It would be ludicrous to discuss Baltic poker without mentioning OlyBet. Being the most prominent organizer of live poker events in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, OlyBet is a very respectable actor on the poker scene, and those who’ve attended their events should be able to vouch for them being top-notch.
The OlyBet poker department is not sleeping on the job; far from it. Multiple events run every year, divided between the three countries, and OlyBet have a clear categorical system of their festivals. The “Kings of” festivals are some of the most significant live poker events in Europe, while the “OlyBet Showdowns” are somewhat smaller yet respectable affairs. OlyBet is also behind the Queens of Tallinn brand (one of the very few women-only live poker festivals), and let’s not forget they’re the co-organizer of the annual WSOP Circuit Tallinn.
The poker.pro editorial office is very pleased with the close and fruitful relationship with OlyBet, and the team has been on-site for almost all of OlyBet’s bigger events during 2025. This poker.pro journalist decided to reminisce on the top five OlyBet moments of 2025. It was not easy to hand-pick golden nuggets out of what has been a pot of gold of memorable happenings this year, but below are five of the most noteworthy ones.
Number Five: The Comeback of Farber
The latest and final OlyBet Showdown event of this year was the 2025 OlyBet Showdown Riga Voodoo Edition, held at the Olympic Voodoo Casino in September. The €1,100 Main Event was the star of the show, and with its 150 entries, the tournament yielded a €142,500 prize pool. Up top was a €33,330 first-place payout, a prize that was on all contestants’ minds.
It was a three-day event, and when the final day kicked off, the field was down to its last 10 players. There were some notable names in the field, including local prominent players Ēriks Krūmiņš and Roberts Krigers. The overall festival showcased that the OlyBet events are so much more than just a bunch of poker tournaments; the organizers have managed to build a community, and many players during the 2025 OlyBet Showdown Riga Voodoo Edition were familiar faces from other OlyBet events in the Baltics. OlyBet goes to great lengths to elevate the atmosphere during their live poker events, and the makeover they gave the Olympic Voodoo Casino during the festival is a great example of how they set up a thrilling environment for all their players.
Back to the Main Event, then. The final table was reached after roughly 30 minutes, and all remaining players were determined to put all of their poker skills on full display. It was an intense and enjoyable battle, but in the end, Lithuania’s Arunas Satkus emerged victorious, scoring his biggest live cash by far.
While Satkus’ tournament win is something that definitely could make the top five, there was another big story that developed during the final table, which poker.pro have decided to pick for this list. With nine players remaining, Konstantin Farber lost a standard coinflip situation and was down to three-quarters of a Big Blind. Presumably, the eight other players felt like they were very close to securing a pay jump. Little did they and anyone else know what was about to come.
Farber was soon forced all in and managed to double his crumbs. Then, a few hands later, he was all in with K♥Q♠ against the A♥A♣. “Surely this’ll be the end for him,” the remaining players must’ve been thinking. The Poker Gods were still on Farber’s side, as the board spelled out Q♣Q♦J♦6♥3♠.
One pot here, one pot there, and Farber was soon up to 10 Big Blinds. He kept picking up more and more chips at the expense of his opponents, who one by one hit the rail. All of a sudden, he was up to 740,000, and with five players remaining, he clashed all in with Krūmiņš, who had Farber covered by a mere 5,000. Farber’s pocket kings held against the Big Slick of Krūmiņš, and suddenly, Farber was now second in chips.
2025 OlyBet Showdown Riga Voodoo Autumn Edition – €1,100 Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Arunas Satkus | Lithuania | €33,330 |
| 2 |  Konstantin Farber | Germany | €22,060 |
| 3 |  Yaniv Peretz | Latvia | €15,950 |
| 4 | Roberts Krīgers | Latvia | €12,430 |
| 5 | Ēriks Krūmiņš | Latvia | €9,650 |
| 6 |  Gabi Livshitz | Israel | €7,510 |
| 7 | Alexander Levin | Israel | €5,850 |
| 8 |  Pekka Ikonen | Finland | €4,730 |
| 9 | Edgars Beizaks | Latvia | €3,800 |
| 10 | Henrik Veldhoen | Germany | €3,150 |
| 11 | Agnese Barča | Latvia | €3,150 |
| 12 |  Jari Porkka | Sweden | €2,750 |
| 13 | Jonas Klaus | Germany | €2,750 |
| 14 |  Victor Prior Fernandez Amat | Spain | €2,440 |
| 15 | Jari Mahonen | Finland | €2,440 |
| 16 | Jonas Lapinskas | Lithuania | €2,210 |
| 17 | Eimantas Adomavičius | Lithuania | €2,210 |
| 18 | Adria Comas I Roura | Spain | €2,030 |
| 19 | Tero Hakanen | Finland | €2,030 |
| 20 | Valtteri Rintamaki | Finland | €2,030 |
Yaniv Peretz was eliminated in second place, before Farber lost the heads-up against Satkus. Farber’s impressive comeback from less than one Big Blind with nine players left to finish as the runner-up is astonishing, which is why it deserves a place on this list.
