2025 Kings of Tallinn Day 3: Stanislav Smeljov Wins Largest of 5 Titles on Saturday

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Stanislav Smeljov

The 2025 OlyBet Kings of Tallinn completed its third day of celebrations of the festival’s 10th anniversary with a massive bang at Olympic Park Casino and the Hilton Tallinn Park. The festival boasts tons of value via giveaways and an action-packed 64-event schedule that includes the €1 million guaranteed Kings of Tallinn €1,100 Main Event.

While we are still a week away from a player earning their spot on the Wall of Fame hanging prominently outside the TV table reserved for those that have won Kings of and Queens of events the past decade, five players from five different countries Uwound up striking gold in side events on Saturday.

The largest prize and most prestigious trophy awarded thus far will stay home in Estonia as Stanislav Smeljov defeated Norway’s Sondre Stormyr in the two-day Event #4: €350 NLH Kings of Tallinn Cup for €26,100.

In what turned out to be a glorious nine-hour affair, the Redtooth Invitational, part of the 2025 Kings of Tallinn, didn’t disappoint. A massive rail of nearly 40 people gathered, with many others watching on the Redtooth Poker live stream, witnessed Michael Ashton secure himself a Las Vegas package valued at €1,800. He will eventually be playing for a share of £25,000 and a chance at becoming the latest UK Pub Poker Champion from May 25-31. Our team at poker.pro was on the scene, live reporting the event for the first time in grassroots poker history.

Michael Ashton Wins Redtooth Invitational at 2025 Kings of Tallinn
Michael Ashton Wins Redtooth Invitational at 2025 Kings of Tallinn

Ukraine’s Artem Berliand won Event #8: €200 Open Face Chinese Pineapple for €4,035, Greece’s Enea Subashi shipped Event #9: €200 NLH Progressive Bounty for €2,920 plus bounties, and Norway’s Olaf Larsson won Event #10: €200 NLH/PLO/PLO5 for €6,880.

Read on to learn more about Day 3 of the 2025 Kings of Tallinn at Olympic Park Casino and the Hilton Tallinn Park or click on the links below to read about the event.

Stanislav Smeljov Wins Event #4: €350 NLH Kings of Tallinn Cup

The two-day Event #4: €350 NLH Kings of Tallinn Cup attracted 455 entries, including 90 entries on Day 2, to create a hefty €131,177 prize pool.

Stanislav Smeljov earned the title after battling through a talented field to earn the €26,100 top prize, eclipsing his previous largest tournament haul of €10,700 when he took fourth place at the 2024 WSOP Circuit Tallinn in Event #1: €250 No-Limit Hold’em Ring Event.

Norway’s Sondre Stormyr (second – €16,560) and Finland’s Joel Haapio (third – €11,800) also earned five-figure hauls and, like Smeljov, added valuable points to the OlyBet Team Competition leaderboard.

Place Player Country Prize
1 Stanislav Smeljov Estonia €26,100
2 Sondre Stormyr Norway €16,560
3 Joel Haapio Finland €11,800
4 Aklilu Laitinen Finland €9,070
5 Dmitri Zatsik Estonia €6,850
6 Tommi Lankinen Finland €4,920
7 Ville Rutanen Finland €3,810
8 Darius-Valentin Neagoe France €3,116
9 Sultans Ertinhajevs Latvia €2,660
10 Robert Kaggerud Norway €2,260
11 Darren Kennedy Canada €2,260
12 Oleh Pritsak Ukraine €1,940
13 Markus Ylänne Finland €1,940
14 Phil Gross Germany €1,660
15 Henri Wagner Finland €1,660
16 Christoffer Kaspar Sweden €1,430
17 Veikka Keto-Tokoi Finland €1,430
18 Adrian Ziemichod Poland €1,240
19 Dmitri Damaskin Estonia €1,240
20 Sebastian Wahl Finland €1,240
21 Svajunas Prismantas Lithuania €1,090
22 Henri Ojala Finland €1,090
23 Juho Suutari Finland €1,090
24 Jyrki Lampinen Finland €960
25 Sander Leigri Estonia €960
26 Thuy Anh Dao Vietnam €960
27 Glen Gaines United Kingdom €960
28 Marten Rimmel Estonia €860
29 Andrei-Sorin Spataru Romania €860
30 Mykhailo Mikhalov Ukraine €860
31 Robertas Spakis Lithuania €860
32 Janne Kotiranta Finland €780
33 Niko Heikkinen Finland €780
34 Mikael Haapaniemi Finland €780
35 Ville Lönngren Finland €780
36 Petteri Laiho Finland €780
37 Leino Piller Estonia €780
38 Pascal Pflock Germany €780
39 Kent Wulff Sweden €780
40 Max Rotko Finland €700
41 Markku Ihamäki Finland €700
42 Valentin Francois France €700
43 Silver Simulask Estonia €700
44 Roope Tarmi Finland €700
45 Pasi Laihinen Finland €700
46 Rail Ageni Estonia €700
47 Vivian Saliba Brazil €700
48 Egon Kaljulaid Estonia €700
49 Joni Rantamäki Finland €700
50 Victor Prior Fernandez Amat Spain €700
51 Andrei Mjagkov Estonia €700
52 Thomas De Leiris France €700
53 Vidar Assersen Norway €700
54 Oskar Ojaveer Estonia €700
55 Timo Koivusalo Finland €700

