2025 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius – Ace Breaker: €1,100 NLH High Roller
PokerPro will provide live updates from both the €1,100 High Roller and the €555 Main Event. Don’t miss the action straight from Olympic Casino Lietuva.
After eliminating Paulius Kostickis in the very first hand of heads-up play, Roman Kulijev is now crowned the winner of the €1,100 High Roller during the OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker at Olympic Casino Vilnius.
Kulijev played aggressively at the final table, and he held a commanding chiplead from 3-handed play to the title. A fun fact is that Kulijev qualified to the tournament through a €80 satellite, in which he at one point had less than 1 big blind. Considering he just earned himself €24,180, he should be very happy with his profit!
Our team at poker.pro thanks you all for being with us today. Tomorrow morning, we’ll bring you a recap article of today’s High Roller event. Then, we’ll begin our coverage of the €555 Main Event, as Day 1b starts at 12:00.
Congratulations to Kulijev for winning today’s title, and stay tuned for tomorrow’s daily recap of the 2025 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker where we will recap Kulijev’s road to victory.
Roman Kulijev entered the break with a massive chip lead over both Paulius Vaitiekūnas and Paulius Kostickis. Will he hold on to the end or will one of the talented players named Paulius win the trophy and the €24,180 top prize.
Place
Player
Country
Chips
Big Blinds
1
Roman Kulijev
Lithuania
3,215,000
80
2
Paulius Vaitiekūnas
Lithuania
805,000
20
3
Paulius Kostickis
Lithuania
780,000
20
2025 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker High Roller Final Table
Action was folded to Kęstutis Jungevičius in the small blind who decided to only call the big blind of Roman Kulijev. Kulijev checked and the flop was dealt.
On 2♥3♠A♣, Jungevičius led out for 65,000 and Kulijev called. The turn came A♠, and Jungevičius continued for 125,000. Kulijev once again elected to call.
On the river 7♦ Jungevičius fired 375,000, just to hear Kulijev announce all in before his chips even touched the felt. Jungevičius leaned back and looked up at the roof. After a sigh or two, he called.
Roman Kulijev: 2♣2♦ Kęstutis Jungevičius: 9♦9♣
Kulijev’s full house meant Jungevičius was eliminated in 4th place, earning himself €9,300. Right after the hand, the remaining 3 players went on a break.
From the button, Kazimieras Ramaška raised to 65,000. Roman Kulijev called from the big blind.
The flop came J♥7♦4♦, and Kulijev led out for 100,000. Almost instantly, Ramaška went all in for 600,000. Kulijev let out a heavy sigh before tossing in a chip for a call.
Kazimieras Ramaška: K♥9♥ Roman Kulijev: Q♠7♠
Kulijev was ahead and the board would complete J♥7♦4♦8♦3♦. No flush for Ramaška who was forced to the rail to collect the €7,300 fifth-place prize.
It’s been a somewhat calm final table. Roman Kulijev has been making some moves, punishing the 3 shorter stacks to the left of him.
Kulijev raised to 55,000 from the cut-off, and Egidijus Matonis decided he wouldn’t be pushed around anymore. He went all in from the small blind for 165,000, and after a minute of consideration, Kulijev made the call.
Egidijus Matonis: 9♠9♥ Roman Kulijev: A♣2♥
“What can you do”, Matonis must have felt as he saw the board run out 4♥A♦J♠7♦J♥. After showcasing good patience, he unfortunately had to see himself go out in 8th place.
Roman Kulijev opened to 55,000 UTG. Mindaugas Grigaitis smooth-called from UTG+1 and action was the folded to Kazimieras Ramaška in the hi-jack who decided to go all in for 235,000. Kulijev called and Grigaitis opted to fold.
Kazimieras Ramaška: 8♥8♠ Roman Kulijev: Q♥10♥
“Snowmen”, Ramaška said as he turned over his hand. A third snowman made its apperance as the board ran out 8♦5♠4♣4♦7♣.
Roman Kulijev: 895,000 Kazimieras Ramaška: 540,000
As previously reported, Mindaugas Kriaučiūnas entered the final table with only 1 big blind. He committed his 15,000 and Paulius Kostickis automatically called from the big blind.
Mindaugas Kriaučiūnas: A♦6♠ Paulius Kostickis: 9♠9♦
The board 10♠5♠K♠10♥2♥ meant Kriaučiūnas was the first to bust from the final table. While Kriaučiūnas headed to the cashier to collect his €2,550 prize for ninth place, the final eight players each earned a pay jump to at least €3,280.
Paulius Kostickis: 760,000 Mindaugas Kriaučiūnas: 0
Roman Kulijev will kick off the final table as the only chip millionaire among the mix. Meanwhile, Mindaugas Kriaučiūnas lost a big pot during the final hand-for-hand action to be down to a single big blind.
Check out the full final table seat draw below with the action resuming in about 5-10 minutes.
Seat
Player
Country
Chips
Big Blinds
1
Mindaugas Grigaitis
Lithuania
280,000
19
2
Egidijus Matonis
Lithuania
270,000
18
3
Aivaras Kerušauskas
Lithuania
225,000
15
4
Paulius Vaitiekūnas
Lithuania
950,000
63
5
Paulius Kostickis
Lithuania
730,000
49
6
Mindaugas Kriaučiūnas
Lithuania
15,000
1
7
Kazimieras Ramaška
Lithuania
280,000
19
8
Kęstutis Jungevičius
Lithuania
800,000
53
9
Roman Kulijev
Lithuania
1,250,000
83
Average
533,333
36
2025 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker High Roller Final Table
Just before the final table was reached, Mindaugas Kriaučiūnas opened from the cut-off and was called by the small blind and Paulius Kostickis from the big blind.
