The 2025 OlyBet Kings of Tallinn is just right around the corner at Olympic Park Casino and the adjoining Hilton Tallinn Park from Feb. 21 to March 2, 2025. Northern Europe’s biggest poker festival is, without a doubt, one of the live poker events every poker player should mark in their calendar, and this year’s edition will not disappoint. Considering the festival is celebrating its 10-year anniversary, it doesn’t come as a surprise that the event is bigger and better than ever before.
Poker.pro earlier dissected the sublime 2025 Kings of Tallinn tournament schedule, and just by taking a quick peak, it becomes evident the event will attract poker players from all over the world as it usually does; there are over 60 tournaments in the schedule featuring various games, such as Texas NLH, Sviten, PLO 4/5/6 and more.
But, of course, there can only be one King, and that is the Main Event. The numbers speak for themselves: the Kings of Tallinn Main Event only grows bigger and bigger, and with this year’s €1 million guarantee, there will be more players than ever battling it out for the prestigious title of King or Queen of Tallinn.
Let’s discuss everything there is to know about this year’s Kings of Tallinn Main Event, dive into the tournament’s history, and review the previous winners of this golden gem on the live poker circuit.
Double the Guarantee Compared to 2024
The first thing to know about the Kings of Tallinn 2025 Main Event is that the guaranteed prize pool is twice as large as last year’s. Historically, €500,000 has always been the promised amount, but with the event celebrating its 10-year anniversary, Teresa Nousiainen and her team decided to double the numbers. This fact on its own is incitement that there’ll be more players than ever before throwing their name into the competition.
2025 Kings of Tallinn €1,100 Main Event Schedule
| Date | Time (EET) | Main Event stage | Level time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb. 25 | 13:00 | Day 1a | 60 min |
| Feb. 26 | 12:00 | Day 1b | 60 min |
| Feb. 26 | 19:00 | Day 1c | 40 min |
| Feb. 27 | 12:00 | Day 1d | 60 min |
| Feb. 27 | 19:00 | Day 1e | 40 min |
| Feb. 28 | 12:00 | Day 2 | 60 min |
| Mar. 1 | 12:00 | Day 3 | 60 min |
| Mar. 2 | 12:00 | Day 4 (final table) | 60 min |
Also, the sublime tournament structure will let the players put all of their poker skills on display. For their €1,100 buy-in, players will receive 30,000 in chips, and the first level starts at 100/100 (100). This means players start 300 big blinds deep, and considering the levels are one hour in length (except for Day 1c and 1e, where they are 40 minutes), the opportunity to play some serious poker is up for grabs.
The Main Event boasts five opening-day flights, with the first one being played on Tuesday, February 25. Nine levels will be played on each opening day flight, before the survivors can bag their chips and get ready for their return on Day 2. Ten levels will be played during Day 2, and Day 3 will be played down until only 9 players remain. These lucky competitors will return to play the Final Table on March 2, where a winner eventually will be crowned.
There are unlimited multi-entries for the tournament, and players can choose to buy in until the end of Level 13 (i.e., the third level of Day 2).
Previous Winners of Kings of Tallinn Main Event
| Year | Player | Country | Payout | Entries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 |  Edgaras Kausinis |
Lithuania | €120,910 | 516 |
| 2023 |  Priit Parmasto |
Estonia | €97,400 | 481 |
| 2022 |  Adam Kharman |
Australia | €64,280 | 246 |
| 2021 |  Claudio Di Giacomo |
Italy | €58,440 | 298 |
| 2020 |  Johan Karlsson |
Sweden | €126,900 | 674 |
| 2019 |  Vitalijs Zavorotnijs |
Latvia | €85,300 | 375 |
| 2018 |  Juha Helppi |
Finland | €62,000 | 226 |
| 2017 | Matias Knaapinen |
Finland | €45,007 | 247 |
| 2016 | Johan Creutz |
Sweden | €52,200 | 198 |
| 2015 | Ranno Sootla |
Estonia | €37,730 | 111 |
Ever since the inaugural edition of the Kings of Tallinn back in 2015, poker players have made their way to Tallinn with one dream: to write new poker history. Since then, 10 lucky players have had the utmost pleasure of lifting the Kings of Tallinn trophy. The diversification among the winners has been quite palpable; 7 different nations are present on the list of previous main event winners. Currently, the title belongs to Edgaras Kausinis and Lithuania after he conquered a field of 516 players last year. A fun little side note is that the trophy belonged to Australia and Adam Kharman back in 2022; once again, Kings of Tallinn is a first-class poker event that attracts players from all over the world.
