Players are gearing up for what promises to be an action-packed final weekend of the 2026 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker at Olympic Casino Lietuva.
Defending Vilnius Ace Breaker Main Event champion Rasmus Sihvonen has been making quite the name for himself this week, adding the biggest title of the festival so far after winning the three-day €555 NLH Championship for €18,055 following a deal and a heads-up victory against formidable Lithuanian Algirdas Saveikis. This result, together with his 2025 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker Main Event victory for €28,760, would already be enough to cement Sihvonen’s legacy, but the Finnish crusher has been utterly dominating no-limit hold’em events this festival. Thus far, he is two-for-two in the multi-day events on the schedule, having previously shipped last weekend’s two-day €250 NLH Opening Event for €5,560.
Two other trophies were awarded on Friday, further spreading the glory. Ukraine’s Volodymyr Bezverkhyi defeated Lithuania’s Egidijus Oleinik heads-up in the €200 NLH for €2,536, while Finland’s Jarmo Luokkala denied Lithuania’s Tomas Kovalenka in the €250 NLH Progressive Knockout for €1,462 plus bounties.
Meanwhile, the €1,100 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker Main Event completed its final two of three opening flights with 151 entries so far, building a €143,450 prize pool and counting. Late registration will remain open for the first two 60-minute blind levels on Friday’s Day 2, with the action kicking off at noon, giving latecomers one last chance to jump into the spotlight. The poker.pro live reporting team will be on-site, covering the biggest hands, bad beats, and stories from the Main Event until a winner is crowned.
The 2020 Kings of Tallinn Main Event champion, Johan Karlsson from Sweden, parlayed his 30,000 in opening chips into 228,000 on Day 1a to begin Day 2 with the chip lead. Jurgis Ragauskas (225,000), Evaldas Narmontas (211,000), Stepas Tindžiulis (207,500), WSOP bracelet winner Gediminas Uselis (204,000), and Vasilij Barna (202,500) also bagged more than 200,000 to set themselves up for deep runs on Day 2.
Stay tuned as poker.pro continues to bring you all the key moments and stories from the 2026 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker, including live reporting of both the €555 NLH Championship and the €1,100 Main Event.
- LIVE REPORTING of the €1,100 Main Event at poker.pro
- LIVE REPORTING of the €555 NLH Championship at poker.pro
- Read more: Algirdas Saveikis Leads OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker €555 NLH Final Table
- Read more: Andrej Michailov Wins Second OlyBet Vilnius Ace Breaker Trophy
- Read more: Rasmus Sihvonen Wins Second Vilnius Trophy in OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker €250 Opening Event
- Read more: Rasmus Sihvonen Looking to Add to Vilnius Legacy at the OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker
- Read more: Start Your 2026 Poker Calendar With OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker
- Read more: Rasmus Sihvonen Wins 2025 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker Main Event
Sihvonen Defies Laws of Nature as he Wins €555 NLH Championship
The 2026 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker reached its halfway point on January 15, the festival’s sixth day, which featured the final day of the €555 NLH Championship. Eight players took their seats at noon, ready to battle it out for the €19,795 first-place prize. When the dust settled, a certain player would cement his status as the King of Olympic Casino Lithuania.
Variance? I Hardly Know Her!
The 2026 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker is the first OlyBet live poker event of 2026, taking place at Olympic Casino Lithuania, January 10-20. The atmosphere has been electric at the epicenter of Lithuanian live poker, and the festival could be considered a taste of the upcoming 2026 Kings of Tallinn, which will be held at Olympic Park Casino and Hilton Tallinn Park Hotel in Estonia.
- Read more: Kings of Tallinn 2026 OlyBet Team Challenge Brings New Scoring and Bigger Rewards
- Read more: OlyBet Announced Record 74-Event 2026 Kings of Tallinn Schedule (Feb. 5-15)
While the €1,100 Main Event may be the one tournament during the 2026 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker that is the most intriguing one, the €555 NLH Championship was always destined to be one of the most popular events. It was a three-day affair with two starting-day flights, and the tournament wrapped up today in the most stellar fashion.