Kriaučiūnas bet every street on the 10♣10♠10♥6♣8♥ board, and Kostickis stuck until the end, calling Kriaučiūnas down.
Mindaugas Kriaučiūnas: K♥J♠ Paulius Kostickis: A♠Q♠
Kriaučiūnas will enter the final table with 1 big blind.
Paulius Kostickis: 730,000 Mindaugas Kriaučiūnas: 15,000
Jaakko Hotti opened to 30,000. Paulius Vaitiekūnas 3-bet to 90,000 and Hotti called.
The flop was 8♥6♣2♦, and the action went check-check. On the turn 9♣, Vaitiekūnas bet 80,000 and Hotti made the call.
River fell Q♦ and after Hotti checked, Vaitiekūnas went all in for roughly 300,000. Hotti took a couple of minutes thinking over his decision; Vaitiekūnas had him covered by a fine margin. Eventually, he did make the call.
Paulius Vaitiekūnas: K♣K♠ Jaakko Hotti: 10♦10♣
This not only meant that Hotti busted and that the remaining 10 players were in the money, but it also meant that the last non-Lithuanian player left in the field was out. The remaining 11 players will now fight for the first-place payout of €24,180.
At Table 2, Sigitas Raila went all in for 140,000. Mindaugas Kriaučiūnas had him just covered and made the call.
Sigitas Raila: A♥2♣ Mindaugas Kriaučiūnas: A♦K♦
When the dust settled, the board read 4♣6♦8♦6♠9♦ meaning Raila’s tournament life had come to an end. Hand-for-hand play began with the action on the money bubble with 12 players remaining and 11 players earning at least a €2,550 payout.
WSOP bracelet winner Karolis Sereika opened to 25,000 from the cut-off. Roman Kulijev three-bet jammed for 194,000 and Sereika called off his stack for less.
Roman Kulijev: 9♦7♦ Karolis Sereika: K♠Q♣
Unlucky for Sereika, the board ran out 8♠10♣2♠7♠8♣, leaving him with just 40,000.
He decided to go for broke on the next hand, and this time, he was called by Aurimas Stanevičius.
Karolis Sereika: A♣7♣ Aurimas Stanevičius: K♥K♦
No ace on the 5♣6♠J♥10♦5♥ board; Sereika’s high roller adventure came to an end.
Roman Kulijev: 400,000 Aurimas Stanevičius: 190,000 Karolis Sereika: 0
From the hi-jack, Aurimas Stanevičius opened to 20,000. Kazimieras Ramaška decided to call from the small blind, and the before the 4♠10♣9♣ were dealt on the flop.
Ramaška was the first one to act, and he decided to come out hot. He bet 15,000, Stanevičius called, and the turn fell 4♥. Ramaška continued on the aggressive path and now bet 38,000. Once again, Stanevičius called.
On the river 8♦, Ramaška wasted little to no time before he bet 40,000. This sent Stanevičius into the tank, and he thought for maybe 3 minutes before deciding to fold.
While this exciting hand was played out at Table 3, Mantas Ungulaitis busted on the other table, reducing the total number of players to 14.
Kazimieras Ramaška: 340,000 Aurimas Stanevičius: 90,000 Mantas Ungulaitis: 0
Jari Mahonen went all in for roughly 30,000 UTG, and was called by Roman Kulijev (small blind) and Aivaras Kerušauskas.
On the K♥Q♦5♦ flop, Kulijev bet 33,000 and was called by Kerušauskas. The turn 3♦ fell and Kulijev seemingly wanted to be the one to eliminate Mahonen; he went all in for 166,000.
Kerušauskas sighed as he leaned back in his chair, contemplating a call. Eventually he folded, and presumeably he was pleased with this as Kulijev turned over A♦8♦.
Mahonen turned over Q♠4♥ but was drawing dead; he was eliminated in 17th place, meaning there’s only 2 tables remaining.
Aivaras Kerušauskas: 406,000 Roman Kulijev: 272,000 Jari Mahonen: 0
The 2020 Fisherman Challenge champion Martynas Račinskas led the way at the break with 534,000 in chips with Paulius Kostickis less than a big blind behind.
Triton champion Paulius Vaitiekūnas, Aivaras Kerušauskas, and Kęstutis Jungevičius round out the top five with the full chip counts listed below:
Ignas Jasinevicius went all in pre-flop for 20,000. He was called solely by Jaakko Sakari Hotti.
Ignas Jasinevicius: Q♣10♣ Jaakko Hotti: A♠J♦
Even though holding a pretty hand, Jasinevicius recieved no help on the 8♦A♦Q♥8♣J♥ runout. As Jasinevicius busted from the tournament, there are 17 players remaining and it’ll soon be only 2 tables remaining.
At Table 3, Sigitas Raila opened to 18,000 from the button. Kazimieras Ramaška decided to defend his big blind.
The flop came 5♠A♣K♥ and it was Ramaška who led out for 8,000, a bet that Raila decided to call. On the turn Q♦ Ramaška continued his aggression, this time firing out a 23,000 bet. Raila took some time before he decided to call.
Ramaška didn’t slow down on the 2♥ river and bet 15,000. Raila now decided to click it back to 30,000. Ramaška snap-called.
Raila turned over J♥10♠ revealing the nut straight. Ramaška let out a sigh as he mucked his hand.
Kazimieras Ramaška: 270,000 Sigitas Raila: 230,000
Linas Bitinas raised to 15,000 in the hi-jack. Kazimieras Ramaška called from the button, and Egidijus Matonis decided to defend his big blind.