Number Four: Sihvonen’s Rampage
One of the first gigs of poker journalist Christoffer Karlén’s ongoing poker.pro career was the 2025 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker, played in February at the Olympic Casino Lithuania, Vilnius. Beautifully located along the Nevis River (or Viliya, as the Lithuanians call it), said casino is the home of Lithuanian poker, and with a €555 Main Event, it’s no wonder the festival attracted players from both the Baltics and the Scandinavian countries.
The aforementioned Main Event attracted 296 entries, something that resulted in a €140,600 prize pool. Naturally, the field was predominantly composed of Lithuanians, but as previously mentioned, multiple nationalities were represented in the tournament. One of the players waving the Finnish flag was Rasmus Sihvonen, who has grown to become a close friend of poker.pro.
Roughly two hours into the third and final day of the Main Event, the final table was reached, and Sihvonen was somewhere in the middle of the chip counts. With eight players left, he managed to win a crucial flip, and from there on, he knocked out a few players and increased his stack. Some hours later, he found himself heads-up against local player Vygerdas Jonikas, and holding a massive chip lead, Sihvonen made quick work of his opponent. The €28,760 first-place prize and the trophy belonged to the Finn, who scored his biggest cash.
2025 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker – €555 Main Event Final Table Results
| Position | Player | Country | Payout |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rasmus Sihvonen | Finland | €28,760 |
| 2 | Vygerdas Jonikas | Lithuania | €19,310 |
| 3 | Nerius Rutkauskas | Lithuania | €13,670 |
| 4 | Lukas Kviecinskas | Lithuania | €10,200 |
| 5 | Raivis Pucurs | Latvia | €7,810 |
| 6 | Julius Griežė | Lithuania | €6,080 |
| 7 | Egidijus Liutkevičius | Lithuania | €4,830 |
| 8 | Vilius Žamžickas | Lithuania | €3,920 |
| 9 | Ernestas Taunys | Lithuania | €3,290 |
Fast forward to May, and it was time for another major OlyBet event on Lithuanian soil. The difference between the 2025 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius and the aforementioned Ace Breaker was that the Main Event buy-in now was raised to €1,100. Sihvonen was once again back in Vilnius, and he was on a mission to claim his second title in “The City of a Hundred Churches”.
The 187 entries registered meant the prize pool read an impressive €177,650. When it was time for the final table, Sihvonen was still in the mix, and just like last time, Sihvonen was apparent. He was once again in the middle of the chip counts, and he was determined to make history. He wasn’t off to a great start, though, as he lost a big pot against Justinas Adomauskas. He was second-to-last in the chip counts at the first break, but he still had a good 30 Big Blinds to work with.
Half an hour later, he was all in against Rokas Skridulis on a J♦K♦8♠9♠ board. Skridulis was way ahead with his A♣A♦ holdings, and Sihvonen only had an 18% chance to survive with A♠10♦. The lucky 7♠ river saw him improving to a straight, and the back-to-back dream lived on.
With four players left, Sihvonen made a call that this live reporter remembers to this day. The Finn decided only to call the 25,000 from the Small Blind. Seated in the Big Blind, Justinas Adomauskas raised to 65,000, and Sihvonen made the call.
On the 3♠Q♦8♥ flop, Sihvonen check-called a 40,000 bet from Adomauskas. The turn was the 9♥, and after another check from Sihvonen, Adomauskas bet 140,000. Sihvonen made the call and completed the check trifecta on the 3♦ river.
Adomauskas forced his opponent all in for roughly 500,000. This sent Sihvonen deep into the tank, shuffling chips in his hand as he contemplated his decision. Eventually, he made the call. “Good call,” Adomauskas saluted his opponent as he tabled J♥4♣. A victory roar from Sihvonen, who turned over A♠10♠, and he won a big pot, which earned him great presumptions for a very deep run.