The poker.pro editorial office is on-site in Vilnius, and live reporter Christoffer Karlén covered the tournament from Day 2 and onwards. When late registration closed on Wednesday, the floor confirmed the number of entries to be 179, which translated to a €85,025 prize pool. All 20 players would be guaranteed a min-cash of €1,220, and at the top was a juicy €19,795 cash prize for the winner.
Day 2 wrapped up around 20:30 on Wednesday, with eight players bagging their chips for Thursday’s final table. The Day 3 contestants took their seats at noon, and the lineup featured some intriguing names, such as local players Vilius Zabarauskas, 2022 EPM €500 Main Event winner Algirdas Saveikis, and 2025 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker €555 Main Event champion Rasmus Sihvonen.
The first one to bid farewell from the final table was Mindaugas Autukevičius. Autukevičius had begun the final stage of the tournament as the shortest stack, and eventually, his top pair was out-kicked by Sihvonen. Autukevičius received €2,820 for his eighth-place finish, and it wasn’t too long before he was accompanied on the rail by Matas Kacinskas. He had entered the final table as one of the middling stacks, but he got crippled early as Valdemaras Apolianskas woke up with aces. Shortly thereafter, Apolianskas took the rest of Kacinskas’ chips, who went out in seventh place for €3,490.
The aforementioned Zabarauskas is no stranger to Olympic Casino Lithuania; he’s been visiting the casino for years, and according to his profile on The Hendon Mob, he has a few trophies from Vilnius’ biggest poker room. He eventually got his stack in the middle pre-flop with pocket queens against the Big Slick of Apolianskas. It was Ace-King’s turn this time, and Zabarauskas would prove to be alive with one sixth of a Big Blind. He was eventually forced all-in and couldn’t produce a miracle; he had to settle for a sixth-place finish and €4,480 in cash.
With five players remaining, Saveikis still maintained the chip lead at the first break, but Apolianskas and Sihvonen were both breathing down his neck. Sihvonen would eventually take over the driver’s seat, as he eliminated Estonian Ralf Mikk in fifth place for €5,760. It was around then that things started to go south for Apolianskas. He lost some chips here, some chips there, and eventually, he was the shortest stack amongst the remaining four players. He moved all in for 10 Big Blinds with King-Five suited, but much to his displeasure, he was up against the pocket kings of Deividas Daubaris. Apolianskas still seemed thrilled, though, as he received €7,420 for his fourth-place finish.
Three players left, then, and Sihvonen was a slight chip leader. Saveikis and Daubaris were involved in some hands against each other, and Saveikis did a decent job chewing away on the Daubaris stack. Soon enough, Daubaris moved all in with Ten-Seven off-suit from the Small Blind, and was eliminated against Sihvonen’s Queen-Jack. Daubaris cashed for €9,520, and as heads-up was about to commence, Sihvonen had a 3-to-2 lead against Saveikis.
It would prove to be quite the intriguing heads-up affair. Perhaps 30 minutes into one-versus-one play, Sihvonen forced his opponent all-in on a relatively monotone board. Unlucky for the Finn, though, as Saveikis had turned the nut straight. Saveikis overtook the chip lead by the finest of margins, and considering the stacks now were quite even, the two contestants decided to make a deal. Sihvonen locked up €15,090 and Saveikis €14,910; they would continue playing for an additional €2,965 and the coveted trophy.
Sihvonen continued nibbling on his opponent’s stack, and eventually, the Finn found himself with 65 % of the chips in play. He got another opportunity to eliminate his opponent as he moved all in with Ace-Three suited, but Saveikis woke up with Ace-Queen and managed to double up with the superior kicker.