All players checked the Q♥3♠6♠ flop. On the turn A♦ however, the pace would pick up. Action was checked to Ramaška who bet 22,000, only to be check-raised by Matonis to 68,000. This move then sent Bitinas into the tank. After about a minute’s worth of consideration leaning back in his chair, he folded, and so did Ramaška.
Another decent pot went the way of Matonis.
Egidijus Matonis: 350,000 Kazimieras Ramaška: 170,000 Linas Bitinas: 63,000
Robertas Šakinis moved all in for 68,000 from the cut-off. Action was folded to Egidijus Matonis in the big blind who requested a count. He thought it over for around 2 minutes before making the call.
Robertas Šakinis: K♦Q♦ Egidijus Matonis: K♠J♥
Things looked good for Šakinis – at least before the K♥10♣5♥10♥7♥ runout. Matonis hit his flush, and such, Šakinis was sent to the rail.
Prior to Šakinis’ downfall, Aleksandras Rusinovas and Mattias Andersson also busted out from the tournament.
From the hi-jack, Simas Karaliunas went all in for 20,000. Egidijus Matonis asked for a count before raising to 40,000. He successfully isolated the blinds, and the 2 players went to showdown.
Simas Karaliunas: A♠2♥ Egidijus Matonis: 9♣9♦
No help for Karaliunas on the 7♣5♥J♣3♦5♣ board. As he left the table, the tournament director announced a redraw would be made for the remaining 24 players.
The €350 NLH Deepstack Turbo champion Steinn Thanh Du Karlsson from Iceland was among the players to hit the rail in the last few minutes. The field is down to just 25 hopefuls, with 11 reaching the money, after Kasparas Drazdauskas and Marius Kudzmanas both lost their stacks.
From the button, Paulius Kostickis opened to 10,000. Roman Kulijev decided to defend his big blind.
On the Q♥2♣Q♣ flop, Kulijev check-called a 9,000 bet from Kostickis. Both players checked the J♥ turn and when 4♥ fell on the river, it was now Kulijev who showed initial aggression, betting out 24,000 into the 40,000 pot. After a minutes consideration, Kostickis threw in the chips to make the call.
Roman Kulijev: K♥8♣ Paulius Kostickis: 5♠4♠
Kostickis pair of fives were enough to take home a decently sized pot.
The action is down to 29 players after Vasilijius Piskunovas, Agne Ivanauskiene, and Aki Pyysing all hit the rail. The top 11 players will go home with at least a €2,550 payout with today’s winner earning a €24,180 top prize barring any deals at the final table.
Best of luck to the remaining players, and check out the full payouts below:
Paulius Kostickis raised to 17,000 from the small blind. Big blind player Mantas Jarasiunas wasn’t in the mood of being bullied around and went all in for 60,000. Kostickis asked for a count before he decided to call.
Mantas Jarasiunas: 4♦4♣ Paulius Kostickis: A♣10♥
The board spelled out A♠3♠K♣6♦10♠. Jarasiunas’ pair of fours wasn’t any good; he hit the rail as Kostickis scooped the pot.
Kestutis Jungevicius led the way at the break with 312,000 in chips closely followed by Roman Kulijev, Mindaugas Grigaitis, Paulius Kostickis, and Mindaugas Kriaciunas.
Triton champion Paulius Vaitiekunas also cracked the top 10 on the leaderboard at the break.
Meanwhile, late registration has closed with 96 entries setting a new Lithuanian side-event record for a €1,100 buy-in event with a €91,200 prize pool. The payouts will be announced shortly, in the meantime check out the top 10 chip counts at the break below.
Before Level 13 concluded, Robertas Šakinis raised to 10,000 from the cut-off. Roman Kulijev called from the button and after the blinds folded, the 2 players were treated to a flop.
On the 8♦J♣7♠, Šakinis continued for 7,000. Kulijev wasted little to no time before putting in a 16,000 raise. Šakinis folded and Kulijev added to his already impressive stack.
The floor announced the final three hands of late registration. Ignas Jasinevicius hopped back in for a re-entry just before the announcement to bring the field up to 91 entries.
Players will head on a 15-minute break after these final few hands. A few new players will likely get into the mix during the break. We will update that along with the top chip counts in the field shortly after the action resumes.
The final payouts will be announced likely during Level 14.
Vasilijus Piskunovas re-entered and immediately went to work to the frustration of Latvia’s Raivo Grislis, who has been grinding at the OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker all week long.
Piskunovas shared how it all went down. He opened with ace-seven suited from the button. 2025 Kings of Vilnius Main Event champion Aurimas Stanevičius called from the small blind before Grislis jammed from the big blind. Piskunovas called off his starting stack and Stanevičius got out of the way before Grislis tabled his ace-queen.
Piskunovas was laughing when he said the flop was something like jack-deuce-four. But immediately found the errors of his ways and it was jack-three-five. The four and six on the turn and river completed a straight for Piskunovas to double on his first hand back into the High Roller.
Meanwhile, Žydrūnas Karčemarskas, Ignas Jasinevicius, and Mantas Kudarauskas hit the rail as did Aki Pyysing who has already re-entered. Agne Ivanauskiene also got into the mix for a fresh stack of 50,000 to bring the field up to 90 entries, already setting a new record for a €1,100 side event in Lithuania.
Vasilijus Piskunovas – 110,000 Raivo Grislis – 70,000
From the button, Vladimiras Mečkovskis decided to move ,all in for 43,000. Egidijus Matonis was in the small blind and decided to push his remaining 37,000 to the middle. The big blind folded and the 2 players turned over their cards.
