During the fifth day of the 2025 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius, Day 2 of the €555 NLH Championship was headlining the tournament schedule, together with Day 1a of the €1,100 Main Event. €555 is a buy-in that has proven to be very desirable in the past, and it was more or less a certainty that there would be some intriguing poker at the Olympic Casino Lithuania.
Cards in the Air
Day 2 commenced at 12:00, and 46 players returned from Day 1. The field would get bigger, though, as late registration was possible during the first two levels of Day 2. Still, though, players such as Aivaras Kerušauskas and Stanislovas Viničenka had earned themselves great presumptions, considering they both bagged more than 240,000 at the end of Day 1.
When registration had closed, it could be determined that 196 entries had been made in the tournament, which resulted in a €93,100 prize pool. Soon, the floor also announced that 23 players would be in the money, with the min-cash being €1,180, and a hefty €20,960 up-top.
Play went on, and after yet another handful of levels, it was time for another 15-minute break. At this point, Kerušauskas was still the chip leader, playing a 755,000 stack (which was more than 3x average stack). When play resumed, it didn’t take long before Martin Piik busted in position 25. The floor then prepared to do a three-table re-draw, but before that, Nerius Rutkauskas fell to the nut straight of Vidas Encius. This meant that there was not a single hand played on the bubble, which surely was a pleasant surprise to some of the shorter stacks.
Kerušauskas didn’t slow down, and as he eliminated two players in utterly dramatic fashion, he crossed the 1,000,000 mark as only 13 players remained. Eventually, Ridas Bitauskas busted in tenth place, and as the final table was now set, play was scheduled to end for the day. However, considering the night was still young, some players suggested continuing to play and finishing the tournament tonight. After a couple of minutes’ discussion, they all reached an agreement and decided to keep playing until a winner was crowned.
Grande Finale
When the final table commenced, three players had more than 1,000,000 in their stack: Paulius Gaidulevicius topped the standings with 1,295,000, followed by the aforementioned Kerušauskas (1,205,000), and Aleksandras Rusinovas in third place with 1,070,000.
The first all-in encounter took place between Audrius Navickas and Aleksandras Rusinovas. Even though Navickas had his opponent dominated with a better Ace, Rusinovas hit a ten on the river to eliminate Navickas in ninth place for €2,560; presumably, short-stacks Encius and Modestas Kryžanauskas were very pleased making a pay-jump.
They couldn’t hold on much longer, though; Encius went out in eighth for €3,050, and Kryžanauskas cashed €3,630 for his seventh-place finish. Just as was the case with Navickas, they both were victims of Rusinovas. Rusinovas would claim his fourth victim on the final table, when he cracked the aces of Jurgin Beinoras. €4,530 richer, Beinoras bid farewell, and Rusinovas played more than 2,500,000.
While Rusinovas ran like a god, Kerušauskas, who may have been considered the biggest contender for the title by many going into the final table, had been losing some chips here, some there. Eventually, he got it all in against – you guessed it Rusinovas, and once again, the latter came out on the good end. Kerušauskas was eliminated in fifth place for €5,820.
When Paulius Jucys was eliminated by Paulius Gaidulevicius a few hands later, someone other than Rusinovas had claimed a victim on the final table. Jucys earned €7,640 for his fourth-place finish, and soon after his adieu, Stanislovas Viničenka went out in third place for €9,700, after Rusinovas flopped two-pair despite being dominated.
Thus, the stage was set for a Heads-up battle between Stanislovas and Gaidulevicius. After a few hands, they requested the floor to present the numbers for a potential ICM deal. Eventually, the deal was accepted by both, but they would still continue playing for €3,454 and the trophy.
The Heads-up confrontation more or less consisted of perhaps 30 very rapid hands, where both players took turns showing aggression, often before the flop was even dealt. About halfway into Level 27, they got it in on the turn. Gaidulevicius was a huge favorite, but Stanislovas had been running hot all day – why stop now? The 7♠ on the turn settled it; Aleksandras Rusinovas was crowned the winner of the €555 NLH Championship, and was awarded €20,642 alongside the trophy.
€555 NLH Championship – Results
| Position | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Aleksandras Rusinovas | Lithuania | €20,642* |
| 2 | Paulius Gaidulevicius | Lithuania | €13,580* |
| 3 | Stanislovas Viničenka | Lithuania | €9,700 |
| 4 | Paulius Jucys | Lithuania | €7,540 |
| 5 | Aivaras Kerušauskas | Lithuania | €5,820 |
| 6 | Jurgis Beinoras | Lithuania | €4,530 |
| 7 | Modestas Kryžanauskas | Lithuania | €3,630 |
| 8 | Vidas Encius | Lithuania | €3,050 |
| 9 | Audrius Navickas | Lithuania | €2,560 |
| 10 | Ridas Bitauskas | Lithuania | €2,170 |
| 11 | Jonas Lapinskas | Lithuania | €2,170 |
| 12 |  Arnestas Armonas | USA | €2,170 |
| 13 | Edgaras Petkevičius | Lithuania | € 1,880 |
| 14 | Vitalijus Briazkala | Lithuania | € 1,650 |
| 15 | Raimundas Sapiega | Lithuania | € 1,650 |
| 16 | Mantas Ungulaitis | Lithuania | € 1,460 |
| 17 | Andrius Mažeika | Lithuania | €1,460 |
| 18 | Jurgis Garšva | Lithuania | €1,290 |
| 19 | Mindaugas Biriukovas | Lithuania | €1,290 |
| 20 | Marijus Dirgela | Lithuania | €1,290 |
| 21 | Edgaras Kausinis | Lithuania | €1,180 |
| 22 |  Jarmo Salonen | Finland | €1,180 |
| 23 | Osku Karttunen | Finland | €1,180 |
*A deal was made Heads-up.
That’s a wrap for the €555 NLH Championship coverage here at poker.pro. Tomorrow, we’ll be back and switch our focus to the €1,100 Main Event. We can’t wait to see you all there; thanks a lot for following along with our live coverage today.
