The sun is shining in Vilnius on Thursday morning, setting the stage for a massive day of poker action at the 2026 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker at Olympic Casino Lietuva.
Wednesday’s excitement built the perfect atmosphere for what could become the festival’s biggest moment yet, as Day 2 of the €555 NLH Championship played down to a final table of eight hopefuls. Lithuanian poker beast Algirdas Saveikis, a longtime crusher with victories both at home and abroad, bagged the chip lead with more than double the stack of his nearest challenger, Vilius Zabarauskas.
Meanwhile, the crown jewel of the festival, the €1,100 Main Event, kicked off its first of three opening flights on Wednesday with 52 entries, adding €51,300 to the prize pool. Two more Day 1 flights are set for Thursday, with late registration open until the first two blind levels of Friday’s Day 2.
Sweden’s Johan Karlsson, the 2020 Kings of Tallinn champion, finds himself in familiar territory after running his 30,000 starting stack up to 228,000 to bag the overnight chip lead. Edgaras Gendvilis sits second with 161,000, while the United Kingdom’s Mitchell Hynam rounds out the top three with 137,500. Hynam, a frequent visitor to Vilnius and a global circuit regular, is riding serious momentum following his 2025 World Series of Poker victory in Event #100: $1,000 NLH Super Turbo, where he captured a gold bracelet and $237,924, part of a breakout year resulting in over $1.6 million in career earnings as reported at The Hendon Mob.
While the multi-day events drew big crowds, others chased glory in Wednesday’s only one-day event, the €250 PLO4/PLO5 Progressive Bounty. Sweden’s Martin Engdahl triumphed there, defeating Austria’s Patrick Lebenbauer heads-up to claim the title and the final bounty after both secured €1,469 apiece.
Stay tuned as poker.pro continues to deliver live updates, photos, and stories from the 2026 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker, including full coverage of the €555 NLH Championship and the €1,100 Main Event.
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Saveikis Hoisting Massive Stack at €555 NLH Championship Final Table
Day 5 of the 2026 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker didn’t disappoint in terms of action. It may have been the fifth day of the festival, but it was the first day of poker.pro being on-site, live reporting from Olympic Casino Lithuania, the undisputed center of poker in Lithuania.
The tournament kicked off at 12:00, and those who had advanced from Day 1a or Day 1b were accompanied by some additional players (late registration was open during the first two levels of Day 2). When Level 15 eventually commenced, and the numbers were finalized, it was confirmed that 179 entries had created a €85,025 prize pool. Twenty players would all be guaranteed a €1,220 min-cash, but everyone had their eyes on the juicy €19,795 first-place payout, as well as the coveted trophy.
With late registration closed, there were still some prominent names left in the field, for example, Vasilij Barna (winner of the €555 Main Event during the 2023 Vilnius Ace Breaker) and Rasmus Sihvonen (winner of the €555 Main Event during the 2025 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker). Eventually, Augustas Bareiša became the unfortunate bubble boy, even though being all in pre-flop with pocket nines against the five-four off-suit of Algirdas Saveikis.
It would be a tad ambitious to call it “The Ketchup Effect” once the bubble burst, but some players did, in fact, bust fairly swiftly. Amongst the early victims were Francisco Di Martini, who had started Day 2 as the chip leader. One player who refused to go out, though, was the aforementioned Sihvonen. From being slightly below average during the bigger part of the day, he displayed sublime patience throughout the day, doubling up here and there while his opponents were hitting the rail.
Sihvonen was also involved in the bubble hand; he knocked out Audrius Navickas in ninth place, shortly after Mathies Boesen was out in tenth. Sihvonen has earned him great presumptions for a deep run in the €555 NLH Championship with a top-three stack. That being said, Algirdas Saveikis will begin tomorrow’s final table as the clear chip leader.
| Position | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Algirdas Saveikis | Lithuania | 1,920,000 | 96 |
| 2 | Vilius Zabarauskas | Lithuania | 735,000 | 37 |
| 3 |  Rasmus Sihvonen | Finland | 710,000 | 36 |
| 4 | Matas Kacinskas | Lithuania | 590,000 | 30 |
| 5 |  Ralf Mikk | Estonia | 470,000 | 24 |
| 6 | Deividas Daubaris | Lithuania | 345,000 | 17 |
| 7 | Valdemaras Apolianskas | Lithuania | 320,000 | 16 |
| 8 | Mindaugas Autukevičius | Lithuania | 285,000 | 14 |
The warriors will resume the fight at noon tomorrow with €2,820 locked up and a top prize of €19,795 awaiting the winner, January 15. Below are the remaining payouts they are fighting for:
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1 | €19,795 |
| 2 | €13,170 |
| 3 | €9,520 |
| 4 | €7,420 |
| 5 | €5,760 |
| 6 | €4,480 |
| 7 | €3,490 |
| 8 | €2,820 |
The poker.pro live reporting will return tomorrow at noon, following the raffling conclusion. Keep your eyes peeled in live time to witness the action unfold.
- €555 Recap written by poker.pro live reporter Christoffer Karlen.