Vladimiras Mečkovskis: A♦5♦ Egidijus Matonis: A♥9♦
Matonis was the player at risk, but he had Mečkovskis dominated. Mečkovskis didn’t get any help from the Q♣A♠8♣2♠6♣ runout and he was left with crumbs.
On the very next hand, action folded to Mečkovskis who committed his last 5,000 to the pot. Vasilijus Piskunovas was priced in to make the call.
Vladimiras Mečkovskis: Q♥9♦ Vasilijus Piskunovas: A♠8♥
As the cards spelled out 4♣7♥2♣8♣8♠, the party came to an end for Mečkovskis.
Egidijus Matonis: 80,000 Vasilijus Piskunovas: 75,000 Vladimiras Mečkovskis: 0
Kęstutis Jungevičius came into the High Roller already with a 2025 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker trophy in hand from earlier in the week and was in second place to start the final day.
He just chipped up after snagging the stack of Michailas Miserkejevas as follows.
Jungevičius defended from the big blind a late position open by Miserkejevas from the cutoff before both players checked the 6♣10♠7♠ flop. Jungevičius bet after the K♣ followed on the turn. Miserkejevas jammed and we arrived to the table as Jungevičius made a call.
Michailas Miserkejevas: 9♥9♠ Kęstutis Jungevičius: A♠K♥
Miserkejevas was unable to hit his two outer after the J♣ river completed the board and still has time to re-enter if he so chooses.
Meanwhile, Karolis Sereika, Egidijus Oleinik and Aleksandras Rusinovas also recently hit the rail. Vasilijus Piskunovas re-entered after his early demise, while Ignas Jasinevicius made his first appearance on Day 2.
Kęstutis Jungevičius – 310,000 Vasilijus Piskunovas – 50,000 Ignas Jasinevicius – 50,000 Egidijus Oleinik – 0 Michailis Miserkejevas – 0 Karolis Sereika – 0 Aleksandras Rusinovas – 0
The board read Q♥7♣10♠ when Aurimas Stanevičius moved all in after a continuation bet from Aki Pyysing. Pyysing made the call and Stanevičius was the player at risk.
Aurimas Stanevičius: A♥Q♠ Aki Pyysing: K♦Q♦
The full board read Q♥7♣10♠6♣A♦, which resulted in a full double-up for Stanevičius.
Finland Jyri Merivirta and Lithuanian poker beast Aleksandras Rusinovas joined the field before the start of the final day to increase the field to 86 entries and counting.
Meanwhile, Vasilijus Piskunovas, who took runner up in the High Roller in the Jacks of June festival last summer, will need to re-enter if he wishes to advance to the final table again as he recently hit the rail as the first casualty of Day 2.
The first hand of Day 2 of the €1,100 High Roller has been dealt. Get ready for an exciting day of live reporting from OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker and Olympic Casino Lithuania.
Late registration closes after the day’s first level, i.e., in 40 minutes.
Welcome to the coverage of the 2025 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker, taking place at the luxurious Olympic Casino Lietuva, located steps from the iconic Vilnius Old Town. Our coverage at poker.pro will focus on the two largest events of this festival starting with Day 2 of the €1,100 High Roller on Thursday before coverage begins for the €555 Main Event from January 31 to February 2 with the start of Day 1b.
The High Roller already attracted a banner field of 84 entries to create a €80,694 prize pool and counting with late registration open for the first blind level of Day 2, which begins at 1 p.m.
Just 34 players survived the opening day of 12 blind levels of 40-minutes each led by Aivaras Kerušauskas after parlaying his stack of 50,000 in chips to 325,000 for 81 big blinds to start `day 2 with blinds starting at 2,000/4,000 (4,000) and increasing every 40 minutes.
The local player has been recording live cashes at The Hendon Mob dating back nearly a decade with his largest cash recorded at The Hendon Mob coming in 2016 when he won a €1,000 event in France for €16,280. More recently, he found glory at the inaugural Kings of Vilnius where he shipped the €555 OlyBet Special in November 2024 to earn the €13,895 top prize. Kęstutis Jungevičius, who already won a trophy this festival is just behind with 262,000 in chips followed by Mindaugas Kriaučiūnas with 209,000.
The Finnish poker legend Aki Pyysing is also in the mix with 127,000. Pyysing is coming in hot after shipping the €1,120 Helsinki Freezeout Main Event for €37,290 just 2 weeks ago and is no stranger to winning big titles.
Aki Pyysing. Photo: Olybet.tv.
The tournament is a 2-day event meaning play will continue today until a winner is crowned. The structure for today looks as follows:
Level
Time
Small Blind
Big Blind
Ante
13
40 min
2,000
4,000
4,000
Break
15 min
N/A
N/A
N/A
14
40 min
2,000
5,000
5,000
15
40 min
3,000
6,000
6,000
16
40 min
4,000
8,000
8,000
Break
15 min
N/A
N/A
N/A
17
40 min
5,000
10,000
10,000
18
40 min
6,000
12,000
12,000
19
40 min
10,000
15,000
15,000
Break
15 min
N/A
N/A
N/A
20
40 min
10,000
20,000
20,000
21
40 min
10,000
25,000
25,000
22
40 min
15,000
30,000
30,000
Break
15 min
N/A
N/A
N/A
23
40 min
20,000
40,000
40,000
24
40 min
25,000
50,000
50,000
25
40 min
30,000
60,000
60,000
Today is also the day that the €555 Main Event kicks off. Day 1a is scheduled to commence at 4 p.m.. The main priority for today will be focusing on the High Roller before we switch gears into the Main Event on Friday for Day 1b.
Cards are in the air starting at 1 p.m. Stay tuned at poker.pro as we provide you a blow-by-blow recap of the action as it goes down until a winner is crowed in the High Roller. Best of luck to all of the players in their question in becoming the latest OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker champion.