Artem Berliand Wins Event #8: €200 Open Face Chinese Pineapple

The Event #8: €200 Open Face Chinese Pineapple created tons of fun and excitement as the game allows for plenty of banter with no bluffing allowed. The event attracted a field of 87 entries to generate a €13,755 prize pool with the top 11 players earning at least a €360 min-cash.

Some of those well-known for their OFC prowess over the years were unable to get much going in this event. Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk bubbled the event, while Risto Ponnio hit the rail a bit earlier. Norway’s Johnny Johansen, known to travel to festivals just to play OFC, squeaked into the money with a min-cash while friends of poker.pro Borge Dypvik and Tarjei Forus each laddered up a spot to earn €460.

Sweden’s Lena Bjorn was the first out on the podium to collect €1,810. The night before, she was practicing OFC with Scott “Pokerbrahs” Kenyon and Eva “Chic” Jiretorn. Shortly after, Artem Berliand won the €4,035 top prize after defeating Jonas Nilsen (second – €2,630) for the trophy.

Place Player Country Prize
1 Artem Berliand Ukraine €4,035
2 Jonas Nilsen Norway €2,630
3 Lena Björn Sweden €1,810
4 Topias Wahlbeck Finland €1,320
5 Sami Peisanen Finland €980
6 Riku Koivurinne Finland €750
7 Aku Laajus Finland €590
8 Borge Dypvik Norway €460
9 Tarjei Forus Norway €460
10 Nikolay Ponomarev United Kingdom €360
11 Johnny Johansen Norway €360

Enea Subashi Waves Greek Flag in Event #9: €200 NLH Progressive Bounty

Greece’s Enea Subashi has been coming to just about ever major festival at Olympic Park Casino over the past couple of years. In October, he had a deep run in the 2024 Kings of Tallinn Autumn Edition €1,100 Main Event before bowing out in third place for €55,200.

While Subashi has had many deep runs in international events in Tallinn, he finally got a monkey off his back with his first live poker victory recorded at The Hendon Mob. He denied Ukraine a second title of the day after defeating Oleksandr Tarashevskyi heads-up to win the big bounties at the end with both players earning €2,920 from the prize pool. The PKO affair attracted 221 entries to create a €34,940 prize pool that included €17,680 in progressive bounties.

