More Than 1,800 Players From 25 Countries Battle at OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker

The 2024 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker was a massive success at Olympic Casino Lietuva, located in the heart of the majestic Lithuanian capital of Vilnius.

The event boasts 26 numbered events along with cash games running 24 hours a day creating the perfect poker atmosphere. Players responded in big numbers with records broken in several events with 1,800 entries getting into the mix. Players from a whopping 25 different nationalities battled for Ace Breaker glory including from far away countries such as South Korea, Mexico, and the United States.

Game of Gold’s Olga Iermolcheva battled in the Main Event, High Roller, and Ladies event but will need to return to Vilnius from Ukraine in order to earn a Lithuanian flag at The Hendon Mob after not finding success at the tables.

The €555 NLH Main Event and €1,100 NLH High Roller were the highlights of the festival with these events also featured English poker coverage at the OlyBet.tv blog for the first time in Lithuanian poker history. Both of these events also generated a bit of fun thanks to players awarded a special Vilnius Ace Breaker cocktail every time they cracked an opponent’s aces in theme with the event.

• Check out the live blog of the Main Event and High Roller

Read on to learn about some of the highlights of the OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker at Olympic Casino Lietuva:

Paulius Zilinskas Wins OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker Main Event

The three-day Vilnius Ace Breaker €555 NLH Main Event boasted three opening flights with players still also able to get into the mix during the first blind level of Day 2. The event attracted 371 runners to create a tasty prize pool of €178,080. This was not only the largest prize pool of the festival but also the second-largest in Lithuanian poker history for a €555 Main Event.

Although two players from countries outside of Lithuania advanced to the final table, they were both out early with Turkey’s Bahadir Hatipoglu exiting in ninth place for €3,340 and Poland’s Dominik Ostrowski exiting in sixth place for €7,660 to guarantee that the Vilnius Ace Breaker Main Event would stay home for a second straight year after Vasilij Barna shipped the inaugural Vilnius Ace Breaker €555 Main Event in 2023.

Egidijius Dovidaitis (third – €16,950), Rolandas Alginskas (€12,985), and Audrius Laimelis (fifth – €9,890) hit the rail one-by-one to leave just Paulius Zilinskas and Titas Gancierius heads-up for the title.

The duo agreed to a heads-up deal during a break before the heads-up action began that guaranteed Zilinskas €29,800 and Gancierius €28,000 with still the coveted trophy and €5,005 to play for. The heads-up battle was long and fierce before Zilinskas came out on top to become the second Vilnius Ace Breaker Main Event champion along with a €34,805 top prize.

• Read more in the Main Event recap
• Head to the OlyBet.tv blog to read about hands, bad beats, and more.

Main Event Final Table Results

1. Paulius Zilinskas (Lithuania) – €34,805*
2. Titas Gancierius (Lithuania) – €28,000*
3. Egidijius Dovidaitis (Lithuania) – €16,950
4. Rolandas Aglinskas (Lithuania) – €12,865
5. Audrius Laimelis (Lithuania) – €9,890
6. Dominik Ostrowski (Poland) – €7,660
7. Arnas Bazys (Lithuania) – €5,755
8. Robertas Sakinis (Lithuania) – €4,375
9. Bahadir Hatipoglu (Turkey) – €3,340

*Reflects heads-up deal at the final table.

Edgaras Kausinis Wins OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker High Roller

The OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker €1,100 High Roller proved to be another popular event with the 78 entries generating a €74,880 prize pool. This was one of the events to establish a new Lithuanian record during the festival.

Many big names were in play including those that didn’t find the success they were looking for in the Main Event including Paulius Vaitiekunas, Vladas Tamasauskas, Olga Iermolcheva, and a pair of Estonian crushers in Steven Tool and Urmo Velvelt. None of those players found success either in the High Roller but eight Lithuanians and one Latvian in Eriks Krumins.

Krumins advanced far before hitting the rail in third place for €9,540 but the true story was the absolute crushing machine Edgaras Kausinis who took control before the final table began to go coast to coast en route to victory.

Kausinis’s commanding performance led him to have a massive chip lead during four-handed play with 63 big blinds. None of his three opponents had more than eight big blinds. There were a couple of hiccups along the way but all-in-all was easily one of the most commanding performances in poker history on his way to winning the €22,390 top prize.

• Read more in the High Roller recap
• Head to the OlyBet.tv blog to read about hands, bad beats, and more.

High Roller Final Table Results

1. 1. Edgaras Kausinis (Lithuania) – €22,390

1. Deividas Daubaris (Lithuania) – €14,980
2. Eriks Krumins (Latvia) – €9,540
3. Elvinas Vitkevicius (Lithuania) – €7,640
4. Vasilijus Piskunovas (Lithuania) – €6,030
5. Laurynas Cerniauskas (Lithuania) – €4,830
6. Ignas Jasinevicius (Lithuania) – €3,970
7. Lukas Parednis (Lithuania) – €3,130
8. Paulius Zapolskas (Lithuania) – €2,340

Other Event Results

Most of the trophies were awarded to players from Lithuania with Finland’s Jukka Juvonen and Aliaksei Padrez being the only two players from outside the Baltic country to walk away with Vilnius Ace Breaker hardware.

A relatively unknown Eligijus Asmena made a name for himself early in the festival by shipping the first two side events he entered. Later on, Domynkas Morkunas, who won the first big even in Event #1: €350 Progressive Bounty Warm-up for €6,050 plus bounties also added a second trophy to his collection after winning Event #16: €350 Thursday Thrill for €5,090.

Event #23: €60 Queens of Tallinn may have featured the lowest buy-in but it broke records for the largest Ladies Event in Lithuanian history with 24 entries creating a €1,152 prize pool. Ema Brazauskaite was the last lady standing to win the €462 top prize.

Meanwhile, Aurimas Vaitiekunas, poker coach and podcaster Andrius Bielskis, Vilius Zamzickas, Saulius Tumosa, Justinas Adomauskas, Gediminas Kvedaris, and Sarunas Leonavicius all went home with trophies during side events.

Check out all the results below for all of the non-satellite events on the schedule of the 2024 Vilnius Ace Breaker.

If you missed out on Vilnius, rest assured there is an even bigger festival just a couple of weeks away with the Kings of Tallinn powered by OlyBet returning to heart of the Estonian capital at Olympic Park Casino and the adjoining Hilton Tallinn Park for a robust poker schedule of 55 numbered events from Feb. 23 until March 3.

Head to the Kings of Tallinn landing page to learn more about the full schedule, Team Competition, hotel deals, a players’ guide, and more.