Finland’s Lasse Laukkarinen was the star of Day 1b of The Festival Series Tallinn €550 Main Event at Olympic Park Casino and the adjoining Hilton Tallinn Park after bagging the overall chip lead of 196,300 in chips.
This put him slightly ahead of Day 1a chip leader Stefan Bittger who bagged 188,700 in chips with still two opening flights to be played out on Thursday. Laukkarinen displayed confidence all day long and felt he was the best player at his table and was able to edge out fellow Finn Tapio Aaltonen who bagged 187,100.
Aaltonen was the chip leader for most of the second half of the day after he won a monster flip with his big slick getting there against his opponent’s snowmen.
Also bagging top five chip stacks on Day 1b were Michael Viggander (150,000), Mats Palokangas (144,800), and 2022 Coolbet Open Main Event champion Kaido Mikk (129,600).
Speaking of Coolbet, their Norwegian Ambassador Heidi Bekker had an amazing day despite an awful start with her initial 30,000 chip stack down to just 8,000 at one point. She remained composed and patient for hours before she began her ascent into the top 10 players with a healthy stack of 124,400.
Day 1b Top 10 Chip Counts
| Player | Chips | Big Blind |
|---|---|---|
| Lasse Laukkarinen | 196,200 | 123 |
| Tapio Aaltonen | 187,100 | 117 |
| Michael Viggander | 150,000 | 94 |
| Mats Palokangas | 144,800 | 91 |
| Kaido Mikk | 129,600 | 81 |
| Aleksi Naski | 125,300 | 78 |
| Heidi Bekker | 124,400 | 78 |
| Ronny Albrigtsen | 123,200 | 77 |
| Sarunas Abdrachmanovas | 120,800 | 76 |
| Aleksiy Baranovskiy | 117,900 | 74 |
Day 1b attracted 123 entries with 48 players finding a bag. This brings the total field up to 181 entries with 70 players advancing to Day 2 when taking into account the 58 entries and 22 survivors on Day 1a.
Side Events Galore
The third day of The Festival Series Tallinn boasted many amazing side events including a €220 PKO and the first of two days of the €1,050 PLO High Roller. Of course, there were satellites and many rake-free flip events running throughout the day.
In addition, another opening flight of both the €250 Blackjack and the €250 Roulette events attracted a lively crowd and TheFestivalOG Twitch channel streamed a €1,000 buy-in invite-only Acroud Charity Tournament, which was also covered throughout the day as well. CasinoFriday’s Frode Fagerli defeated The Festival Series’ Mauritz Altikardes heads-up to win the title and will be able to donate €4,800 to a charity of his choice, while Altikardes will do the same for the runner-up prize of €3,200.
The action will begin tomorrow at noon for Day 1c of the Main Event with a turbo Day 1d scheduled to take place at 8 p.m. There will be plenty of side events throughout the day for those that already bagged into Day 2 of the Main Event or looking for something different with many players expressing their plans to play in the €250 H.O.R.S.E. event. Stay tuned at The Festival Series for all the highlights of The Festival Series Tallinn Main Event.
