Kaspars Butans Takes the Crown in Kings of Tallinn Main Event
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There's a new King of Tallinn, and his name is Kaspars Butans.
The Latvian grinder isn’t one for the spotlight—he keeps his poker scores private, turned down interviews, and just quietly goes about his business at the tables. But in the record-breaking 1,181-entry €1,100 Kings of Tallinn Main Event, he made a statement loud and clear, walking away with the €182,000 top prize.
Coming in as the start-of-day chip leader, Butans rarely lost his grip on the tournament, picking his spots and staying composed. When the dust settled at the Olympic Park Casino, it was his name at the top, securing the biggest win of his career in a festival that proved why it belongs on every poker player's radar.
To mark its 10th anniversary, Kings of Tallinn went big—guaranteeing €1 million in the Main Event for the first time. The players responded in force, smashing that number with a final prize pool of €1,098,300. Safe to say they knocked it out of the park.
Kings of Tallinn Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kaspars Butans | Latvia | €182,000 |
| 2 | Mounir Tajiou | Sweden | €115,000 |
| 3 | Pasi Laihinen | Finland | €80,000 |
| 4 | Igor Pihela Jr | Estonia | €61,000 |
| 5 | Anton Bergstrom | Sweden | €47,000 |
| 6 | Eldars Sadih-Zade | Latvia | €36,500 |
| 7 | Benyamin Canatan | Denmark | €28,000 |
| 8 | Priit Parmasto | Estonia | €21,800 |
| 9 | Chris Da Silva | United Kingdom | €16,800 |
Butans Goes Wire-to-Wire on Final Day
Chris Da Silva, the most decorated player at the final table, started the day with the shortest stack and faced an uphill battle. The big-field maestro found himself card dead early on, dwindling to fewer than ten big blinds before finally taking a stand. He four-bet jammed king-queen over Anton Bergstrom’s three-bet, but the Swede snapped him off with ace-king. An ace-high board sealed Da Silva’s fate, sending him out in ninth place.
Priit Parmasto, the 2023 Kings of Tallinn champion, was looking to make history as the event’s first two-time winner. When he peeled back pocket kings, it looked like he was in prime position for a double-up. But poker can be cruel—Igor Pihela Jr ran him down, rivering a wheel in a hand that played out across all three streets. The home crowd favorite was out in eighth.
Benyamin Canatan, the Kings of Tallinn Championship winner, followed Parmasto out the door in seventh. Then, Eldars Sadih-Zade suffered the same heartbreak, watching his kings get cracked after Mounir Tajiou turned a flush.
Bergstrom, better known online as "WhatIfGod," had come into the day as one of the most feared competitors. The online crusher, who only recently returned the live spotlight, had his run cut short by Tajiou. Bergstrom’s open-ended straight draw and overcards failed to materialize against Tajiou’s top pair, denying him his first live poker victory. The Swede took it in stride, but there’s no doubt he’ll be back in the hunt before long.
With four left, Pihela Jr floated the idea of a deal, but Tajiou immediately shot it down. He'd never made a deal in his life, and he wasn't planning on breaking that tradition today. He backed up that confidence shortly after by eliminating the last Estonian in the field, setting the stage for three-handed play against Butans and Pasi Laihinen.
Tajiou, still chasing his maiden live tournament victory, punched his ticket to heads-up play after flopping trip aces against Laihinen’s queen-jack. Up until that point, the Swede had dominated the final table, but momentum shifted dramatically when he squared off against Butans for the title.
Butans quickly overturned his 2:1 chip deficit and then had his opponent on fumes after a flush over flush encounter. The eventual champion didn't have to wait too much longer for his crowning moment. Butans laid the trap with queens, limping in. Tajoiu looked down at ace-jack suited, and shoved. Butans quickly called, and a clean runout sparked the celebrations.
He may have sealed the victory with queens, but for the next year, Butans will be remembered as a king.
Images courtesy of Elena Kask
