2025 OlyBet Showdown Riga Voodoo SE Day 4: Alex Isen Brings Trophy to United Kingdom

OlyBet Showdown Riga Voodoo Spring Edition
OlyBet Showdown Riga Voodoo Spring Edition

The fourth day of the 2025 OlyBet Showdown Riga Voodoo Spring Edition witnessed United Kingdom’s Alex Isen earn the sole trophy at the iconic Olympic Voodoo Casino after defeating a field of 91 entries to win the €2,190 top prize along with a ton of bounties in the one-day €250 NLH Progressive Bounty.

This author invited his friend and colleague in Redtooth’s Glenn Brown, who was recently at the Kings of Tallinn, where the European leg of the Redtooth Poker Tour took place reported by poker.pro, to join him for some fun and poker in Riga. It didn’t take too much arm twisting, and Brown upped it up a notch by bringing over pub league player Lisa Mcnamara and London casino regular Alex Isen.

The trio all have something to brag about at the moment. Brown took fourth place in the event won by Isen, with Brown calling Isen’s shot.

“My friend Alex is going to win it,” Brown said while still having a healthy stack to a handful of people with two tables left before repeating it a few times throughout the final table.

While Brown rooted his friend to victory, Mcnamara was busy on a journey of her own. Mcnamara, who came into this event without cash on The Hendon Mob, is now in a good spot to make a deep run in the €555 NLH Championship after quadrupling her 30,000 opening stack. She qualified the night before in a €80 satellite where she was playing aggressively with her hands to have fun despite already having a seat seemingly locked up. While Mcnamara is here to see a new city, if things go well, she will need to wait a few days with this three-day event set to crown a winner on Thursday, with France’s Michel Leibgorin beginning the action on Day 2 at Noon on Wednesday with the chip lead over the field with 258,100 for a 258 big blind stack to start the day and late registration remaining open for the first three 40-minute blind levels.

In addition to cash games, Tuesday also boasted two satellites, with players qualifying for the €250 NLH Progressive Bounty won by Isen and the €1,100 Main Event, which will kick off the first of its three opening flights on Wednesday at 5 p.m.

Read on to learn more about the fourth day of the 2025 OlyBet Showdown Riga Voodoo Spring Edition at Olympic Voodoo Casino.

The Union Jack Flag Waved High Headlined by Alex Isen in the €250 NLH Progressive Bounty

Alex Isen Wins 2025 OlyBet Showdown Riga Voodoo Spring Edition €250 NLH Progressive Bounty
Alex Isen Wins 2025 OlyBet Showdown Riga Voodoo Spring Edition €250 NLH Progressive Bounty

The €250 NLH Progressive Bounty attracted 91 runners, generating €20,019 in prizes, including €9,100 reserved for progressive bounties.

The Union Jack flag of the United Kingdom was evident throughout the event. Five of the 91 entries came from the United Kingdom, from four different players, including the eventual champion Alex Isen, who was in for two bullets.

Three of the four players from the United Kingdom found their way into the money, with just Phillip Huxley left without a payout slip. As Huxley has been a long-time resident of Berlin, perhaps we can leave him out of the mix and say it was a perfect score for the British contingent at the 2025 OlyBet Showdown Riga Voodoo Spring Edition in this event.

United Kingdom’s Daniel Stancer was the first player out in the money in 11th place for €270 plus bounties. Not too much later, the final table kicked off after Lithuania’s Airidas Stazys followed Stancer to the rail for the same prize in 10th place. Lithaunia’s Deividas Vaičiulis (seventh – €460 + bounties), Latvia’s Jānis Meņģelis (eighth – €380 + bounties), and Finland’s Ulf Bredenberg (ninth – €300) were the first out on the final table guaranteeing that either the trophy would stay home or experience some air travel to the United Kingdom.

Two Brits and two Latvians remained after a pair of Latvians were eliminated, including Toms Čivčs (fifth – €750 + bounties) and Arnis Mednis (sixth – €579 + bounties).

The scales were perhaps tipped to Latvia temporarily after Glenn Brown exited in fourth place for €1,050. Brown didn’t go too far as he was there to rail his friend Isen en route to a trophy. Latvia’s Kristaps Zālītis was the first out on the podium for €1,480 plus bounties, leaving Isen and Latvia’s Jevgēnijs Zotovs heads-up for the title with both players already locking up the top €2,190 prize from the prize pool. Isen won the massive bounty at the end and was through the moon to earn the trophy and the lion’s share of the prize pool.

Event #12: €250 NLH Progressive Bounty Results

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Alex IsenUnited Kingdom€2,190
2Latvia Jevgēnijs ZotovsLatvia€2,190
3Latvia Kristaps ZālītisLatvia€1,480
4United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Glenn BrownUnited Kingdom€1,050
5Latvia Toms ČivčsLatvia€750
6Latvia Arnis MednisLatvia€579
7Lithuania Deividas VaičiulisLithuania€460
8Latvia Jānis MeņģelisLatvia€380
9Finland Ulf BredenbergFinland€300
10Lithuania Airidas StazysLithuania€270
11United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Daniel StancerUnited Kingdom€270

Leibgorin Leads International Affair in €555 NLH Championship

France’s Michel Leibgorin had a busy Day 1b on Tuesday after catapulting his 30,000 opening stack into 258,100 to start Day 2 with the chip lead in the three-day Event #8: €555 NLH Championship.

