The 2026 WSOP Circuit Tallinn, powered by OlyBet Poker, roared to life on Thursday at Olympic Park Casino and Hilton Tallinn Park, as one of poker’s most prestigious touring series returned to Estonia for a festival packed with 75 events and 12 WSOP Circuit Ring events on the schedule. The opening day delivered exactly the kind of energy the WSOP Circuit is known for, with a freebuy satellite at noon, the first of four opening flights in Ring Event #1, the €350 Mini Main Event, and a later satellite keeping the tables busy deep into the night.

The Mini Main got off to a healthy start with 135 entries in Day 1a, and 21 players advanced to Sunday’s Day 2 already in the money. Spain’s Joel Hernandez emerged as the chip leader after turning his 40,000 starting stack into 594,000, while Germany’s Jens-Peter Thomsen, Sweden’s Per Soederberg and Marten Fredin, and Norway’s Tarjei Forus also bagged big stacks to keep the race wide open heading into the rest of the opening flights.

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Joel Hernandez Leads €350 Mini Main Event After Day 1a

Day 1a of the €350 NLH Mini Main Event attracted 135 entries, adding nearly €40,000 to the prize pool. The structure received an overhaul this year, with each opening flight playing down to 15% of the field, with players advancing to Day 2 already in the money. Regardless of whether a player bags at the end of the day, they can re-enter any remaining flight, and if bagging multiple times, will bring their best stack forward to Day 2.

Spain’s Joel Hernandez was the standout performer of the day, ending the action with a chip-leading stack of 594,000. Germany’s Jens-Peter Thomsen is hot on his heels with 534,000. Three more flights remain before Sunday’s Day 2 with Day 1b running on Friday at 2 p.m., with Day 1c and Day 1d both taking place on Saturday. The action will then continue for two more days until a new ring winner is crowned on the third and final day on Monday.

Position	Player	Country	Chips
1	Joel Hernandez	Spain	594,000
2	Jens-Peter Thomsen	Germany	534,000
3	Per Soederberg	Sweden	426,000
4	Marten Fredin	Sweden	413,000
5	Tarjei Forus	Norway	410,000
6	Dimitrios Petrakis	Greece	384,000
7	Tero Hokkanen	Finland	281,000
8	Olof Hoeglin	Sweden	275,000
9	Raigo Vaikma	Estonia	239,000
10	Frederico Alves Dos Santos	Brazil	229,000
11	Vidar Assersen	Norway	208,000
12	Maksim Jankovski	Estonia	204,000
13	Emil Mortensen	Denmark	202,000
14	Jani Junnilainen	Finland	195,000
15	Stein Osnes	Norway	192,000
16	Maksim Petrov	Estonia	126,000
17	Laurynas Vaitkevicius	Lithuania	123,000
18	Stefan Odelberg	Sweden	112,000
19	Robert Rohr	Germany	105,000
20	Rasmus Lundstrom	Finland	89,000
21	Mark Metsla	Estonia	81,000

Friday Schedule at WSOP Circuit Tallinn 2026

The hard launch of the 2026 WSOP Circuit Tallinn begins today, Friday July 24, with the conference area of the Hilton Tallinn Park opening its doors and the casino transitioning to a cash game arena.

The day opens with value: a Freebuy Satellite at 1 p.m. guaranteeing at least seven seats to the €350 Mini Main Event. Day 1b of the Mini Main follows at 2 p.m. The €200 PL T.O.R.S.E.S. fires at 2:30 p.m., with an €80 Mega Satellite to any €555 WSOP Circuit Tallinn event guaranteeing 10 seats at 4 p.m.

Three side events round out the afternoon and evening: the €555 NLH Progressive Bounty at 4:30 p.m., the €200 PLO4/PLO5 Bomb Pot at 6 p.m., and the €200 NLH Turbo at 7 p.m. The day closes with the €150 Mega Satellite guaranteeing at least 10 seats to the €1,500 Main Event at 10 p.m.

• Lead image courtesy of Elena Kask / OlyBet Poker
• Article originally produced at poker.pro.