Estonia's Tonis Viik bagged the Day 1a chip lead after eight blind levels of one hour each in the Tallinn Summer Showdown €1,100 Main Event at Olympic Park Casino and the Hilton Tallinn Park.
Viik already had one of the larger stacks in the room when he earned a timely double to near the 214,000. Aistis Sandaras three-bet jammed the river with top pair after the river and was called by Viik with a set of queens.
Although we haven't seen Viik run deep in a Main Event in Tallinn in the past, he has had some good success with the bulk of his $32,000 in live poker tournament earnings as tracked by The Hendon Mob coming from when he took third place in the Patrik Antonius Poker Challenge €3,000 High Roller for €18,010 earlier this year at Olympic Park Casino.
Other players finding six-figure stacks on Day 1a included Aleksandr Arutjunov (132,800), Sam Lau (129,600), Zakhar Galper (126,000), Marius Kudzmanas (122,200), Henri Juutilainen (115,700), Kshitij Kucheria (114,800), Toni Ojala (105,000), Deividas Kvaselis (102,500), and Sjoerd Nikkels (101,300).
Day 1a attracted a banner field of 209 entrants already getting into the action with 108 players bagging stacks into tomorrow's Day 2 kicking off at noon.
| Place | Player | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tõnis Viik | 214,000 | 214 |
| 2 | Aleksandr Arutjunov | 132,800 | 133 |
| 3 | Sam Lau | 129,600 | 130 |
| 4 | Zakhar Galper | 126,000 | 126 |
| 5 | Marius Kudzmanas | 122,200 | 122 |
| 6 | Henri Juutilainen | 115,700 | 116 |
| 7 | Kshitij Kucheria | 114,800 | 115 |
| 8 | Toni Ojala | 105,000 | 105 |
| 9 | Deividas Kvaselis | 102,500 | 103 |
| 10 | Sjoerd Nikkels | 101,300 | 101 |
The second and final opening flight kicked off as a turbo-affair at 8 p.m. with 30-minute blind levels instead of one hour. At the time of this recap, there were 36 entries with 32 players remaining. Players not only can continue to re-enter the entirety of Day 1b but also during the first blind level (Level 9) of Day 2. Shortly after the conclusion of Level 9 with blinds at 500/1,000 along with a 1,000 big blind ante, the total number of entrants, the prize pool, and the final payouts will be announced.
Stay tuned to our coverage of the Tallinn Summer Showdown Main Event at Olympic Park Casino.
*Photos courtesy of the Tallinn Summer Showdown photographer Elena Kask.