All gas and no breaks from Sihvonen, who soon eliminated Adomauskas in fourth place. He stacked his newly won chips, and OlyBet Tournament Director Teresa Nousainen whispered, “Maybe we’ll have our first back-to-back winner”. It is true that a player has never won two consecutive OlyBet Showdown Main Events, and holding the chip lead, Sihvonen was now on the edge of glory.
Rokas Skridulis stacked off Edgaras Truskauskas in third place, and the stacks were quite even between Skridulis and Sihvonen as the stage was set for the heads-up showdown. It was an intense battle between two of the most competent players in the field, and, eventually, Skridulis emerged victorious as he won a flip with A♠J♠ against Sihvonen’s 10♠10♣. Albeit Sihvonen missed out on the back-to-back by the finest of margins, he did claim the biggest paycheck as the two players had made a deal at the earlier stages of the one-versus-one duel.
One win followed by one runner-up finish in consecutive Vilnius events is an astounding display of skills from Sihvonen, and his rampage in the OlyBet events is definitely worthy of a place amongst the most memorable moments from the 2025 season.
2025 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius – €1,100 Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rokas Skridulis | Lithuania | €32,595 |
| 2 | Rasmus Sihvonen | Finland | €33,325 |
| 3 | Edgaras Truskauskas | Lithuania | €18,510 |
| 4 | Justinas Adomauskas | Lithuania | €14,390 |
| 5 | Aleksandras Rusinovas | Lithuania | €11,100 |
| 6 | Gintautas Danilevičius | Lithuania | €8,640 |
| 7 | Sigitas Raila | Lithuania | €6,980 |
| 8 | Janis Markss | Latvia | €5,790 |
| 9 | Vladas Burneikis | Lithuania | €4,880 |
Number Three: Sweet Sviten
One thing that is so fascinating about poker is that the game keeps evolving. It’s mindblowing how big the poker industry is, considering it’s all about a 52-card deck in the end. People and companies keep inventing new things and/or concepts related to poker, and the community is alive and well, to say the least.
A few decades ago, Swede Anders “Bengan” Bengtsson made a big contribution to poker, and most likely, he didn’t know at the time how big the impact would be. A late night at the poker club Sviten in Stockholm, he and his pals invented a new game with the same name. Sviten Special, a game that can be described as a combination of five-card draw and PLO, is, without hesitation, the poker game that brings the most action to the table, and it is growing in popularity year by year.
OlyBet has done a great job throughout the years raising awareness of Sviten, and some kind of Sviten tournament has been on the schedule for the various OlyBet events in Tallinn. History was made this year during the 2025 WSOP Circuit Tallinn, though, as the first-ever Sviten Special WSOP Circuit Event was organized.
The €555 Sviten 6-Handed tournament attracted 113 entries, and the fact that it was WSOP Circuit-branded definitely helped boost the numbers. There were many players on-site in Tallinn, especially from Sweden, who all had traveled to the Estonian capital just for the one tournament’s sake. The prize pool was an impressive €53,675, and many prominent players were all competing for the Mixed Games title. Swedish Sviten virtuoso Peter La Terra was the favorite amongst many players to take home the title, considering the growth of his Sviten resumé during the last couple of years.
Three out of the six players who reached the final table all waved the Swedish flag. La Terra was one of them, but he would become the first casualty among the final competitors. American Erik Ohman followed in fifth place, and when Torgil Hellman busted in fourth, Nicklas Nordblom was the only Swede left. He surpassed the first out of two Finnish opponents as Sami Säämänen was eliminated in third place, but after an intense rollercoaster-ride of a heads-up, Jarkko Soukas was crowned the first-ever Sviten WSOP Circuit Ring Event winner.
Even though this reporter represents Sweden, the inaugural Sviten title going to Finland doesn’t hurt too much; the important thing here is that OlyBet gave Sviten a certain amount of status, which it definitely deserved, and time will tell whether Sviten will continue being a WSOP Circuit Ring Event. “Bengan” himself missed out on his invention being played during these very prestigious presumptions, since his wedding was the same day that the tournament was played.
2025 WSOP Circuit Tallinn – €555 Sviten Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jarkko Suokas | Finland | €14,035 |
| 2 | Nicklas Nordblom | Sweden | €9,260 |
| 3 | Sami Säämänen | Finland | €6,300 |
| 4 | Torgil Hellman | Sweden | €4,430 |
| 5 | Anders Öhman | Sweden | €3,230 |
| 6 | Peter La Terra | Sweden | €2,440 |
Number Two: No Filter Poker Series
As previously mentioned, OlyBet has many different live poker festivals in their arsenal. This year, they got a new one, as the No Filter Poker Series saw the light of day.
