PLO Grand Slam Tallinn | Ensan, Bedell, and Derwiche return to the four-card poker pinnacle with a €2.5 million guarantee.

The 2026 PLO Grand Slam is set to return to Tallinn, Estonia. The Diamond Poker Series will be held from September 15th to 22nd at Bombay Club, featuring an 8-day Pot-Limit Omaha series with a total guaranteed prize pool of €2.5 million, headlined by two flagship events each with a guaranteed prize pool of €1 million.

With the series about to begin, several familiar PLO high-stakes regulars have confirmed their return, including former PLO Grand Slam champions Tom-Aksel Bedell and Imad Derwiche, as well as 2019 WSOP Main Event champion Hossein Ensan, who is still chasing his first series title.

€2.5 million guaranteed for 8 days, led by two flagship tournaments worth over one million euros.

This PLO Grand Slam Tallinn will be held at:

September 15 to 22

exist:

Bombay Club

Held.

Total guaranteed minimum for the entire series:

€2,500,000

The two key matches are:

These two matches will form the most important competitive axis of this Tallinn station.

Tom-Aksel Bedell aims for his second PLO Grand Slam title.

Norwegian star Tom-Aksel Bedell is no stranger to the PLO Grand Slam.

He earned his €10K Championship spot through freeroll at the Tirana event in January 2025, ultimately defeating a field of 191 competitors and winning the Heads-Up against Lautaro Guerra.

€438,000

Prize money for the champion.

Bedell also described that trip to Tirana as his current favorite destination.

Now, returning to the PLO Grand Slam, his goal is straightforward:

To win his second career series title.

Imad Derwiche returns to his lucky ground for the 2025 championship.

Imad Derwiche has even more special memories of Tallinn.

In April 2025, he made a major breakthrough in his career at Bombay Club, breaking through the €10,300 PLO Championship with 148 participants to win the title.

Derwiche attributed that victory to two factors:

Discipline and Luck

He believes that when both of these factors are present, any player becomes extremely difficult to defeat.

Returning to the venue where he once won the title, Derwiche is naturally considered one of the most watched defending champions.

Hossein Ensan is still chasing his first PLO Grand Slam title.

Of the three players interviewed, only Hossein Ensan has yet to win the PLO Grand Slam championship.

But he had actually come very close many times.

He once said:

• Runner-up in the €5K event

• Twice reached the €10K Championship Final Table

• 5th place in the Malta race in October 2025.

In other words, Ensan is not just participating in PLO occasionally, but has become a regular in the deep stages of the series.

This summer, he was again:

13th place in the 2026 WSOP Main Event

Now returning to Tallinn, he will once again try to turn his many past deep runs into real championship trophies.

Why do these star players keep returning? The rhythm and atmosphere of PLO are key.

One of the core questions addressed in this PokerNews interview was:

Why are these players continuing to return to PLO Grand Slam?

For Derwiche, the answer comes first and foremost from PLO itself.

He believes the four-card format is more fun and creates a better atmosphere at the table than other variations, and also:

More hands, more actions.

This constant, high-intensity sense of competition is one of the things that attracts him most about PLO.

Ensan fell in love with the high-speed rhythm the first time he tried PLO.

Hossein Ensan first encountered PLO at a casino in Dortmund, Germany.

He said he was quickly drawn to the almost non-stop action.

For a player who made his name with No-Limit Hold'em and even won the WSOP Main Event, Ensan's willingness to dedicate a significant amount of time to high-stakes PLO tournaments reflects the appeal of the four-card format to top professional poker players.

Bedell was initially attracted by private poker games and the amount of money involved.

Bedell entered PLO in a completely different way.

His initial exposure to this competition format was primarily through:

Private poker games

as well as:

Higher amounts and actions

I was drawn in.

But as his experience increased, he gradually became one of the most consistent regulars in the PLO Grand Slam, and eventually won the championship in Tirana.

These three players started from completely different points, but eventually all became important familiar faces in the Diamond Poker Series.

High guaranteed minimum payouts and player incentives are key reasons why the series continues to attract star players.

Besides PLO itself, tournament organization was another key point repeatedly mentioned by the three.

Bedell is particularly certain that:

• Player Services

• Event benefits

• Large guarantee

Ensan said that he would try to attend almost every stop as long as time allowed.

He especially liked:

High buy

as well as:

Large prize pool

Derwiche also praised the organizers for their willingness to consistently provide substantial guarantees for PLO during its highly competitive global live tournament schedule.

This level of resource investment is unusual for a format that is still less mainstream than NLH.

The €15,300 High Roller is launching alongside the Quatro Bounty.

In addition to the two flagship tournaments with a guaranteed million-euro minimum, this Tallinn event also includes:

€15,300 High Roller

as well as:

€15,300 Quatro Bounty

In addition, the complete schedule also includes:

• 4-card Omaha

• 5-card Omaha

• 6-card Omaha

Different versions, etc.

This makes this series more than just a traditional PLO tournament; it's a more complete collection of Omaha high-stakes tournaments.

Stage Tournament offers a lower-cost way to advance.

To allow more players to participate in the two core events, the organizers also arranged Stage Tournament.

The unique feature of this competition format is:

The top 20% players can directly advance to the corresponding flagship tournament.

and:

The cumulative scoreboard can be carried over to the next stage.

This allows players to compete for €5,200 and €10,400 slots at a lower cost, and also increases the potential for larger-scale flagship tournaments.

Competition in the PLO are rapidly intensifying.

Although PLO was often seen as a more intuitive and volatile format in the past, Bedell believes that PLO competition is now significantly more difficult than before.

Reasons include:

• More players are starting to learn systematically.

• Increased online content

• Players exchange strategies

• The overall level of regular participants in high-stakes races has improved.

Ensan felt the same way.

He believes that when you continuously compete with top PLO experts, your own skill level will naturally be raised.

For him, this intense competition is part of the growth process.

Derwiche: Tournament wins are more satisfying than large cash game pots.

Derwiche, however, views high-value PLOs from a different perspective.

He believes that while winning a large cash game pot is exciting, winning a High Roller title is even more satisfying.

Because in a tournament, players must:

Defeating a large number of contestants

And it often requires continuous confrontation:

World-class PLO players

Therefore, a championship title is far more valuable than a single-handed big pot.

This competitive spirit is one of the reasons he continues to return to PLO Grand Slam.

Tallinn becomes a core battleground for high-stakes PLO tournaments once again.

Starting September 15th, Tom-Aksel Bedell will attempt to win his second PLO Grand Slam title; Imad Derwiche will return to Bombay Club, where he won in 2025; and Hossein Ensan will continue his search for the PLO Grand Slam trophy that he still lacks.

The stories of these three individuals represent the core appeal of the PLO Grand Slam:

High guaranteed payouts, strong opponents, intense action, and a four-card competitive rhythm unlike traditional NLH.

With a total guarantee of €2.5 million and two flagship tournaments worth millions of euros returning to Tallinn, this 8-day series will be the most important stop on the European PLO schedule in September.

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