After eliminating Paulius Kostickis in the very first hand of heads-up play, Roman Kulijev is now crowned the winner of the €1,100 High Roller during the OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker at Olympic Casino Vilnius.
Kulijev played aggressively at the final table, and he held a commanding chiplead from 3-handed play to the title. A fun fact is that Kulijev qualified to the tournament through a €80 satellite, in which he at one point had less than 1 big blind. Considering he just earned himself €24,180, he should be very happy with his profit!
Our team at poker.pro thanks you all for being with us today. Tomorrow morning, we’ll bring you a recap article of today’s High Roller event. Then, we’ll begin our coverage of the €555 Main Event, as Day 1b starts at 12:00.
Congratulations to Kulijev for winning today’s title, and stay tuned for tomorrow’s daily recap of the 2025 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker where we will recap Kulijev’s road to victory.
Roman Kulijev entered the break with a massive chip lead over both Paulius Vaitiekūnas and Paulius Kostickis. Will he hold on to the end or will one of the talented players named Paulius win the trophy and the €24,180 top prize.
Place
Player
Country
Chips
Big Blinds
1
Roman Kulijev
Lithuania
3,215,000
80
2
Paulius Vaitiekūnas
Lithuania
805,000
20
3
Paulius Kostickis
Lithuania
780,000
20
2025 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker High Roller Final Table
Action was folded to Kęstutis Jungevičius in the small blind who decided to only call the big blind of Roman Kulijev. Kulijev checked and the flop was dealt.
On 2♥3♠A♣, Jungevičius led out for 65,000 and Kulijev called. The turn came A♠, and Jungevičius continued for 125,000. Kulijev once again elected to call.
On the river 7♦ Jungevičius fired 375,000, just to hear Kulijev announce all in before his chips even touched the felt. Jungevičius leaned back and looked up at the roof. After a sigh or two, he called.
Roman Kulijev: 2♣2♦ Kęstutis Jungevičius: 9♦9♣
Kulijev’s full house meant Jungevičius was eliminated in 4th place, earning himself €9,300. Right after the hand, the remaining 3 players went on a break.
From the button, Kazimieras Ramaška raised to 65,000. Roman Kulijev called from the big blind.
The flop came J♥7♦4♦, and Kulijev led out for 100,000. Almost instantly, Ramaška went all in for 600,000. Kulijev let out a heavy sigh before tossing in a chip for a call.
Kazimieras Ramaška: K♥9♥ Roman Kulijev: Q♠7♠
Kulijev was ahead and the board would complete J♥7♦4♦8♦3♦. No flush for Ramaška who was forced to the rail to collect the €7,300 fifth-place prize.
It’s been a somewhat calm final table. Roman Kulijev has been making some moves, punishing the 3 shorter stacks to the left of him.
Kulijev raised to 55,000 from the cut-off, and Egidijus Matonis decided he wouldn’t be pushed around anymore. He went all in from the small blind for 165,000, and after a minute of consideration, Kulijev made the call.
Egidijus Matonis: 9♠9♥ Roman Kulijev: A♣2♥
“What can you do”, Matonis must have felt as he saw the board run out 4♥A♦J♠7♦J♥. After showcasing good patience, he unfortunately had to see himself go out in 8th place.
Roman Kulijev opened to 55,000 UTG. Mindaugas Grigaitis smooth-called from UTG+1 and action was the folded to Kazimieras Ramaška in the hi-jack who decided to go all in for 235,000. Kulijev called and Grigaitis opted to fold.
Kazimieras Ramaška: 8♥8♠ Roman Kulijev: Q♥10♥
“Snowmen”, Ramaška said as he turned over his hand. A third snowman made its apperance as the board ran out 8♦5♠4♣4♦7♣.
Roman Kulijev: 895,000 Kazimieras Ramaška: 540,000
As previously reported, Mindaugas Kriaučiūnas entered the final table with only 1 big blind. He committed his 15,000 and Paulius Kostickis automatically called from the big blind.
Mindaugas Kriaučiūnas: A♦6♠ Paulius Kostickis: 9♠9♦
The board 10♠5♠K♠10♥2♥ meant Kriaučiūnas was the first to bust from the final table. While Kriaučiūnas headed to the cashier to collect his €2,550 prize for ninth place, the final eight players each earned a pay jump to at least €3,280.
Paulius Kostickis: 760,000 Mindaugas Kriaučiūnas: 0
Roman Kulijev will kick off the final table as the only chip millionaire among the mix. Meanwhile, Mindaugas Kriaučiūnas lost a big pot during the final hand-for-hand action to be down to a single big blind.
Check out the full final table seat draw below with the action resuming in about 5-10 minutes.
Seat
Player
Country
Chips
Big Blinds
1
Mindaugas Grigaitis
Lithuania
280,000
19
2
Egidijus Matonis
Lithuania
270,000
18
3
Aivaras Kerušauskas
Lithuania
225,000
15
4
Paulius Vaitiekūnas
Lithuania
950,000
63
5
Paulius Kostickis
Lithuania
730,000
49
6
Mindaugas Kriaučiūnas
Lithuania
15,000
1
7
Kazimieras Ramaška
Lithuania
280,000
19
8
Kęstutis Jungevičius
Lithuania
800,000
53
9
Roman Kulijev
Lithuania
1,250,000
83
Average
533,333
36
2025 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker High Roller Final Table
Just before the final table was reached, Mindaugas Kriaučiūnas opened from the cut-off and was called by the small blind and Paulius Kostickis from the big blind.
Kriaučiūnas bet every street on the 10♣10♠10♥6♣8♥ board, and Kostickis stuck until the end, calling Kriaučiūnas down.
