Niinivaara, Siljander, and Vinaya Win WSOP Circuit Tallinn Rings on Wednesday

Mathias Siljander

Wednesday was full of action and amazing emotions with three ring winners crowned at the 2025 WSOP Circuit Tallinn at OlyBet’s flagship home, Olympic Park Casino, and the Hilton Tallinn Park.

The day began with four ring events kicking off simultaneously at Noon. The second and third opening flight of the €1 million guaranteed 2025 WSOP Circuit Tallinn €1,500 NLH Main Event with already 452 entries in the mix with two more opening flights to go on Thursday along with late registration remaining open for the first two blind levels of Friday’s Day 2, when the Main Event coverage kicks into full force at poker.pro.

Sweden’s Harem Rafat leads the way over the 144 survivors in the Main Event thus far with 359,500 in chips from his opening stack of 50,000, followed by the formidable Finn Luka Sorainen with 313,000 and the 2020 Kings of Tallinn Main Event champion Johan Karlsson with 310,500.

Finland’s Toni Niinivaara was the first player of the day to earn a ring in the three-day €555 NLH for €62,100. The 2019 Tallinn Summer Showdown Main Event champion and the 2024 Kings of Tallinn champion from Finland, Mathias Siljander, earned a ring on the OlyBet Poker live stream in the two-day €1,100 PLO4/PLO5 for €41,000.

The live stream then moved over to cover the €5,000 NLH. The one-day affair lasted around 17 hours before Norway’s David Vinaya won the largest prize thus far this festival, €94,280. All three ring winners also earned a trip to the WSOP Paradise, valued at $5,000.

In addition to the three rings awarded, two players earned trophies in side events. Finland’s Thomas Sjoholm-Christensen won the €350 NLH for €12,340, Tomi Arponen shipped the €200 NLH/PLO4/PLO5 Mix Turbo for €5,160, and the €1,100 8-Game ring event finished its opening day.

Read on to learn more about Wednesday’s action at the 2025 WSOP Circuit Tallinn at Olympic Park Casino and the Hilton Tallinn Park.

Toni Niinivaara Wins €555 NLH (€62,100)

Toni Niinivaara

The three-day €555 NLH attracted 744 entries to create a €353,400 prize pool. The third and final day witnessed 20 runners return, hoping to become the latest WSOP Circuit Tallinn ring winner.

Norway’s Ronny Albrigtsen may not have earned a win, but he laddered up significantly after a tremendous run as the short stack to start the day with a sixth-place performance worth €10,800.

Instead, Finland’s Toni Niinivaara joined the exclusive ring-winner club after defeating the Netherlands’ Roy Van Der Reijnst (second – €42,250) to earn the €62,100 top prize.