It looked like yet another comeback from Saveikis, who now had Sihvonen covered again. Eventually, the two players clashed all-in, and Saveikis was attempting to deny Sihvonen yet another title on Lithuanian soil. Much to Saveikis’ displeasure, though, his top pair was no good against the top set of Sihvonen. Saveikis survived with two mere Big Blinds, and three hands later, Sihvonen sent his final opponent to the rail, claiming the additional €2,965 and the trophy.
It’s just a matter of time before Olympic Casino Lithuania rebrands as “Sihvonen Poker Room”. One year ago, he won the €555 Main Event during the 2025 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker. A few months later, in May, he came scarily close to becoming the first-ever OlyBet Showdown Main Event back-to-back winner, as he finished second in the €1,100 Main Event during the 2025 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius.
Then, this week, Thursday’s trophy was the second one Sihvonen claimed; the other day, he won the €250 NLH Opening Event. On top of that, he finished second in a €250 NLH side event.
A few days ago, poker.pro journalist Christoffer Karlén wrote an article listing his personal top five OlyBet moments from 2025. On that list, he mentioned Sihvonen’s dominance; perhaps, “The Karlén Effect” is what secured Sihvonen yet another successful week in Vilnius?
All and all, Sihvonen’s consistency is scary good, and as poker.pro is moving on to cover the €1,100 Main Event, it’ll be interesting to see if the Finn can extend his Lithuanian poker rampage.
- €555 NLH Championship recap written by poker.pro live reporter Christoffer Karlén.
- Check out all of the €555 NLH Championship action in the poker.pro live reporting.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Rasmus Sihvonen | Finland | €18,055 |
| 2 |  Algirdas Saveikis | Lithuania | €14,910 |
| 3 | Deividas Daubaris | Lithuania | €9,520 |
| 4 | Valdemaras Apolianskas | Lithuania | €7,420 |
| 5 |  Ralf Mikk | Estonia | €5,760 |
| 6 | Vilius Zabarauskas | Lithuania | €4,480 |
| 7 | Matas Kacinskas | Lithuania | €3,490 |
| 8 | Mindaugas Autukevičius | Lithuania | €2,820 |
| 9 | Audrius Navickas | Lithuania | €2,270 |
| 10 |  Mathies Boesen | Denmark | €1,880 |
| 11 | Vasilij Barna | Lithuania | €1,880 |
| 12 |  Juris Liepins | Latvia | €1,650 |
| 13 | Viktorija Rakejevaité | Lithuania | €1,650 |
| 14 | Audrius Stakelis | Lithuania | €1,460 |
| 15 | Stanislavs Russits | Latvia | €1,460 |
| 16 |  Evaldas Narmontas | Norway | €1,330 |
| 17 |  Francesco De Martini | Italia | €1,330 |
| 18 | Algirdas Šukys | Lithuania | €1,220 |
| 19 | Deividas Butnoras | Lithuania | €1,220 |
| 20 | Jurgis Ragauskas | Lithuania | €1,220 |
Volodymyr Bezverkhyi Wins €200 NLH
The €200 NLH attracted 44 entries to create a €7,106 prize pool with the top five players earning at least a €640 min-cash after Lithuania’s Erikas Fominas bubbled in sixth place. Poland’s Tomasz Deptula, (third – €1,280) Latvia’s Kristaps Kalva (fourth – €870), and Lithuania’s Vytautas Rybakas (fifth – €640) ran out of gas in the money leaving Ukraine’s Volodymyr Bezverkhyi heads-up for the title against Lithuania’s Egidijus Oleinik.
Bezverkhyi defeated his opponent to earn the trophy and the €2,536 top prize, while Egidijus Oleinik earned €1,780 for his runner-up performance.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Volodymyr Bezverkhyi | Ukraine | €2,536 |
| 2 | Egidijus Oleinik | Lithuania | €1,780 |
| 3 |  Tomasz Deptula | Poland | €1,280 |
| 4 | Kristaps Kalva | Latvia | €870 |
| 5 | Vytautas Rybakas | Lithuania | €640 |
Jarmo Luokkala Wins €250 NLH Progressive Knockout
The €250 NLH Progressive Knockout witnessed 46 runners create €9,614 in prizes, including €4,600 in progressive bounties.
