded the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
36,000 | |
|
23,000 |
Big Slick for Bernatavicius
Level 1
: 100/100, 0 ante
Gytis Bernatavicius checked with 3,500 in the pot and the 
on the board before Harri Salo bet 2,000.
Bernatavicius paused for close to a minute before he called.
Both players checked after the 
completed the board on the river.
Bernatavicius turned over 
for trips. Salo shook his head and quickly flashed 
to his opponent before he tossed his hand into the muck.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
33,000 | |
|
|
26,000 |
More than 200!
Level 1
: 100/100, 0 ante
The field has already grown to 207 entrants with many new players filing into their seat to start the blind level.