Mindaugas Kriaučiūnas: K♥J♠ Paulius Kostickis: A♠Q♠
Kriaučiūnas will enter the final table with 1 big blind.
Paulius Kostickis: 730,000 Mindaugas Kriaučiūnas: 15,000
Jaakko Hotti opened to 30,000. Paulius Vaitiekūnas 3-bet to 90,000 and Hotti called.
The flop was 8♥6♣2♦, and the action went check-check. On the turn 9♣, Vaitiekūnas bet 80,000 and Hotti made the call.
River fell Q♦ and after Hotti checked, Vaitiekūnas went all in for roughly 300,000. Hotti took a couple of minutes thinking over his decision; Vaitiekūnas had him covered by a fine margin. Eventually, he did make the call.
Paulius Vaitiekūnas: K♣K♠ Jaakko Hotti: 10♦10♣
This not only meant that Hotti busted and that the remaining 10 players were in the money, but it also meant that the last non-Lithuanian player left in the field was out. The remaining 11 players will now fight for the first-place payout of €24,180.
At Table 2, Sigitas Raila went all in for 140,000. Mindaugas Kriaučiūnas had him just covered and made the call.
Sigitas Raila: A♥2♣ Mindaugas Kriaučiūnas: A♦K♦
When the dust settled, the board read 4♣6♦8♦6♠9♦ meaning Raila’s tournament life had come to an end. Hand-for-hand play began with the action on the money bubble with 12 players remaining and 11 players earning at least a €2,550 payout.
WSOP bracelet winner Karolis Sereika opened to 25,000 from the cut-off. Roman Kulijev three-bet jammed for 194,000 and Sereika called off his stack for less.
Roman Kulijev: 9♦7♦ Karolis Sereika: K♠Q♣
Unlucky for Sereika, the board ran out 8♠10♣2♠7♠8♣, leaving him with just 40,000.
He decided to go for broke on the next hand, and this time, he was called by Aurimas Stanevičius.
Karolis Sereika: A♣7♣ Aurimas Stanevičius: K♥K♦
No ace on the 5♣6♠J♥10♦5♥ board; Sereika’s high roller adventure came to an end.
Roman Kulijev: 400,000 Aurimas Stanevičius: 190,000 Karolis Sereika: 0
From the hi-jack, Aurimas Stanevičius opened to 20,000. Kazimieras Ramaška decided to call from the small blind, and the before the 4♠10♣9♣ were dealt on the flop.
Ramaška was the first one to act, and he decided to come out hot. He bet 15,000, Stanevičius called, and the turn fell 4♥. Ramaška continued on the aggressive path and now bet 38,000. Once again, Stanevičius called.
On the river 8♦, Ramaška wasted little to no time before he bet 40,000. This sent Stanevičius into the tank, and he thought for maybe 3 minutes before deciding to fold.
While this exciting hand was played out at Table 3, Mantas Ungulaitis busted on the other table, reducing the total number of players to 14.
Kazimieras Ramaška: 340,000 Aurimas Stanevičius: 90,000 Mantas Ungulaitis: 0
Jari Mahonen went all in for roughly 30,000 UTG, and was called by Roman Kulijev (small blind) and Aivaras Kerušauskas.
On the K♥Q♦5♦ flop, Kulijev bet 33,000 and was called by Kerušauskas. The turn 3♦ fell and Kulijev seemingly wanted to be the one to eliminate Mahonen; he went all in for 166,000.
Kerušauskas sighed as he leaned back in his chair, contemplating a call. Eventually he folded, and presumeably he was pleased with this as Kulijev turned over A♦8♦.
Mahonen turned over Q♠4♥ but was drawing dead; he was eliminated in 17th place, meaning there’s only 2 tables remaining.
Aivaras Kerušauskas: 406,000 Roman Kulijev: 272,000 Jari Mahonen: 0
The 2020 Fisherman Challenge champion Martynas Račinskas led the way at the break with 534,000 in chips with Paulius Kostickis less than a big blind behind.
Triton champion Paulius Vaitiekūnas, Aivaras Kerušauskas, and Kęstutis Jungevičius round out the top five with the full chip counts listed below:
Ignas Jasinevicius went all in pre-flop for 20,000. He was called solely by Jaakko Sakari Hotti.
Ignas Jasinevicius: Q♣10♣ Jaakko Hotti: A♠J♦
Even though holding a pretty hand, Jasinevicius recieved no help on the 8♦A♦Q♥8♣J♥ runout. As Jasinevicius busted from the tournament, there are 17 players remaining and it’ll soon be only 2 tables remaining.
At Table 3, Sigitas Raila opened to 18,000 from the button. Kazimieras Ramaška decided to defend his big blind.
The flop came 5♠A♣K♥ and it was Ramaška who led out for 8,000, a bet that Raila decided to call. On the turn Q♦ Ramaška continued his aggression, this time firing out a 23,000 bet. Raila took some time before he decided to call.
Ramaška didn’t slow down on the 2♥ river and bet 15,000. Raila now decided to click it back to 30,000. Ramaška snap-called.
Raila turned over J♥10♠ revealing the nut straight. Ramaška let out a sigh as he mucked his hand.
Kazimieras Ramaška: 270,000 Sigitas Raila: 230,000
Linas Bitinas raised to 15,000 in the hi-jack. Kazimieras Ramaška called from the button, and Egidijus Matonis decided to defend his big blind.
All players checked the Q♥3♠6♠ flop. On the turn A♦ however, the pace would pick up. Action was checked to Ramaška who bet 22,000, only to be check-raised by Matonis to 68,000. This move then sent Bitinas into the tank. After about a minute’s worth of consideration leaning back in his chair, he folded, and so did Ramaška.