It was an international affair at the end, with the final five players competing for at least a €480 min-cash, all coming from different countries, after Lithuania’s Andrius Mažeika went home empty-handed in sixth place on the money bubble.
A Lithuanian was heads-up for the third time in a side event on Thursday after Sven Reimaa (third – €940 + bounties), 2025 WSOP Circuit Tallinn Main Event champion from Sweden Jenny Westerlund (fourth – €670), and Italy’s Maicol Darrigo (fifth – €480) collected their payout slips.
However, for a third straight event, an out-of-towner spoiled the dreams of the home crowd with Finland’s Jarmo Luokkala defeating Lithuania’s Tomas Kovalenka to win the trophy. Both players earned the €1,462 top prize from the prize pool. However, Luokkala’s bounty pull far exceeded anyone else in the event, having won the big final bounty at the end of the event.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jarmo Luokkala | Finland | €1,462 |
| 2 | Tomas Kovalenka | Lithuania | €1,462 |
| 3 | Sven Reimaa | Estonia | €940 |
| 4 |  Jenny Westerlund | Sweden | €670 |
| 5 | Maicol Darrigo | Italy | €480 |
2026 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker Day €1,100 Main Event Chip Counts
Day 2 of the Main Event will begin with the 52 players who bagged chips during the first three opening flights from a field of 151 entries. The figures will continue to grow with late registration remaining open during the first two blind levels of Day 2, which is estimated to be slightly after 2 p.m.
Check out the chip counts from the 52 opening day survivors below, or head to the poker.pro live reporting for the seat draw and to follow the action throughout the event.
| Rank | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Johan Karlsson | Sweden | 228,000 | 152 |
| 2 | Jurgis Ragauskas | Lithuania | 225,000 | 150 |
| 3 | Evaldas Narmontas | Norway | 211,000 | 141 |
| 4 | Stepas Tindžiulis | Lithuania | 207,500 | 138 |
| 5 | Gediminas Uselis | Lithuania | 204,000 | 136 |
| 6 | Vasilij Barna | Lithuania | 202,500 | 135 |
| 7 | Edgaras Gendvilis | Lithuania | 161,000 | 107 |
| 8 |  Mitchell Hynam | England | 137,500 | 92 |
| 9 | Mantas Urbonas | Lithuania | 137,000 | 91 |
| 10 | Ignas Vaitulionis | Lithuania | 134,500 | 90 |
| 11 | Justinas Adomauskas | Lithuania | 133,500 | 89 |
| 12 | Povilas Jakutis | Lithuania | 133,000 | 89 |
| 13 | Lukas Peteška | Lithuania | 132,500 | 88 |
| 14 | Deividas Butnoras | Lithuania | 130,500 | 87 |
| 15 | Jarmo Luokkala | Finland | 127,500 | 85 |
| 16 | Tomas Bassus | Lithuania | 121,000 | 81 |
| 17 | Rokas Barzdžius | Lithuania | 115,000 | 77 |
| 18 | Mindaugas Kriaučiūnas | Lithuania | 114,500 | 76 |
| 19 | Toni Jaervisalo | Finland | 100,000 | 67 |
| 20 | Širak Oganisian | Lithuania | 91,500 | 61 |
| 21 | Audrius Navickas | Lithuania | 81,500 | 54 |
| 22 | Sergejs Piratovs | Latvia | 81,500 | 54 |
| 23 | Paulius Jucys | Lithuania | 76,500 | 51 |
| 24 | Justas Semaška | Lithuania | 72,000 | 48 |
| 25 | Deividas Daubaris | Lithuania | 70,000 | 47 |
| 26 | Valerij Dobrinskij | Lithuania | 69,000 | 46 |
| 27 | Kęstutis Jungevičius | Lithuania | 69,000 | 46 |
| 28 | Paulius Katinas | Lithuania | 60,500 | 40 |
