The Festival Weekend Tallinn Brings in Strong Fields and High Rollers on Day 2
The Festival Weekend Tallinn has blossomed into a full flower of fun, exciting action, and great poker at Olympic Park Casino in the amazing city of Tallinn. Since flagfall, the vibes have been strongly positive across the board, and those vibes amped up another notch on Day 2. There were plenty of notables in the house across a flurry of events, from Day 1A of the €555 TORSES Main Event and 1B of the €555 Main Event Mystery Bounty, the €200 NLH Freezeout and the €150 Roulette Tournament. Here is the rundown on what was a brilliant day across the gaming floor in Tallinn.
€200 NLH Freezeout
One tournament stood out from the incredible schedule at The Festival Series, but the appearance of one man caused surprise and intrigue. That man was none other than Vladimir "Gambledore" Korzinin, an inventor and multiple patent holder in the finance space. He is also #1 on Estonia's All-Time Money List, with a total recorded live earnings of $8,031,800 according to thehendonmob.com. Known as “Gambledore” for his magical plays and wizard-like appearance (he has had a considerable haircut for those unfamiliar), Korzinin shot to fame at the highest level at the Triton Poker Series, competing in the Super High Rollers in Montenegro in 2025 and in Monte Carlo in 2024.
It was in the principality where he had most success, scoring a win in the $150,000 No Limit Hold’em for a whopping $4,350,000. He finished runner-up in the even bigger $200,000 Triton Invitational. banking $3,470,000. However, it wasn't to be for "Gambledore", and he couldn't work his magic with his only bullet this time, departing in 38th place of the 89-runner field. Stay tuned to the live blog to find out the result later on in the day, as play is rolling deep into the small hours.
Check Out the Highlights
€555 NLH Main Event Mystery Bounty 1B
The €555 NLH Main Event attracted 56 entrants and saw Marijus Dirgela become the second chip-stack millionaire, pushing Australian Jarrod Coughtrie down to second place overall. Kaius Kiidli was the bubble boy, and #5 on Estonia’s All-Time Money List, Ranno Sootla, departed in ninth. Finland now occupies the final overall podium spot, with Hampus Grönström taking third with 955,000. The trio have bagged heaps from the 50,000 starting stack, and could be forces to be reckoned with come the second Day.
| Seat | Player | Nationality | Stack |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marijus Dirgela | Lithuania | 1,080,000 |
| 2 | Hampus Grönström | Finland | 955,000 |
| 3 | Kambiz Kashi | Finland | 240,000 |
| 4 | Maria Ling | Sweden | 157,000 |
| 5 | Jan Karlsson | Sweden | 136,000 |
| 6 | Teppo Osaari | Finland | 127,000 |
| 7 | Ville-Matti Keränen | Finland | 96,000 |
€555 TORSES Main Event
A stacked field of 21 (at the minimum, as registration remains open until 11.30 p.m. local time today) will return to the tables in the marquee Mixed Games event of the week, the TORSES Main Event. Leading the way is Kjetil Flaaten, who will come into tomorrow’s second and final day as the chip leader. JJ Hazan and Toomas Mäkikokko round out the podium places.
Henrik Puija, who bagged in sixth. praised The Festival, saying: “I just bagged TORSES and should go to sleep as day two is tomorrow, but where else can I play Baducey-Badacey for such a reasonable buy-in? Reasonable buy-ins are the reason I very much like The Festival. Let me think about it for a moment, and maybe I jump in.” It just goes to show the accessibility and diversity of The Festival, and how great the atmosphere is at the tables. He did indeed hop in, but had no luck this time around, departing 21 of the 50 total entrants.
| Seat | Player | Nationality | Stack |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kjetil Flaaten | Norway | 168,000 |
| 2 | JJ Hazan | United Kingdom | 130,000 |
| 3 | Toomas Mäkikokko | Finland | 121,000 |
| 4 | Erik Põlluveer | Estonia | 113,000 |
| 5 | Riku Koivurinne | Finland | 102,000 |
| 6 | Henrik Puija | Estonia | 99,000 |
| 7 | Lasse Melby | Norway | 86,500 |
| 8 | Morten Antonsen | Norway | 76,000 |
| 9 | Alexander Freund | Austria | 70,000 |
| 10 | Carlo Braccini | Italy | 68,500 |
| 11 | Pasi Trollhjärta | Sweden | 68,500 |
| 12 | William Mawer | United Kingdom | 66,000 |
| 13 | Mikael Koistinen | Finland | 63,000 |
| 14 | Raimonds Svans | Latvia | 61,000 |
| 15 | Timo Lämsä | Finland | 49,000 |
| 16 | Vijar Tejapaibul | Finland | 47,500 |
| 17 | Jari Mähönen | Finland | 38,000 |
| 18 | Marc Gork | Germany | 37,500 |
| 19 | Olli Muukkonen | Finland | 35,000 |
| 20 | Ilkka Heikkilä | Finland | 31,500 |
| 21 | Mika Hällström | Finland | 24,00 |
€150 Roulette Tournament
A field of 8 players spun the wheel at the roulette table on the gaming floor at Olympic Park. Dubbed "The Professional" by The Festival founder Martin "Franke" von Zweigbergk, Festival regular and all-round nice guy Attila Erdei won his first live Festival Series title. His biggest career score came in Malta in The Hendon Mob Championships back in 2025 for €11,400. Erdei is no stranger to the casino game tournaments, having finished runner-up at the same stop in the Slots tournament at the same event.
Erdei had pretty much, if not the maximum, on 32 and its splits to win 1,524 chips from the house to take a commanding lead. He couldn't be caught. Friend of The Festival and Finnish candy connoisseur Sami Korpela narrowly missed out on another Festival Series title. Check out the rest of the photos from the Roulette Tournament here to see some funky chip arrangements and a lot of emotion.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Attila Erdei | Hungary | €781 |
| 2 | Sami Korpela | Finland | €330 |
Today's Schedule
| Time | Event | Total Buy-in |
|---|---|---|
| 11:30 | Mixed Games Main Event – TORSES Day 2 | N/A |
| 12:00 | Main Event 1C (Mystery) "Plays until 12.5% ITM" | €555 |
| 13:00 | OFC Pineapple | €350 |
| 14:00 | Sportsbook | €150 |
| 17:00 | The Festival 10 Game Day 1 | €1,100 |
| 19:00 | NLH PKO (with Live Straddle) | €200 |
| 21:00 | Omaha Jack | €150 |
The Festival Series. You name it, chances are we've got it.
That's all for now, folks. Until next time.