2025 Kings of Tallinn Enea Subashi
Enea Subashi
Place Player Country Prize
1 Enea Subashi Greece €2,920
2 Oleksandr Tarashevskyi Ukraine €2,920
3 Lauri Nugin Estonia €1,960
4 Jarkko Suokas Finland €1,400
5 Ossi Krankkala Finland €1,020
6 Roberts Leja Latvia €780
7 Karri Uusi-Äijö Finland €630
8 Tony Nyberg Finland €520
9 Theodoros Ampelikiotis Greece €430
10 Siim Sikk Estonia €370
11 Vygerdas Jonikas Lithuania €370
12 Agneta Nordenstam Sweden €330
13 Robin Hogg United Kingdom €330
14 Teet Puurits Estonia €290
15 Tomi Arponen Finland €290
16 Janis Muitinieks Latvia €260
17 Jukka Kalliokoski Finland €260
18 Espen Kristofferstuen Norway €240
19 Jukka Moisio Finland €240
20 Märt Sikkar Estonia €240
21 Leonidas Georgopoulos Greece €220
22 Oskari Piira Finland €220
23 Darius Tamulevicius Lithuania €220
24 Algirdas Saveikis Lithuania €200
25 Jouni Huovila Finland €200
26 Nikita Zarovs Latvia €200
27 Stef Hack Netherlands €200

*Prizes exclude bounties

Olaf Larssen Ships Event #10: €200 NLH/PLO/PLO5

The final trophy event in Event #10: €200 NLH/PLO/PLO5 proved popular. After each orbit, games rotated, with 204 entries creating a €32,252 prize pool.

After Vidar Assersen hit the rail in third place for €3,290, Glen Gaines was in a unique spot after already having a deep run earlier in the day in the €350 NLH Kings of Tallinn Cup before exiting in 27th place for €960.

Gaines was the final player to win a Tallinn Summer Showdown Main Event in 2022 for €62,400 before it was rebranded as part of the Kings of Tallinn. Gaines nearly added his first trophy this week but settled for the runner-up prize of €4,600. Meanwhile, Olaf Larssen got the job done to win the first trophy for Norway this festival.

Place
1 Olaf Larssen Norway €6,880
2 Glen Gaines United Kingdom €4,600
3 Vidar Assersen Norway €3,290
4 Kaspar Laursoo Estonia €2,510
5 Niklavs Zindulis Latvia €1,920
6 Constantin Lau France €1,460
7 Sauli Haapaniemi Finland €1,180
8 Juuso Kauppi Finland €972
9 Mark Adams United Kingdom €800
10 Lorenc Boci Greece €690
11 Paul Hilden Sweden €690
12 Yurii Zabrodotskyi Ukraine €610
13 Jari Mähönen Finland €610
14 Antti Suominen Finland €540
15 Per-Thorben Kasten Germany €540
16 Sondre Lunde Norway €480
17 Ville Krankkala Finland €480
18 Steinn Thanh Du Karlsson Iceland €440
19 Valdis Skudra Latvia €440
20 Georgi Voomets Estonia €440
21 Jami Munukka Finland €400
22 Henri Ojala Finland €400
23 Markku Ihamäki Finland €400
24 Tapio Aaltonen Finland €370
25 Juho Suutari Finland €370
26 Henri Schalin Finland €370
27 Antti Raasu Finland €370

2025 Kings of Tallinn Schedule Day 3 (Saturday, Feb. 22)

Five trophies were awarded on Saturday and five more will be awarded on Sunday with a packed schedule featuring a healthy mix of no-limit hold’em and mixed game events alike.

The final two opening flights of the three-day Event #7: €555 NLH Kings of Tallinn Championship take place at 12 p.m. and 7 p.m. In addition, the night will end with a €150 Mega Satellite awarding at least 10 seats to the €1 million guaranteed Main Event.

Check out Sunday’s schedule below or head to the OlyBetEvents.com landing page to see the full schedule and more.

Time Event
12:00 Event #7: €555 NLH Kings of Tallinn Championship Day 1c
12:00 Event #13: €350 HORSE
14:00 Event #14: €200 NLH DeepStack
17:00 Event #15: €200 PL 7 Card Stud/7 Card Stud Hi-Lo
19:00 Event #7: €555 NLH Kings of Tallinn Championship Day 1d
19:00 Event #16: €200 NLH Progressive Bounty
21:00 Event #17: €350 Dealer’s Choice High Only
22:00 Event #18: €150 Mega Satellite to the €1,100 KoT Main Event (10 x €1,100 Seats GTD)

*Photos courtesy of Elena Kask

Poker journalist Jason Glatzer boasts more than a decade in experience in poker media and operations. He is well-known in Europe for providing quality reporting, editorial, and commentating at a wide variety of events from around the world including at all major events at our flagship venue Olympic Park Casino

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