The top of the leaderboard remarkably boasts players from seven different countries including Sweden’s Arasch Mirzai, Australia’s Raimund Longbottom, Latvia’s 2025 OlyBet Showdown Riga Voodoo Spring Edition €250 NLH Opening Event champion Raivis Pučurs (134,400), Ukraine’s Roman Petelytski (132,700), United Kingdom’s Lisa Mcnamara (125,800), and Finland’s Aklilu Laitinen (122,500). The trend stopped with the first repeating country with Latvian 2024 WSOP Circuit Tallinn ring winner Ēriks Krūmiņš (115,500).

Check out the full chip counts below to start Day 2. The action resumes on Wednesday at 12:00 p.m.

RankPlayerCountryChipsBig Blinds
1France Michel LeibgorinFrance258,100258
2Sweden Arasch MirzaiSweden181,600182
3Australia Raimund LongbottomAustralia142,000142
4Latvia Raivis PučursLatvia134,400134
5Latvia Roman PetelytskiUkraine132,700133
6Latvia Lisa McnamaraUnited Kingdom125,800126
7Latvia Aklilu LaitinenFinland122,500123
8Latvia Ēriks KrūmiņšLatvia115,500116
9Lithuania Vladas BurneikisLithuania115,000115
10Russian Federation Roman TishuninRussia111,100111
11Estonia Ott JaaksonEstonia105,500106
12Latvia Roberts KrīgersLatvia105,100105
13Finland Veli-Pekka AlakorvaFinland104,100104
14Latvia Romāns KrasinsLatvia100,300100
15France Baptiste Albert Jacques CaimFrance98,40098
16Estonia Kristjan MaasaluEstonia98,40098
17Latvia Gatis PopovsLatvia97,70098
18Latvia Kaspars RengaLatvia92,30092
19Latvia Daniels VīksnaLatvia89,70090
20Denmark Gisle OlsenDenmark88,20088
21Latvia Sergejs PiratovsLatvia86,90087
22Latvia Yaniv PeretzLatvia84,00084
23Latvia Ģirts ZariņšLatvia83,00083
24Lithuania Mindaugas GrigaitisLithuania82,10082
25Lithuania Algirdas SaveikisLithuania76,40076
26Latvia Areks DzintarsLatvia75,60076
27Latvia Pēteris BalodisLatvia75,00075
28Poland Jakub MatusiakPoland71,10071
29Finland Lasse LaukkarinenFinland70,00070
30Latvia Harijs ĒrglisLatvia69,90070
31Latvia Arnis MednisLatvia65,50066
32Brazil Manoel FilhoBrazil64,60065
33Greece Enea SubashiGreece64,10064
34Finland Vesa HeikkinenFinland57,50058
35Lithuania Einius JurgeviciusLithuania52,80053
36Latvia Edgars BeizaksLatvia51,10051
37Latvia Haralds IesalnieksLatvia49,10049
38Lithuania Martynas RacinskasLithuania49,10049
39Lithuania Klaudijus BajorasLithuania48,70049
40Norway Vidar AssersenNorway47,60048
41Finland Joona KoivistoFinland47,00047
42Ukraine Yevhen Pavlenko Ukraine35,90036
43Finland Tommi TapaninenFinland34,50035
44Sweden Mathias ChristensenSweden32,80033
45Latvia Mārtiņš PriedeLatvia31,20031
46Finland Tommi HakalaFinland29,30029
47Latvia Alberts ČeversLatvia28,10028
48Lithuania Edgaras PipineLithuania27,80028
49Lithuania Jurgis BeinorasLithuania27,30027
50Lithuania Dominykas RuškysLithuania24,10024
51Lithuania Vygerdas JonikasLithuania21,80022
52Latvia Emīls AdataLatvia17,50018
53Ukraine Valeriy HrachovUkraine16,70017
54Lithuania Audrius LaimelisLithuania12,40012

2025 OlyBet Showdown Riga Voodoo Spring Edition Schedule (Wednesday, March 26)

Wednesday is full of action, with the day starting with Day 2 of the €555 NLH Championship at Noon, with late registration open for the first three blind levels of the day. The action will play down to a final table of nine hopefuls for what promises to be a massive top prize.

This is not all, as today will also boast the start of the inaugural OlyBet Showdown Riga Voodoo €1,100 Main Event with the first of three opening flights beginning at 5 p.m. Players will battle for 10 levels of 40-minutes each in hopes of bagging a healthy stack to Friday’s Day 2 in this four-day affair.

One player will earn a trophy on Wednesday with cards in the air for the action-packed €250 PLO4/PLO5 Progressive Bounty at 7 p.m. Late-night owls will have a chance to get into the €1,100 Main Event at a fraction of the cost, with a €80 satellite guaranteeing at least four Main Event seats beginning at 9:30 p.m.

Check out Wednesday’s schedule below, or head to the 2025 OlyBet Showdown Riga Voodoo Spring Edition landing page at OlyBetEvents to check out the full schedule and more.

TimeEvent
12:00Event #8: €555 NLH Championship Day 2
17:00Event #14: €1,100 NLH Main Event Day 1a
19:00Event #15: €250 PLO4/PLO5 Progressive Bounty
21:30Event #16: €80 Mega-Satellite to €1,100 Main Event (4 Seats GTD)

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Jason Glatzer

Jason Glatzer is a seasoned poker player, journalist, commentator, and content creator with over a decade of experience in the industry. His journey in poker began in the 1980's playing for pennies on kitchen tables and enjoying stud game in the 1990s in Atlantic City, before transitioning to online poker in the early 2000s. Glatzer's career in poker media took off at PocketFives, which led to opportunities with PokerNews and other prominent poker media outlets. Throughout his career, he has covered major poker events, and has contributed to various poker publications as a writer, editor, and live reporter.