Place Player Country Prize
1 Toni Niinivaara Finland €62,100
2 Roy Van Der Reijnst Netherlands €42,250
3 Raivis Pucurs Latvia €29,250
4 Risto Pärnat Estonia €20,650
5 Kristers Muhins Latvia €14,750
6 Ronny Albrigtsen Norway €10,800
7 Svajunas Prismantas Lithuania €8,000
8 Roberts Krigers Latvia €6,100
9 Kenneth Svendsen Norway €4,700
10 Hryhorii Meleshenko Ukraine €3,700
11 David Marfil Spain €3,700
12 Gonzalo Perez Spain €2,950
13 Baptiste Caim France €2,950
14 Maksim Petrov Estonia €2,950
15 Martin Piik Estonia €2,950
16 Zigmas Pekarskas Lithuania €2,450
17 Maikel Homin Estonia €2,450
18 Anton Markachev Russia €2,450
19 Jamie Brent Ireland €2,450
20 Casimir Seire Finland €2,450
21 Christoffer Munk Jensen Denmark €2,450
22 Jawad Habib Sweden €2,450
23 Aleksandre Apryan Georgia €2,450
24 Harem Rafat Sweden €2,450
25 Nico Frenn Switzerland €2,000
26 Jack Markus Sweden €2,000
27 Lukas Poskus Lithuania €2,000
28 Jimmy Dewerdt France €2,000
29 Saulius Tumosa Lithuania €2,000
30 Peter Kvisthammar Sweden €2,000
31 Christian Steinbo Norway €2,000
32 Krists Kaupe Latvia €2,000
33 Thomas Leyrer Germany €1,750
34 Miko Miettinen Finland €1,750
35 Meelis Uusen Finland €1,750
36 Gintaras Naglius Lithuania €1,750
37 Vetle Holum Norway €1,750
38 Ardo Pinna Estonia €1,750
39 Osku Karttunen Finland €1,750
40 Jussi Julkunen Finland €1,750
41 Tõnis Viik Estonia €1,500
42 Saara Benlamine Finland €1,500
43 Andris Rasins Latvia €1,500
44 Hendrik Uibo Estonia €1,500
45 David Kozma Hungary €1,500
46 Taago Tamm Estonia €1,500
47 Aleksander Timonin Estonia €1,500
48 Petri Härkönen Finland €1,500
49 Andrei Mjagkov Estonia €1,350
50 Ritvars Cekalins Latvia €1,350
51 Aleksandr Daniltsenko Estonia €1,350
52 Akseli Paalanen Finland €1,350
53 Mario Fenaroli Switzerland €1,350
54 Serhii Chalap Ukraine €1,350
55 Linus Englund Sweden €1,350
56 Miika Töyräs Finland €1,350
57 Min Guk Kim South Korea €1,250
58 Mairo Tori Estonia €1,250
59 Janis Vasiljevs Latvia €1,250
60 Marijus Dirgela Lithuania €1,250
61 Petter Richardsen Norway €1,250
62 Artur Külanurk Estonia €1,250
63 Rasmus Lundström Finland €1,250
64 Borja Martinez Spain €1,250
65 Tomi Arponen Finland €1,150
66 Grigory Zima Russia €1,150
67 Simon Hesserud Persson Sweden €1,150
68 Janno Pikkat Estonia €1,150
69 Aurimas Stanevicius Lithuania €1,150
70 Yann Le Frioux France €1,150
71 Jyrki Lampinen Finland €1,150
72 Vygerdas Jonikas Lithuania €1,150
73 Lars Eketrapp Sweden €1,100
74 Oliver Gamble Denmark €1,100
75 Mikael Haapaniemi Finland €1,100
76 Arkadiusz Liszewski Poland €1,100
77 Victor Vozian Romania €1,100
78 Audrius Navickas Lithuania €1,100
79 Mika Surakka Finland €1,100
80 Gatis Popovs Latvia €1,100
81 Jan Verner Czech Republic €1,100
82 Rohan Oberoi Sweden €1,100
83 Lasse Aarninsalo Finland €1,100
84 Ralf Mikk Estonia €1,100
85 Dmitri Marsalok Estonia €1,100
86 Matthew Micallef Malta €1,100
87 Stanislovas Vinicenka Lithuania €1,100
88 Andres Lõiv Estonia €1,100
89 Herli Olop Estonia €1,100
90 Egidijus Matonis Lithuania €1,100
91 Alvils Bijons Latvia €1,100
92 Kaius Kiidli Estonia €1,100
93 Ismael Dominguez Spain €1,100
94 Alexander Norden Sweden €1,100
95 Joel Lehtinen Finland €1,100
96 Luka Sorainen Finland €1,100
97 Vladimiras Meckovskis Lithuania €1,100
98 Ranel Käsi Estonia €1,100
99 Kimmo Kurko Finland €1,100
100 Markku Koplimaa Estonia €1,100
101 Marko Vest Estonia €1,100
102 Joel Haapio Finland €1,100
103 Tommi Ylönen Finland €1,100
104 Timmy Anker Denmark €1,100
105 Mounir Tajiou Sweden €1,100
106 Riku Oksanen Finland €1,100
107 Kaspars Zilgalvis Latvia €1,100
108 Siim Kabel Estonia €1,100
109 Arasch Mirzai Sweden €1,100
110 Janne Ojala Finland €1,100
111 Fred Martens Estonia €1,100
112 Ishak Noyan Sweden €1,100

Mathias Siljander Wins Ring and Passes $1 Million at The Hendon Mob

Mathias Siljander

Finland’s Mathias Siljander is a bit of a legend at Olympic Park Casino. The Finn has come to most of the major poker festivals in the Estonian capital and consistently runs deep, whether playing with two cards or, in this case, four and five cards.

Siljander cemented his status as a local poker hero with a memorable victory on the live stream in the €1,100 PLO4/PLO5 ring event for €41,000. This was enough to catapult Siljander past the elusive $1 million mark in total tracked cashes at The Hendon Mob after defeating countrymate Aleksi Lindholm (second – $27,150) heads-up.