Johan Karlsson Leads Main Event
You won’t find too many nicer poker players than Sweden’s Johan Karlsson. Don’t let his friendly personality fool you, as he is a beast on the felts and will forever be known as the 2020 Kings of Tallinn Main Event champion.
It is too early to call Karlsson a heavy favorite, but he does currently have an edge after bagging an overwhelming overnight chip lead on Day 1a of the €1,100 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker Main Event. If Karlsson is able to parlay this into a deep finish, he will likely accomplish what most poker players would be proud of, surpassing $500,000 in career tournament cashes, as tracked by The Hendon Mob.
The €1,100 Main Event boasts two more opening flights on Thursday, with the field growing from the 54 entries and 19 survivors witnessed on Wednesday’s Day 1a. The first opening flight in Day 1b mirrors Day 1a with a 40-minute blind structure with Day 1c at 7 p.m. featuring a turbo-clock of 25 minutes per level. In both cases, players will start with 30,000 in chips, and those surviving 12 levels will bag chips for Friday’s Day 2.
| Rank | Playter | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Johan Karlsson | Sweden | 228,000 | 152 |
| 2 | Edgaras Gendvilis | Lithuania | 161,000 | 107 |
| 3 |  Mitchell Hynam | England | 137,500 | 92 |
| 4 | Justinas Adomauskas | Lithuania | 133,500 | 89 |
| 5 | Lukas Peteška | Lithuania | 132,500 | 88 |
| 6 | Deividas Butnoras | Lithuania | 130,500 | 87 |
| 7 | Toni Järvisalo | Finland | 100,000 | 67 |
| 8 | Širak Oganisian | Lithuania | 91,500 | 61 |
| 9 | Paulius Jucys | Lithuania | 76,500 | 51 |
| 10 | Valerij Dobrinskij | Lithuania | 69,000 | 46 |
| 11 | Kęstutis Jungevičius | Lithuania | 69,000 | 46 |
| 12 | Jenny Westerlund | Sweden | 54,500 | 36 |
| 13 | Karolis Sereika | Lithuania | 50,500 | 34 |
| 14 | Marius Bareišis | Lithuania | 43,500 | 29 |
| 15 | Rokas Skridulis | Lithuania | 42,000 | 28 |
| 16 | Vaidas Lengvinas | Lithuania | 36,500 | 24 |
| 17 | Vladimiras Mečkovskis | Lithuania | 26,500 | 18 |
| 18 | Audrius Laimelis | Lithuania | 20,000 | 13 |
| 19 | Matas Kacinskas | Lithuania | 19,500 | 13 |
Martin Engdahl Wins Largest PLO Event This Festival
The €250 PLO4/PLO5 Progressive Bounty attracted the largest PLO field thus far at the 2026 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker with 51 entries creating €10,659 in prizes, including €5,100 in progressive bounties.
Lithuania’s Andrej Michailov was attempting the trifecta after previously winning two PLO trophies at this festival, but was one of the early casualties. While players were capturing bounties from the opening bell, the event awarded six players at least a min-cash of €400 from the prize pool after Norway’s Vidar Assersen hit the rail in seventh place.
Finland’s Väino Ketvell was going for back-to-back PLO trophies after winning the €200 PLO4/PLO5 title the night before for €1,610. His run ended in sixth place for €400 plus bounties with Finland’s Juha Leino (third – €991 plus bounties), Povilas Latvėnas (fourth – €700 plus bounties), and Remigijus Politika (fifth – €530 plus bounties) subsequently losing their stacks.
Sweden’s Martin Engdahl and Austria’s Patrick Lebenbauer faced off for the title, with both players locking in the top €1,469 top prize. Engdahl defeated his opponent to earn the massive progressive bounty and the coveted Vilnius Ace Breaker trophy.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Martin Engdahl | Sweden | €1,469 |
| 2 |  Patrick Lebenbauer | Austria | €1,469 |
| 3 | Juha Leino | Finland | €991 |
| 4 | Povilas Latvėnas | Lithuania | €700 |
| 5 | Remigijus Politika | Lithuania | €530 |
| 6 | Väino Ketvell | Finland | €400 |
2026 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker Schedule (Thursday, January 15)
The 2026 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker will award two trophies on Thursday, including a big winner in the €555 NLH Championship live reported at poker.pro, with the action kicking off at Noon.
New players will be filing in around the same time anticipating a big day on Day 1b of the Main Event with Day 1c following at 7 p.m. Meanwhile, one-day trophy hunters will have their chance in the €200 NLH at 4 p.m.
Check out today’s schedule below or head to the OlyBet Events website for the full schedule.
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| 12:00 | Event #9: €555 NLH Championship Final Day |
| 12:00 | Event #16: €1,100 NLH Main Event Flight 1B, Plays 12 Levels Day 1 |
| 16:00 | Event #19: €200 NLH |
| 19:00 | Event #16: €1,100 NLH Main Event Flight 1C, 25 min levels, Plays 12 Levels Day 1 |
- Images courtesy of OlyBetEvents / Viktorija Makovskaja
- Article originally produced at poker.pro
