Agnese Barca Crowned Queen of Tallinn Just Over a Year Into Her Live Poker Career

The fourth edition of the Queens of Tallinn festival concluded on Sunday evening at the Olympic Park Casino in the Estonian capital. The highlight was the three-day Main Event with a €555 buy-in, attracting 108 entries and creating a prize pool of €50,220 — a new record. According to organizers, it was the largest women's poker tournament ever held in Europe. Thirteen players reached the money, with a minimum cash of €1,090. Nine finalists advanced to Sunday's final table, and spectators could watch the entire battle for the title via a live stream with a 30-minute delay.

An Exceptionally Strong Final Table Lineup

The final table was one of the strongest in the history of the Queens of Tallinn. It featured two former champions and last year's runner-up. Saara Fatiha Benlamine, the 2024 Main Event winner, was vying for her second title. Defending champion Giedre Valgemäe had the same ambition, although she entered the crucial day as the short stack. Annika Abmayr returned to the finals after finishing second in 2025. This time, she started with only 122,000 chips, around ten big blinds. Experience was also brought to the final table by Lithuanian Indre Martoviciute-Kasten, Finnish Anne Elisabeth Bezdek, and Swedish champion Noelia Ivars Rico.

Agnese Barca had the best position. The Latvian entered the final as the chipleader with a stack of 658,000 chips and remained exceptionally calm throughout the crucial day, despite having only played live poker for just over a year.

The title defense for Giedre Valgemäe ended in eighth place. The Estonian entered the final with the smallest stack and earned €1,860 for her performance. The last remaining former champion in the game was Saara Fatiha Benlamine. The 2024 winner made it to the top four, but did not capture a second title. Her journey ended in fourth place, rewarded with €4,630.

3-Way Deal and Another Silver for Abmayr

The battle for the title came down to Agnese Barca, Annika Abmayr, and Indre Martoviciute-Kasten. Before play resumed, the trio agreed to redistribute the remaining prize pool, shortly after which Martoviciute-Kasten finished third for €8,855. After eliminating the Lithuanian player, Barca faced off against Abmayr in heads-up.

Annika Abmayr staged one of the greatest comebacks of the final day. The German entered the final table with the eighth-largest stack, yet managed to reach the heads-up showdown. However, her second consecutive attempt also fell short of the title. Abmayr couldn’t stop Barca, once again finishing in second place, this time earning €8,465.

Agnese Barca entered the final as the leader and converted her position into the biggest result of her budding poker career. For her victory, she claimed €11,650, a trophy, and a special gold necklace with the Queens of Tallinn logo. Her success is even more remarkable given she started playing live poker just over a year ago. The triumph in Tallinn marked only her second recorded victory in a live tournament.

Results of the Queens of Tallinn 2026 Main Event Final Table

*Denotes a three-way deal that redistributed the remaining prize pool.

We wrap up with a photo gallery from the event by official photographer Elena Kask. Sources: Poker.Pro, OlybetEvents, Photo Credits by Elena Kask.