Several other storylines emerged at the final table. Georgia’s Andria Gogelidze won the first PLO ring in the two-day Event #2: €555 PLO4/PLO5 for €27,100 and nearly did the unthinkable by winning a ring in the €1,100 PLO4/PLO5. He fell out in third place for €18,300 just after Frank Visser, who in the Winter was at the Kings of Tallinn reporting for poker.pro, busted in fourth place for $13,150.

Meanwhile, last year, Riku Koivurinne won a trophy in this event, followed by a ring in a side event. This time, he won a trophy on the first day in the €350 Open Face Chinese Pineapple and was aiming for back-to-back victories in the €1,100 PLO4/PLO5. His deep run ended in sixth place for €6,900.

Finland’s Roope Tarmi also aimed for a historic achievement. Tarmi won a ring both at the WSOP Circuit Tallinn in 2023 and repeated it in 2024. The Finn was aiming for three years in a row, but will need to try to get a ring in a different event after exiting in ninth place for €3,850.

The €1,100 PLO4/PLO5 attracted 185 entries, creating a €175,750 prize pool. Check out the full payouts below:

Place Player Country Prize
1 Mathias Siljander Finland €41,000
2 Aleksi Lindholm Finland €27,150
3 Andria Gogelidze Georgia €18,300
4 Frank Visser Netherlands €13,150
5 Renars Skanis Latvia €9,250
6 Riku Koivurinne Finland €6,900
7 Antti Veteläinen Finland €5,350
8 Samir Lemmini Finland €3,850
9 Roope Tarmi Finland €3,850
10 Michel Karim Sweden €2,900
11 Aklilu Laitinen Finland €2,900
12 Antti Suominen Finland €2,550
13 Viljami Salakari Finland €2,550
14 Fredrik Lindström Finland €2,550
15 Eetu Sepponen Finland €2,300
16 Henrik Ostby Norway €2,300
17 Nicklas Dehli Denmark €2,300
18 Mikael Koistinen Finland €2,300
19 Markus Ristola Finland €2,300
20 Joona Koivisto Finland €2,200
21 Francisco Racionero Spain €2,200
22 Veikka Keto-Tokoi Finland €2,200
23 Toni Ravnak Serbia €2,200
24 Christoffer Munk Jensen Denmark €2,200
25 Kai Lehto Finland €2,200
26 Lauri Liuttula Finland €2,200
27 Akseli Hosia Estonia €2,200
28 Mariusz Medlewski Poland €2,200
29 Henri Ojala Finland €2,200

David Vinaya Wins €5,000 NLH (€94,280)

David Vinaya

The €5,000 NLH attracted some of the top players in the world including the likes of Juha Helppi, cash game beast Markkos Ladev, chess grandmaster Ottomar Ladva, and one of Lithuania’s brightest poker minds, Gytis Lazauninkas.

While none of those four made the winner’s circle, the nine players from eight different countries who cashed all joined the TV table, where the action continued until the wee hours of the morning.

David Vinaya was the star of the show after defeating Latvia’s Ritvars Cekalins (second – €59,750) heads-up to earn the €94,280 top prize, the largest single prize thus far this festival.

The event attracted a banner field of 64 players for a €297,984 prize pool with the full payouts listed below.

Place Player Country Prize
1 David Vinaya Norway €94,280
2 Ritvars Cekalins Latvia €59,750
3 Juan Carlos Vecino Duenas Spain €39,850
4 Chaofei Wang China €28,100
5 Casimir Seire Finland €20,950
6 Roman Petelytskyi Ukraine €16,650
7 Richard Koppel Estonia €14,200
8 Juho Suutari Finland €12,700
9 Kestutis Jungevicius Lithuania €11,504

2025 WSOP Circuit Tallinn Day 7 Schedule (Thursday, July 31)

Time Event
12:00 Event #5: WSOPC €1,500 NLH Main Event Day 1d
12:00 Event #36: €80 NLH Satellite to €750 NLH Progressive Bounty & Mystery Bounty (5 Seats GTD)
13:00 Event #8: WSOPC €1,100 8-Game Final Day
15:00 Event #37: €750 NLH Progressive Bounty & Mystery Bounty
19:00 Event #5: WSOPC €1,500 NLH Main Event Day 1e
19:00 Event #38: €200 PL Deuce to Seven Triple Draw
20:00 Event #39: €350 NLH Progressive Bounty
22:00 Event #40: €80 Satellite to €1,100 NLH Mystery Bounty (7 Seats GTD)
  • Photos compliments of Elena Kask / OlyBet Poker.

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