Dmitrijs Petrenko Wins First Trophy at the 2024 OlyBet Showdown Riga Voodoo Bounty

Poker players from around the world are heading to the Latvian capital of Riga to be part of history in the inaugural OlyBet Showdown Riga Voodoo Bounty at the luxurious Olympic Voodoo Casino in the lively Baltic city of Riga from September 14 to 22.

The action on Saturday’s opening day created a tremendous buzz as players competed in two tournaments, one satellite, and cash games.

Latvia’s Dmitrijs Petrenko kept the first trophy of the festival on home soil as he battled his way to victory in the €80 Saturday Night Turbo, while countrymate Aris Rozentals earned his way to the overnight chip lead in the two-day €250 Warm-Up Progressive Bounty.

Meanwhile, the day opened up with a €20 rebuy and add-on satellite to Sunday’s one-day €250 NLH Deep Stack that guaranteed five seats. The event exceeded expectations, with 61 individual players enthusiastically participating to create a €3,256 prize pool, resulting in 13 seats being awarded.

Read on to learn more about Saturday’s Day 1 of the 2024 OlyBet Showdown Riga Voodoo Bounty at Olympic Voodoo Casino.

Dmitrijs Petrenko Wins €80 Saturday Night Turbo (€1,185)

Latvia’s Dmitrijs Petrenko will forever be known as the player who won the first trophy of a new era in Latvian poker after shipping the €80 Saturday Night Turbo for €1,185.

The fast-paced evening event attracted 59 entries for a €3,965 prize pool, including Canada’s Dominick French, who has been flag-hunting around the globe. French managed to already earn his flag with a fourth-place finish worth €405, but we expect him to stick around for some of the larger events as the festival progresses after five Latvian players hit the rail in the money.

The podium was an international affair, with Lithuania’s Rytis Zizniauskas finishing one spot shy of making history after bowing out in second place for €790 after Finland’s Jarmo Luokkala took third place for €555.

Aris Rozentals Leads €250 Warm-Up PKO

The two-day €250 Warm-Up Progressive Bounty was the highlight of Saturday with 99 entries getting into the mix on its opening day to create a €11,009 prize pool.

The action played down past the money bubble with Latvia’s Jevgenijs Kritiņins ending the evening with a min-cash of €220 after exiting in 15^th place.

Latvia’s Aris Rozentals leads the way with 454,000 in chips in hopes of winning the trophy. The top two players in this event will go home with €2,189. However, the winner will take home a bit more than just the trophy. In a progressive bounty event, which you can read more about here, the final bounties are always the largest to collect, including the final player claiming their own bounty.

Blinds will increase every 30 minutes after the action resumes at Noon on Sunday until a winner is crowned. Check out the final day seat draw below:

Day 2 Schedule (Sept. 14, 2024)

Olympic Voodoo Casino is gearing up for an electrifying Sunday with four events for players to choose from. The action kicks off at noon with the thrilling conclusion of the two-day €250 NLH Warm-Up Progressive Bounty, where players will battle it out for even larger bounties.

At 1 p.m., new players will dive into the one-day €250 NLH Deepstack, starting with a massive stack of 30,000 chips and blinds escalating every 20 minutes. Players in the mood for something different, the €250 NLH / PLO4 / PLO5 Mix at 5 p.m. promises to keep players on their toes, with each table switching games every orbit. Players will begin with 20,000 in chips, all while competing under a 20-minute clock.

Let’s not forget about the first live satellite for the €350 Main Event, kicking off at 8 p.m. Here’s your chance to qualify for just €20, with potential rebuys and add-ons also available. This satellite guarantees at least five players will secure their seats in the Main Event, which begins with Day 1a on Wednesday. Check out the full Sunday schedule below: