Bonders Claims Opening Trophy at OlyBet Showdown Riga Voodoo Autumn Edition

The OlyBet Showdown Riga Voodoo Autumn Edition is underway at Olympic Voodoo Casino, and opening day delivered exactly what you want from a festival opener: a packed room, the first trophy of the series already claimed, and one of Latvia’s best-loved poker personalities sitting at the top of the chip counts with nine players returning to play for the title on Sunday. Nine days, 26 events, and the €1,100 Main Event still to come. The Voodoo is alive.

• Read more: Your Guide to the 2026 OlyBet Showdown Riga Voodoo Autumn Edition (September 19-27)
• Read more: Justas Vaičiulionis Wins OlyBet Showdown Riga Voodoo Spring Edition Main Event (€34,950)

Juris Bonders Opens the Trophy Count

The festival’s first trophy was on the line in the one-day €250 PLO4/PLO5 Progressive Bounty, a format that rewards aggression and punishes passivity in equal measure. A total of 23 entries got into the mix for a €2,507 prize pool and €2,300 in progressive bounties, with €4,807 in total prizes up for grabs.

Latvia’s Juris Bonders collected the biggest bounty at the end of the night and the first trophy of the Autumn Edition, banking €820. Estonia’s Lauri Nugin took €820 plus bounties for second, Finland’s Jarkko Kivisto collected €527 plus bounties for third, and Bulgaria’s Simeon Tsonev, who ran deep in several events during the WSOP Circuit Tallinn, rounded out the paid places with €340 plus bounties for fourth.

€250 buy-in | 23 entries | €2,507 prize pool + €2,300 progressive bounties

Place	Player	Prize
1st	Juris Bonders	€820
2nd	Lauri Nugin	€820
3rd	Jarkko Kivisto	€527
4th	Simeon Tsonev	€340

Gatis Reigass Leads the Opener Final Nine

While the PLO bounty was being settled, the €250 NLH Opener was building toward something worth watching. The event drew 109 entries for a €22,781 prize pool and played deep into the money before bagging. The top 13 players all locked up at least €500, with all returning players guaranteed a minimum of €660 when they come back Sunday at noon.

Leading them all is Gatis Reigass. If you follow poker in the Baltics, you already know the name. The Latvian online poker regular and Twitch streamer is a fixture at every major festival in the region and a face the home crowd roots for every time he runs deep. He went fifth at the last OlyBet Showdown Riga edition in March 2025. Today he bags 685,000 chips, well clear of the field, with a top prize of €6,051 waiting on Sunday and the festival’s second trophy on the line.

Seven of the nine returning players are Latvian. Stavros Onoufriou of Cyprus and Sweden’s Peter Onnestam are the two visitors who will need to navigate a home crowd at a familiar table. Action resumes at noon and will play down to a winner.

€250 buy-in | 109 entries | €22,781 prize pool | Top prize €6,051

Position	Player	Country	Chips	Blinds
1	Gatis Reigass	Latvia	685,000	57
2	Roberts Krīgers	Latvia	495,000	41
3	Dmitrijs Petrenko	Latvia	465,000	38
4	Kristaps Sīpols	Latvia	275,000	22
5	Stavros Onoufriou	Cyprus	260,000	21
6	Peter Onnestam	Sweden	185,000	15
7	Kaspars Renga	Latvia	165,000	13
8	Gints Ozols	Latvia	115,000	9
9	Girts Lasmanis	Latvia	80,000	6

Sunday Schedule (September 20)

Full schedule and player’s guide at olybetevents.com. Coverage of the OlyBet Showdown Riga Voodoo Autumn Edition continues at poker.pro through September 27, with live reporting on the €555 NLH Championship Final Day and all three decisive days of the €1,100 NLH Main Event.

• Photos and information courtesy of OlyBet.
• Article originally produced at poker.pro.