| 29 | Martynas Račinskas | Lithuania | 59,000 | 39 |
| 30 | Rišardas Paškevičius | Lithuania | 55,500 | 37 |
| 31 | Vidar Assersen | Norway | 55,000 | 37 |
| 32 | Jenny Westerlund | Sweden | 54,500 | 36 |
| 33 | Gediminas Zimaitis | Lithuania | 52,500 | 35 |
| 34 | Karolis Sereika | Lithuania | 50,500 | 34 |
| 35 | Kjell Sterner | Sweden | 46,500 | 31 |
| 36 | Artūras Daukševič | Lithuania | 45,500 | 30 |
| 37 | Marius Bareišis | Lithuania | 43,500 | 29 |
| 38 | Aurelijus Sipavičius | Lithuania | 43,000 | 29 |
| 39 | Jukka Juvonen | Finland | 42,000 | 28 |
| 40 | Rokas Skridulis | Lithuania | 42,000 | 28 |
| 41 | Johan Ekdahl | Sweden | 40,000 | 27 |
| 42 | Martin Piik | Estonia | 37,500 | 25 |
| 43 | Vaidas Lengvinas | Lithuania | 36,500 | 24 |
| 44 | Martynas Mockevicius | Lithuania | 34,000 | 23 |
| 45 | Vytautas Laurusevicius | Lithuania | 27,500 | 18 |
| 46 | Vladimiras Mečkovskis | Lithuania | 26,500 | 18 |
| 47 | Edgaras Truskauskas | Lithuania | 25,000 | 17 |
| 48 | Audrius Laimelis | Lithuania | 20,000 | 13 |
| 49 | Matas Kacinskas | Lithuania | 19,500 | 13 |
| 50 | Edgaras Kausinis | Lithuania | 17,000 | 11 |
| 51 | Kornelijus Smilingis | Lithuania | 16,500 | 11 |
| 52 | Tomas Možeiko | Lithuania | 15,000 | 10 |
2026 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker Schedule (Friday, January 16)
Players are gearing up for a big day with Day 2 of the 2026 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker €1,100 Main Event, live reported at poker.pro, with the action kicking off at Noon.
While the Main Event won’t award a trophy until either late Saturday night or midday Sunday, players will have three other chances on Friday to go home a champion.
The €200 PL Sviten, which combines both five-card Omaha and five-card draw in the same game, kicks off at 2 p.m. A friendly crew of players are happy to walk through the rules and some basic strategy including the likes of The Festival Series founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk and the Kings of Tallinn commentators Andreas “Wiseguy” Hoglund and poker.pro CEO Jason Glatzer. Speaking of The Festival Series, they will be bringing their special brand of poker to Vilnius in just a few months’ time, from May 28-31.
Those more interested in two-card poker will have two chances on Friday outside of the Main Event, including in the €350 NLH DeepStack Progressive Bounty at 3 p.m., followed by the €200 NLH at 7 p.m. While cash games will be running throughout the day and evening, the tournament schedule concludes at 10 p.m. with an €80 satellite guaranteeing at least two seats to the €1,100 Kings of Tallinn Main Event.
Check out today’s schedule below or head to the OlyBet Events website for the full schedule.
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| 12:00 | Event #16: €1,100 NLH Main Event Day 2, Plays 9 Levels Day 2 |
| 14:00 | Event #21: €200 PL Sviten, Five-card PLO & Draw, 6-handed |
| 15:00 | Event #22: €350 NLH DeepStack Progressive Bounty, €100 Progressive Bounties |
| 19:00 | Event #23: €200 NLH |
| 22:00 | Event #24: €80 Satellite Kings of Tallinn Main Event, 2 x €1,100 SEATS GTD! |
- Images courtesy of OlyBetEvents / Viktorija Makovskaja
- Article originally produced at poker.pro