Of course, there have been many memorable moments from Kings of Tallinn throughout the tournament’s history. One played out in 2020 when Johan Karlsson played heads-up for the title against Estonian Ermo Kosk. From the button, Karlsson opened to 600,000 on blinds 150,000/300,000 holding 3♥2♥. Kosk defended J♦10♥ in the Big Blind.
The flop 9♣4♥Q♠ favored Kosk, who check-called Karlsson’s 400,000 bet. On the 7♦ turn, Ermo now led out for 700,000. Holding three-high, Karlsson decided to raise to 2,000,000, a bet Kosk decided to call with his open-ended straight draw.
The river 7♠ didn’t change anything, but Kosk fired a bluff for one-third of his stack when Karlsson decided to contend for the bluff of the century with a raise that Kosk was unable to call. After this hand, Karlsson held a commanding chip lead, ultimately winning the title and €126,900.
Kings of Tallinn 2025 Main Event structure
| Level | Length | Small Blind | Big Blind | Ante |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 60 min | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| 2 | 60 min | 100 | 200 | 200 |
| Break | 20 min | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 3 | 60 min | 100 | 300 | 300 |
| 4 | 60 min | 200 | 400 | 400 |
| Break | 20 min | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 5 | 60 min | 200 | 500 | 500 |
| 6 | 60 min | 300 | 600 | 600 |
| Break | 20 min | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 7 | 60 min | 400 | 800 | 800 |
| 8 | 60 min | 500 | 1,000 | 1,000 |
| Break | 20 min | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 9 (Last level of Day 1a/b/c/d/e) | 60 min | 500 | 1,000 | 1,000 |
| 10 | 60 min | 600 | 1,200 | 1,200 |
| 11 | 60 min | 600 | 1,200 | 1,200 |
| Break | 20 min | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 12 | 60 min | 1,000 | 1,500 | 1,500 |
| 13 (Last level for late registration) | 60 min | 1,000 | 1,500 | 1,500 |
| Break | 20 min | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 14 | 60 min | 1,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 |
| 15 | 60 min | 1,000 | 2,500 | 2,500 |
| Break | 20 min | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 16 | 60 min | 1,500 | 3,000 | 3,000 |
| 17 | 60 min | 2,000 | 4,000 | 4,000 |
| Break | 20 min | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 18 | 60 min | 2,000 | 5,000 | 5,000 |
| 19 (Last level of Day 2) | 60 min | 3,000 | 6,000 | 6,000 |
| 20 | 60 min | 4,000 | 8,000 | 8,000 |
| 21 | 60 min | 5,000 | 10,000 | 10,000 |
| Break | 20 min | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 22 | 60 min | 6,000 | 12,000 | 12,000 |
| 23 | 60 min | 8,000 | 16,000 | 16,000 |
| Break | 20 min | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 24 | 60 min | 10,000 | 20,000 | 20,000 |
| 25 | 60 min | 10,000 | 25,000 | 25,000 |
| Break | 20 min | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 26 | 60 min | 15,000 | 30,000 | 30,000 |
| 27 | 60 min | 20,000 | 40,000 | 40,000 |
| Break | 20 min | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 28 | 60 min | 20,000 | 50,000 | 50,000 |
| 29 (Expected last level of Day 3) | 60 min | 30,000 | 60,000 | 60,000 |
| 30 | 60 min | 40,000 | 80,000 | 80,000 |
| 31 | 60 min | 50,000 | 100,000 | 100,000 |
| Break | 20 min | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 32 | 60 min | 50,000 | 125,000 | 125,000 |
| 33 | 60 min | 75,000 | 150,000 | 150,000 |
| Break | 20 min | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 34 | 60 min | 100,000 | 200,000 | 200,000 |
| 35 | 60 min | 125,000 | 250,000 | 250,000 |
| 36 | 60 min | 150,000 | 300,000 | 300,000 |
A Venue fit for Royals
The amazing structure of the Main Event is one of the tournament’s strengths, and one of the key aspects in attracting players from all over the world. Another element is, of course, the venue. Kings of Tallinn is played at the Olympic Park Casino and Hilton Tallinn Park Hotel. The conspicuous building is located within the heart of Tallinn, and if having some time away from the poker tables, players should consider exploring the beautiful capital of Estonia.
Poker.pro will be on-site as well, reporting live from the Main Event, ensuring you don’t miss any action from Nothern Europe’s biggest poker festival.
It’s hard not to get excited about Kings of Tallinn 2025; poker doesn’t get any better than this, and it will be utterly exciting to see the action unfold at Olympic Park Casino and Hilton Tallinn Park Hotell on February 21-March 2. Bring it on, Kings of Tallinn!
