| Level 32: | 50,000/125,000/125,000 |
| Entries: | 1/327 |
| Prizes: | €310,650 |
After a ten-hour final day, hometown hero Mantas Bagocius has emerged as the last player standing in the €1,100 Kings of Vilnius Main Event at Olympic Casino Lietuva, taking the coveted trophy and the first-place prize of €58,130, after a deal was agreed heads-up with his final opponent and fellow countryman, Paulius Kisielius.
Bagocius triumphed over a 327-entry field, which created a €310,650 prize pool, smashing the €250,000 guarantee, with the final table results for the event as follows:-
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Mantas Bagocius | Lithuania | €58,130* |
| 2 | Paulius Kisielius | Lithuania | €47,630* |
| 3 | Deividas Butnoras | Lithuania | €30,140 |
| 4 | Vasilij Barna | Lithuania | €21,340 |
| 5 | Roman Kulijev | Lithuania | €15,170 |
| 6 | Martynas Racinskas | Lithuania | €11,330 |
| 7 |  Jae Han Kim | South Korea | €8,700 |
| 8 | Valerij Dobrinskij | Lithuania | €7,280 |
| 9 |  Baptiste Caim | France | €6,270 |
*Reflects heads-up deal.
Bagocius is no stranger to lifting trophies, having secured his first WSOP ring online this year with victory in the WSOP Online Super Circuit $215 Mystery Millions for a huge $411,850 payday, and lifting the PokerStars Sunday Million title back in 2015 for $168,883.
Despite this cash not quite being in those leagues, the victory was no less meaningful for the Lithuanian, who was emotional as he claimed the most prestigious event in his native country, reflecting on a tough couple of years.
“It’s very special”, Bagocius told poker.pro. “I’ve been playing here for at least 15 years; it’s one of my favorite places to play. If you’re from here, this is the one you want to win; it’s a special event. I mainly play online, so to win in the live arena is nice. I’ve had a bit of a renaissance this year, winning the ring and now this, after a tough couple of years where I was really starting to question where I was going; it was maybe starting to affect my confidence in my game a little. But I continued working hard and studying, and this year things have clicked into place. I have a winner’s mentality, I only think about winning when I play.”
Despite a deal being cut shortly into heads-up play, with Bagocius and Kisielius agreeing to take €47,630 each and play on for €10,500 and the trophy, the battle raged on for a further two hours, it being apparent that the trophy and title had special meaning for the players. Bagocius had only praise for his opponent. “Really solid player, I enjoyed the battle, and congratulations to him, I’ve known him a long time.”
The final day got off to a frantic start, with the field of 16 players reduced to the final table of nine within an hour of play, as players hit the rail left, right, and centre via coolers galore, with Bagocius starting the day in third, behind runaway chip leader Jae Han Kim of South Korea.
Kim was still the leader by the time the final table got underway, slightly ahead of Vasilij Barna, and Bagocius was still sitting comfortably in third. Frenchman Baptiste Caim was the first casualty of the final table, and Bagocius got in on the action when he busted Valerij Dobrisnkij in a flip.
Kim’s aggressive style of play backfired when he got his timing wrong on a couple of occasions, and Barna would send him packing in seventh, picking up a big chip lead in the process. Barna proceeded to go on a tear, knocking out Martynas Racinskas and Roman Kulijev in short order.
Barna came unstuck in a top pair versus top pair cooler versus Kisielius, who suddenly held a commanding lead, and Barna donated the rest of his stack to the eventual runner-up via a light four-bet jam in a blind on blind scenario, only increasing Kisielius’ dominance.
Three-handed combat between Bagocius, Kisielius, and Deividas Butnoras continued for quite some time before Kisielius spiked a brutal two-outer on the river to send Butnoras to the exit after Butnoras had hit the front on the flop in a flip.
Bagocius came into heads-up play at a nearly 3:1 deficit, but he took the first two significant pots of the battle, showcasing his skills in the process. In the first hand, Bagocius bluff-jammed the river over a bet from Kisielius, and showed him air when he obtained a fold, and in the very next hand, overbet the river with trip deuces, the effective nuts, and got paid.
The players then agreed to the deal, but if anyone was expecting a quick conclusion after that, they were proved wrong. It was apparent that the trophy and title of Kings of Vilnius Main Event winner were extremely significant to both as play became cagey and a two-hour battle ensued from there, both players clearly respecting the skill of the other.
Bagocius looked like he had essentially sealed the deal when he jammed the river with two pair and was called by Kisielius with a single pair, leaving Kisielius on fumes. However, Kisielius picked up rockets in the very next hand against Bagocius’ ace-queen to double, much to the amusement of the duo.
It ultimately proved to be a minor setback, as in the final hand shortly after, Kisielius jammed the turn with top pair over a bet from Bagocius, but saw Bagocius had him pipped with a better kicker, bringing to an end an epic contest, and crowning Bagocius as a worthy Kings of Vilnius Main Event winner.
That concludes poker.pro’s coverage of this event, but be sure to check out our live reporting portal covering other events all over the world.
