Ville Keranen Leads Final 9 in 2026 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius €555 NLH Championship

Olympic Casino Lietuva was again a hive of activity yesterday, as the 2026 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius continued in full swing. While only one trophy was awarded, the destination of the €555 NLH Championship title became clearer as the field was reduced to a final table, while Day 1a of the flagship event, the €1,100 Main Event, also took place.

Finland’s Ville Keranen, who already earned a trophy on the first day of the festival, is looking to repeat his success as he leads the way in the €555 NLH Championship, which is live reported at poker.pro. With just nine players in the €555 NLH Championship and €2,140 already locked up, all players have their eyes on the trophy and the €18,685 top prize. The field grew on Day 2 to 169 entries for a €80,275 prize pool with the top 20 players earning at least a €1,150 min-cash.

Lithuania’s Sergej Babincev went from busting in the money in the €555 NLH Championship to entering the €1,100 Main Event, where he bagged the chip lead in the 29-entry field among the 14 survivors.

Meanwhile, earlier this festival, Lithuania’s Linas Petruškevičius earned his first international trophy in the €200 PLO4/PLO5. The Lithuanian proudly shared his winner’s photo on his Facebook profile after a déjà vu moment when he earned his second trophy this festival in the €250 PLO4/PLO5 on Wednesday.

• Read more: Live Reporting of the 2026 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius €555 NLH Championship at poker.pro.
• Read more: Grigorius and Salmins Find Gold on Tuesday at OlyBet Showdown Vilnius
• Read more: Rantanen and Daukševič Collect Hardware on Monday at OlyBet Showdown Vilnius
• Read more: Lithuanians Sweep the Board on Sunday at OlyBet Showdown Vilnius
• Read more: Opening Bell Rings With Keranen Winning Trophy at 2026 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius
• Read more: The 2026 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Brings Action to the Lithuanian Poker Scene

The €250 PLO4/PLO5 Progressive Bounty was the sole trophy up for grabs yesterday, and a total of 18 entrants created a €1,962 prize pool. It was split by an all-Lithuanian top three, with Linas Petruškevičius ending up with the trophy and final bounty, after defeating Jonas Lapinskas and WSOP bracelet winner Vincas Tamašauskas.

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Linas Petruškevičius	Lithuania	€766
2	Jonas Lapinskas	Lithuania	€766
3	Vincas Tamašauskas	Lithuania	€430

The first flight of the highly anticipated OlyBet Showdown Vilnius €1,100 Main Event has been completed, and Sergej Babincev of Lithuania (218,500) topped the standings to lead 14 qualifiers from 29 entrants.

Babincev holds a decent lead over Khai Kiet Duong of Vietnam (142,500) and Latvian Romans Lihacovs (137,000).

The final two starting flights of the three-day Main Event are today, with players sitting down to a 50,000 starting stack. Day 1b, at noon, features 40-minute levels, while Day 1c, at 7 p.m., plays 25-minute levels, with the action concluding after 12 levels. Late registration remains open until the start of Level 15 on Day 2.

Position	Player	Country	Chips	Blinds
1	Sergej Babincev	Lithuania	218,500	109
2	Khai Kiet Duong	Vietnam	142,500	71
3	Romans Lihacovs	Latvia	137,000	69
4	Adomas Juozapavičius	Lithuania	134,000	67
5	Marek Žigel	Estonia	118,500	59
6	Audrius Navickas	Lithuania	111,000	56
7	Egidijus Matonis	Lithuania	108,500	54
8	Gytis Lazauninkas	Lithuania	103,500	52
9	Edgaras Kausinis	Lithuania	94,000	47
10	Romas Bassus	Lithuania	81,000	41
11	Artūras Antonianas	Lithuania	53,000	27
12	Audrius Šiaulys	Lithuania	52,500	26
13	Giedrius Grigorius	Lithuania	51,500	25
14	Aurimas Stanevičius	Lithuania	44,500	22

The poker.pro live reporting team, headlined by Richard Hayes, will be on the floor covering the action in the Main Event from the start of Day 2, which kicks off at noon on Friday, May 15. Our coverage today will be focused on the final day of the €555 NLH Championship.

Day 2 of the €555 NLH Championship reduced the field to a final table of nine players, led by Finland’s Ville Keranen, all of whom have locked up a €2,140 payday, but will surely be eyeing the first-place prize of €18,685 when they return at noon on May 14 for the final day.

Keranen (1,460,000) holds a reasonable lead over his closest challengers, Lithuanian pair Sigitas Raila (1,020,000) and Andrej Sidinevskij (935,000), and obtained his stack largely through a huge rockets versus ace-king cooler versus Matas Budginas.

Friend of poker.pro Morten Bremseth had a day he wishes to forget after he bubbled the event when his aces were unable to hold against Justinas Adomauskas’s nines.

Three-time WSOP Circuit winner Kęstutis Jungevičius (11th – €780), Day 1a chip leader of the €1,100 Main Event Sergej Babincev (12th – €1,560), and Jonas Lapinskas (18th – €1,150) were among the notable players to cash before moving onto other events on Wednesday.

Head to poker.pro to follow the action until a winner is crowned in the €555 NLH Championship.

Table	Seat	Player	Country	Chips	Blinds
2	1	Alex Heinonen	Finland	505,000	17
2	2	Robertas Visockas	Lithuania	415,000	14
2	3	Sigitas Raila	Lithuania	1,020,000	34
2	4	Ville Keranen	Finland	1,465,000	48
2	5	Andrej Sidinevskij	Lithuania	935,000	31
2	6	Onni Harmaala	Finland	720,000	24
2	7	Tomas Kovalenka	Lithuania	700,000	23
2	8	Algirdas Saveikis	Lithuania	345,000	11
2	9	Paulius Kisielius	Lithuania	655,000	21

Olympic Casino Lietuva is expected to be packed, with two NLH side-event trophies for players to compete for, a €200 buy-in event at 5 p.m., and a €250 Progressive Bounty at 9 p.m.

The €555 NLH Championship will play to its conclusion, while two further starting flights of the €1,100 NLH Main Event are also on the menu.

Time	Event
12:00	Event #10: €555 NLH Championship Day 3 (Final Day)
12:00	Event #17: €1,100 NLH Main Event Day 1b
17:00	Event #20: €200 NLH
19:00	Event #17: €1,100 NLH Main Event Day 1c
21:00	Event #21: €250 NLH Progressive Bounty

• Images c/o Viktorija Makovskaja / OlyBet Poker.
• Article originally published at poker.pro.