The No Filter Poker Series is a live poker series created by Swedish entrepreneur and poker enthusiast Mounir Tajiou. “Enthusiast” may not be the right word, to be fair; even though the love of poker shines through everything that Tajiou does, he’s become a poker legend this year, much thanks to his deep run in the 2025 WSOP Main Event, but also because of the success that No Filter Poker Series has proven to be.
Tajiou created his series when the last casino shut down in Sweden, with the purpose of giving Swedish players the best opportunities possible to play some legal live poker. He held his first event in June, and many Scandinavian players traveled to Tallinn to enjoy some live poker.
- Read more: Poker Players Launch No Filter Poker Series in Tallinn After Swedish Casino Closes
- Read more: No Filter Poker Series Day 3: Rohan Oberoi Wins the €1,100 Main Event
A few months later, Tajiou achieved success in Vegas, and he significantly strengthened his personal brand during his deep run. He and OlyBet both extended and expanded their collaboration, and the next installment of the No Filter Poker Series was destined to be something special. Tajiou invited newly found friends and poker icons Scotty Nguyen, Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi, and Duncan Blake from the United States to the Estonian capital, and the event was more exclusive and extraordinary than before.
- Read more: Krisjanis “Young Bee” Stankevics Stings His Way to No Filter Main Event Victory
- Read more: No Filter Poker Founder Mounir Tajiou Top 10 Stacks Going Into WSOP Main Event Day 5
The No Filter Poker Series has, in a way, reshaped the live poker landscape; there simply are no other festivals that are organized in the same way. Tajiou has managed to create something epic, and he did send much love and gratitude to his event partner OlyBet, claiming they were the perfect partner for hosting his two festivals. There’s a good chance Tajiou has big plans for the No Filter Poker Series in 2026.
Number One: Westerlund’s Main Event Win
The WSOP Circuit has a long and noble history. In terms of the series’ expansion in Northern Europe, it has been held in Tallinn for the last three years. There haven’t been too many female WSOP Circuit Main Event winners throughout the years, which is why Jenny Westerlund’s Tallinn triumph deserves the number one spot on the list.
The WSOP Circuit Talinn keeps breaking records every year, and tournament director Teresa Nousainen and her crew deserve a round of applause for what they’ve managed to create. The event truly is the annual pinnacle of poker in Northern Europe, and this year was no different, with the €1,500 Main Event holding a €1,000,000 guarantee.
Out of the 888 entries, Westerlund was one of the lucky nine players who reached the final table. Finding a human with such a big heart as Westerlund is not an easy task. She’s always kind and friendly to everyone, and her love for the game of poker always shines through when you see her at the tables. She entered the final table with the second-biggest stack, and amongst the final nine, she was the one who dared pull the trigger and take the aggressive path. Eventually, she emerged victorious in the most dramatic fashion possible, as she knocked out Igor Pihela Sr and Krzysztof Chmielowski in the very same hand to claim the biggest title of her career. Her reaction couldn’t be mistaken for anything other than pure joy. Westerlund received €200,200 for the title, along with the coveted WSOP Circuit ring and a $5,000 Ticket to Paradise package, which she utilized just a few weeks ago to attend the 2025 WSOP Paradise.
With the win, Westerlund became the second-ever woman to win a WSOP Circuit Main Event (joining Jessica “Lilith” Vierling, who won the $1,700 Main Event during the 2024 WSOP Circuit Los Angeles) in the Hall of Fame.
2025 WSOP Circuit Tallinn – €1,500 Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Payout |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jenny Westerlund | Sweden | €200,200 |
| 2 |  Krzysztof Chmielowski | Poland | €128,500 |
| 3 |  Igor Pihela Sr | Estonia | €90,200 |
| 4 |  Martin Surovec | Czech Republic | €62,500 |
| 5 | Elias Vääräniemi | Finland | €46,000 |
| 6 |  David Vinaya | Norway | €33,100 |
| 7 | Jari-Pekka Juhola | Finland | €25,060 |
| 8 |  Stephen Groom | United Kingdom | €19,500 |
| 9 | Karolis Kutkauskas | Lithuania | €14,200 |
All in all, what a year it has been for OlyBet. The whole editorial office at poker.pro is very thankful for being a media partner to OlyBet, and the expectations for what they have in store for 2026 are high. They know how a live poker festival should be, and without a doubt, they’ll find new ways to raise the bar next year.
