Grimalis Leads Historic €555 KoV Championship While Fominas Finds Gold
The inaugural 2024 Kings of Vilnius has lived up to its billing during its first three days with players from far and near battle for a chance to win a coveted Kings of Vilnius poker trophy and huge prizes at Olympic Casino Lietuva.
Lithuania’s Edvinas Grimalis holds a substantial lead in the three-day Event #1: €555 NLH Kings of Vilnius Championship with the event establishing a new side event record at a Lithuanian international poker festival record for the largest prize pool with 297 entries creating a €142,560 prize pool.
Another Lithuanian made it three-for-three for the home country hoisting the trophy after Erikas Fominas shipped the one-day Event #7: €150 NLH/PLO4 Turbo for €1,707.
In other news, Lithuania’s Vitalijus Kuzmičius leads the final 28 players from a field of 150 entries in the two-day Event #6: €350 NLH Progressive Bounty with the action playing down to a winner on Monday.
Read on to learn more about what transpired on Monday at the 2024 Kings of Vilnius.
Edvinas Grimalis Leads Final Table in €555 Championship
The €555 buy-in has been reserved for Main Events in Vilnius since the world was re-energized after the pandemic. So while a big turnout is expected for the €250,000 guaranteed €1,100 Kings of Vilnius Main Event, it wasn’t a huge surprise to witness nearly 300 entries battling for gold.
Day 2 witnessed the field grow by 16 entries to 297 entries and played down to a final table of nine hopefuls for the title.
Edvinas Grimalis amassed a huge chip lead with nearly 3 million in chips to start the final day and has already earned his largest cash record at The Hendon Mob just by returning with the final nine guaranteed at least a €3,610 payout with a €28,790 top prize on the line.
Lithuania’s Lukas Poškus (1,400,000) and Greece’s Konstantinos Tzinis (1,255,000) also began the final table as chip millionaires. American Scott Hall (905,000) is the only other player after Tzinis to not waive the Lithuanian flag, while Aušra Razmaitė is looking to spin it up and become the first female side event champion this festival and the first woman champion of a €555 buy-in event in Lithuania.
The action resumes Monday at Noon with a winner to be crowned later in the day. Check out the final table seat draw below.
| Seat | Name | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
| 1 | Sergej Babincev | Lithuania | 855,000 | 21 |
| 2 | Edvinas Grimalis | Lithuania | 2,955,000 | 74 |
| 3 | Aušra Razmaitė | Lithuania | 285,000 | 7 |
| 4 | Artūras Bliūdžius | Lithuania | 605,000 | 15 |
| 5 | Lukas Poškus | Lithuania | 1,400,000 | 35 |
| 6 | Tomas Jagela | Lithuania | 145,000 | 4 |
| 7 | Scott Hall | United States | 905,000 | 23 |
| 8 | Konstantinos Tzinis | Greece | 1,255,000 | 31 |
| 9 | Irmantas Kaulakis | Lithuania | 470,000 | 12 |
Erikas Fominas Wins €150 NLH/PLO4 Turbo
The €150 NLH/PLO4 Turbo witnessed 41 entries competing for a share of a €5,117 prize pool. Four of the five players in the money were from the home country of Lithuania but Norway’s Kristian Aksnes was looking to become the first player from another country to win a trophy this week.
Aksnes advanced to the heads-up battle against Erikas Fominas. The duo made a deal before Fominas earned the trophy and the €1,707 top prize leaving Aksnes with a healthy runner-up prize of €1,400.
| Place | Name | Country | Prize |
| 1 | Erikas Fominas | Lithuania | €1,707 |
| 2 | Kristian Aksnes | Norway | €1,400 |
| 3 | Adomas Juozapavičius | Lithuania | €920 |
| 4 | Tadeuš Oleškevič | Lithuania | €630 |
| 5 | Kazimieras Žukauskas | Lithuania | €460 |
2024 Kings of Vilnius Day 4 Schedule (Monday, November 18)
Day 4 will prove to be an exciting one with four trophies awarded throughout the day and evening. Both the €555 NLH Kings of Vilnius Championship and the €350 NLH Progressive Bounty will play out their final days with two one day events in Event #10: €250 NLH Bounty and Event #11: €150 PLO4/PLO5/PLO6 taking place later in the day.
Check out the full schedule below and head to OlyBetEvents to see what is coming up the rest of the week.