Another decent pot went the way of Matonis.
Egidijus Matonis: 350,000 Kazimieras Ramaška: 170,000 Linas Bitinas: 63,000
Robertas Šakinis moved all in for 68,000 from the cut-off. Action was folded to Egidijus Matonis in the big blind who requested a count. He thought it over for around 2 minutes before making the call.
Robertas Šakinis: K♦Q♦ Egidijus Matonis: K♠J♥
Things looked good for Šakinis – at least before the K♥10♣5♥10♥7♥ runout. Matonis hit his flush, and such, Šakinis was sent to the rail.
Prior to Šakinis’ downfall, Aleksandras Rusinovas and Mattias Andersson also busted out from the tournament.
From the hi-jack, Simas Karaliunas went all in for 20,000. Egidijus Matonis asked for a count before raising to 40,000. He successfully isolated the blinds, and the 2 players went to showdown.
Simas Karaliunas: A♠2♥ Egidijus Matonis: 9♣9♦
No help for Karaliunas on the 7♣5♥J♣3♦5♣ board. As he left the table, the tournament director announced a redraw would be made for the remaining 24 players.
The €350 NLH Deepstack Turbo champion Steinn Thanh Du Karlsson from Iceland was among the players to hit the rail in the last few minutes. The field is down to just 25 hopefuls, with 11 reaching the money, after Kasparas Drazdauskas and Marius Kudzmanas both lost their stacks.
From the button, Paulius Kostickis opened to 10,000. Roman Kulijev decided to defend his big blind.
On the Q♥2♣Q♣ flop, Kulijev check-called a 9,000 bet from Kostickis. Both players checked the J♥ turn and when 4♥ fell on the river, it was now Kulijev who showed initial aggression, betting out 24,000 into the 40,000 pot. After a minutes consideration, Kostickis threw in the chips to make the call.
Roman Kulijev: K♥8♣ Paulius Kostickis: 5♠4♠
Kostickis pair of fives were enough to take home a decently sized pot.
The action is down to 29 players after Vasilijius Piskunovas, Agne Ivanauskiene, and Aki Pyysing all hit the rail. The top 11 players will go home with at least a €2,550 payout with today’s winner earning a €24,180 top prize barring any deals at the final table.
Best of luck to the remaining players, and check out the full payouts below:
Paulius Kostickis raised to 17,000 from the small blind. Big blind player Mantas Jarasiunas wasn’t in the mood of being bullied around and went all in for 60,000. Kostickis asked for a count before he decided to call.
Mantas Jarasiunas: 4♦4♣ Paulius Kostickis: A♣10♥
The board spelled out A♠3♠K♣6♦10♠. Jarasiunas’ pair of fours wasn’t any good; he hit the rail as Kostickis scooped the pot.
Kestutis Jungevicius led the way at the break with 312,000 in chips closely followed by Roman Kulijev, Mindaugas Grigaitis, Paulius Kostickis, and Mindaugas Kriaciunas.
Triton champion Paulius Vaitiekunas also cracked the top 10 on the leaderboard at the break.
Meanwhile, late registration has closed with 96 entries setting a new Lithuanian side-event record for a €1,100 buy-in event with a €91,200 prize pool. The payouts will be announced shortly, in the meantime check out the top 10 chip counts at the break below.
Before Level 13 concluded, Robertas Šakinis raised to 10,000 from the cut-off. Roman Kulijev called from the button and after the blinds folded, the 2 players were treated to a flop.
On the 8♦J♣7♠, Šakinis continued for 7,000. Kulijev wasted little to no time before putting in a 16,000 raise. Šakinis folded and Kulijev added to his already impressive stack.
The floor announced the final three hands of late registration. Ignas Jasinevicius hopped back in for a re-entry just before the announcement to bring the field up to 91 entries.
Players will head on a 15-minute break after these final few hands. A few new players will likely get into the mix during the break. We will update that along with the top chip counts in the field shortly after the action resumes.
The final payouts will be announced likely during Level 14.
Vasilijus Piskunovas re-entered and immediately went to work to the frustration of Latvia’s Raivo Grislis, who has been grinding at the OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker all week long.
Piskunovas shared how it all went down. He opened with ace-seven suited from the button. 2025 Kings of Vilnius Main Event champion Aurimas Stanevičius called from the small blind before Grislis jammed from the big blind. Piskunovas called off his starting stack and Stanevičius got out of the way before Grislis tabled his ace-queen.
Piskunovas was laughing when he said the flop was something like jack-deuce-four. But immediately found the errors of his ways and it was jack-three-five. The four and six on the turn and river completed a straight for Piskunovas to double on his first hand back into the High Roller.
Meanwhile, Žydrūnas Karčemarskas, Ignas Jasinevicius, and Mantas Kudarauskas hit the rail as did Aki Pyysing who has already re-entered. Agne Ivanauskiene also got into the mix for a fresh stack of 50,000 to bring the field up to 90 entries, already setting a new record for a €1,100 side event in Lithuania.
Vasilijus Piskunovas – 110,000 Raivo Grislis – 70,000
From the button, Vladimiras Mečkovskis decided to move ,all in for 43,000. Egidijus Matonis was in the small blind and decided to push his remaining 37,000 to the middle. The big blind folded and the 2 players turned over their cards.
Vladimiras Mečkovskis: A♦5♦ Egidijus Matonis: A♥9♦
Matonis was the player at risk, but he had Mečkovskis dominated. Mečkovskis didn’t get any help from the Q♣A♠8♣2♠6♣ runout and he was left with crumbs.
On the very next hand, action folded to Mečkovskis who committed his last 5,000 to the pot. Vasilijus Piskunovas was priced in to make the call.
Vladimiras Mečkovskis: Q♥9♦ Vasilijus Piskunovas: A♠8♥
As the cards spelled out 4♣7♥2♣8♣8♠, the party came to an end for Mečkovskis.
Egidijus Matonis: 80,000 Vasilijus Piskunovas: 75,000 Vladimiras Mečkovskis: 0
Kęstutis Jungevičius came into the High Roller already with a 2025 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker trophy in hand from earlier in the week and was in second place to start the final day.
He just chipped up after snagging the stack of Michailas Miserkejevas as follows.
Jungevičius defended from the big blind a late position open by Miserkejevas from the cutoff before both players checked the 6♣10♠7♠ flop. Jungevičius bet after the K♣ followed on the turn. Miserkejevas jammed and we arrived to the table as Jungevičius made a call.
Michailas Miserkejevas: 9♥9♠ Kęstutis Jungevičius: A♠K♥
Miserkejevas was unable to hit his two outer after the J♣ river completed the board and still has time to re-enter if he so chooses.
Meanwhile, Karolis Sereika, Egidijus Oleinik and Aleksandras Rusinovas also recently hit the rail. Vasilijus Piskunovas re-entered after his early demise, while Ignas Jasinevicius made his first appearance on Day 2.
Kęstutis Jungevičius – 310,000 Vasilijus Piskunovas – 50,000 Ignas Jasinevicius – 50,000 Egidijus Oleinik – 0 Michailis Miserkejevas – 0 Karolis Sereika – 0 Aleksandras Rusinovas – 0
The board read Q♥7♣10♠ when Aurimas Stanevičius moved all in after a continuation bet from Aki Pyysing. Pyysing made the call and Stanevičius was the player at risk.
Aurimas Stanevičius: A♥Q♠ Aki Pyysing: K♦Q♦
The full board read Q♥7♣10♠6♣A♦, which resulted in a full double-up for Stanevičius.
Finland Jyri Merivirta and Lithuanian poker beast Aleksandras Rusinovas joined the field before the start of the final day to increase the field to 86 entries and counting.
Meanwhile, Vasilijus Piskunovas, who took runner up in the High Roller in the Jacks of June festival last summer, will need to re-enter if he wishes to advance to the final table again as he recently hit the rail as the first casualty of Day 2.
The first hand of Day 2 of the €1,100 High Roller has been dealt. Get ready for an exciting day of live reporting from OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker and Olympic Casino Lithuania.
Late registration closes after the day’s first level, i.e., in 40 minutes.
Welcome to the coverage of the 2025 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker, taking place at the luxurious Olympic Casino Lietuva, located steps from the iconic Vilnius Old Town. Our coverage at poker.pro will focus on the two largest events of this festival starting with Day 2 of the €1,100 High Roller on Thursday before coverage begins for the €555 Main Event from January 31 to February 2 with the start of Day 1b.
The High Roller already attracted a banner field of 84 entries to create a €80,694 prize pool and counting with late registration open for the first blind level of Day 2, which begins at 1 p.m.
Just 34 players survived the opening day of 12 blind levels of 40-minutes each led by Aivaras Kerušauskas after parlaying his stack of 50,000 in chips to 325,000 for 81 big blinds to start `day 2 with blinds starting at 2,000/4,000 (4,000) and increasing every 40 minutes.
The local player has been recording live cashes at The Hendon Mob dating back nearly a decade with his largest cash recorded at The Hendon Mob coming in 2016 when he won a €1,000 event in France for €16,280. More recently, he found glory at the inaugural Kings of Vilnius where he shipped the €555 OlyBet Special in November 2024 to earn the €13,895 top prize. Kęstutis Jungevičius, who already won a trophy this festival is just behind with 262,000 in chips followed by Mindaugas Kriaučiūnas with 209,000.
The Finnish poker legend Aki Pyysing is also in the mix with 127,000. Pyysing is coming in hot after shipping the €1,120 Helsinki Freezeout Main Event for €37,290 just 2 weeks ago and is no stranger to winning big titles.
Aki Pyysing. Photo: Olybet.tv.
The tournament is a 2-day event meaning play will continue today until a winner is crowned. The structure for today looks as follows:
Level
Time
Small Blind
Big Blind
Ante
13
40 min
2,000
4,000
4,000
Break
15 min
N/A
N/A
N/A
14
40 min
2,000
5,000
5,000
15
40 min
3,000
6,000
6,000
16
40 min
4,000
8,000
8,000
Break
15 min
N/A
N/A
N/A
17
40 min
5,000
10,000
10,000
18
40 min
6,000
12,000
12,000
19
40 min
10,000
15,000
15,000
Break
15 min
N/A
N/A
N/A
20
40 min
10,000
20,000
20,000
21
40 min
10,000
25,000
25,000
22
40 min
15,000
30,000
30,000
Break
15 min
N/A
N/A
N/A
23
40 min
20,000
40,000
40,000
24
40 min
25,000
50,000
50,000
25
40 min
30,000
60,000
60,000
Today is also the day that the €555 Main Event kicks off. Day 1a is scheduled to commence at 4 p.m.. The main priority for today will be focusing on the High Roller before we switch gears into the Main Event on Friday for Day 1b.
Cards are in the air starting at 1 p.m. Stay tuned at poker.pro as we provide you a blow-by-blow recap of the action as it goes down until a winner is crowed in the High Roller. Best of luck to all of the players in their question in becoming the latest OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker champion.
Mantas Liachauskas
Raivo Grislis
Mattias Andersson
Jari Mahonen
