€1,100 Main Event
Day 2 Completed
2020 Kings of Tallinn
€1,100 Main Event
Day: 2
Akseli Paalanen and Ilari Sahamies on Top of the Leaderboard on Day 2 of the Kings of Tallinn Main Event
Level 16
: 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante
Finland's Akseli Paalanen heads into Day 3 of the 2020 Kings of Tallinn €1,100 Main Event at Olympic Park Casino and Hilton Tallinn Park leading the pack of 82 players with a stack of 877,000.
The tournament has been a massive success attracting 591 entrants during the two opening flights along with another 83 entrants during the first blind level of Day 2 to bring the field up to 674 entrants.
The prize pool absolutely smashed the €500,000 guarantee with €640,300 being paid out to those that cash and the winner going home with a huge six-figure haul of €141,400. This makes it the largest single tournament held at this venue and the third-largest ever held in Estonia, just behind the two EPTs that took place in the Estonian capital a decade ago.
Paalanen wasn't the only player to bag a big stack on Day 2. Just behind him were Sweden's Dennis Berglin (827,000), who began the day as one of the short stacks and Ilari "Ziigmund" Sahamies (605,000).
Sahamies drew a big crowd near the end of the day when he open-jammed the turn for a big stack with a full house and eliminated Sebastian Wahl who after tanking called with trips.
There were four former Kings of Tallinn Main Event winners in the field on Day 2 including Ranno Sootla (2015 - €37,730), Matias Knaapinen (2017 - €45,007), WSOP bracelet winner Juha Helppi (2018 - €62,000), and Vitalijs Zavorotnijs (2019 - €85,300).
Knaapinen is the only player of the bunch with a chance of becoming the first two-time champion after bagging a healthy stack of 221,000.
Notable players eliminated on Day 2 Jason Wheeler, Markku Koplimaa, Hassan Sey, Arvydas Merfeldas, Daragh Davey, David Comeron Carrasco, Roope Tarmi, and Tarmo Tammel.
The action will resume tomorrow at 12 p.m. EET with blinds at 3,000/6,000 and a big blind ante of 6,000. The 82 players will begin in hand for hand mode until the money bubble break with 80 players guaranteed a payout of at least €2,100.
Tomorrow is scheduled to play until a final table is reached. Stay tuned at PokerNews as we bring you the coverage of the 2020 Kings of Tallinn Main Event.
Final Chip Counts (full)
Level 16
: 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante
While most of the chip stacks are confirmed there are a handful that won't be confirmed until the morning.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
877,000 | |
|
827,000 | |
|
605,000 | |
|
563,000 | 499,400 |
|
562,000 | 452,000 |
|
|
542,000 | 272,000 |
|
|
520,000 | 478,800 |
|
475,000 | 409,600 |
|
457,000 | 117,000 |
|
452,000 | 202,000 |
|
438,000 | 326,800 |
|
420,000 | 321,800 |
|
405,000 | 5,000 |
|
|
404,000 | 318,700 |
|
402,000 | 299,500 |
|
401,000 | 303,500 |
|
395,000 | 55,000 |
|
374,000 | 258,000 |
|
371,000 | 267,000 |
|
353,000 | 93,000 |
|
352,000 | 293,500 |
|
330,000 | 280,000 |
|
321,500 | 264,500 |
|
310,000 | -60,000 |
|
|
310,000 | 247,400 |
Top Three Stacks
Level 16
: 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante
It could be at least another hour before we have final chip counts. In the meantime, here is a look at the top three in chip counts.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
877,000 | 477,000 |
|
|
827,000 | 801,200 |
|
|
605,000 | 5,000 |
82 Players Bagging Chips
Level 16
: 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante
There were no eliminations during the final three hands and the 82 remaining players are bagging chips. The action will begin tomorrow at Level 17 with blinds at 3,000/6,000 and a big blind ante of 6,000 in hand for hand mode.
Three More Hands
Level 16
: 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante
The clock has been stopped and the tournament director has announced the final three hands of the day.
Shaw Doubles with Cowboys
Level 16
: 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante
Carl Shaw jammed for about 130,000 with 
from the button and was called by Daniel Belov in the small blind with 
.
Shaw's cowboys held with the 
running out on the board and he doubled up near the bubble.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
340,000 | 173,400 |
|
290,000 | 70,000 |
Bubble Time
Level 16
: 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante
Marek Selgeveer three-bet jammed for about 14 big blinds and Mate Mecs called.
Marek Selgeveer: 
Mate Mecs: 
Selgeever was behind and didn't get any help as the 
ran out on the board and there are now 81 players remaining with 80 getting paid at least €2,100.
The clock was paused momentarily as one table is breaking up before hand for hand on the bubble takes place.
Bergman Ousts Aaltonen
Level 16
: 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante
Tapio Aaltonen jammed for about 70,000 with 
and was called by Peter Bergman with 
.
The 
flop wasn't the worst one for Aatonen as he flopped a pair. However, he was drawing dead after the came on the turn to give Bergman a flush.
The 
completed the board on the river and Aaltonen was eliminated short of the money.
After the hand, there were 82 players remaining with 80 guaranteed to make the money.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
370,000 | 278,700 |
|
|
Busted |
Quads for Sahamies
Level 16
: 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante
Huge hand for Ilari Sahamies. It could be the hand of the day.
Sebastian Wahl opened from late position and Ilari Sahamies defended from the big blind.
Sahamies check-raised from 10,000 to 25,000 after the 
came on the flop.
The action picked up after the 
came on the turn. Sahamies jammed for about 250,000, which just covered Wahl's stack.
Wahl went into the tank for several minutes before he made the call.
Ilari Sahamies: 
Sebastian Wahl: 
Sahamies had a full house and improved to quads after the 
completed the board on the river to win a massive pot near the end of Day 2.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
600,000 | 600,000 |
|
Busted |