Simas Karaliunas Wins WSOP Online $500 Mystery Bounty for Eighth Lithuanian Bracelet
Lithuania’s Simas Karaliunas has made history by clinching his first career World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet in the 2024 WSOP Online Event #11: NL Hold’em Mystery Bounty. This event, featuring a $500 buy-in, attracted a massive field of 3,462 players and generated a prize pool of $1,557,900, with $500,000 reserved for the mystery bounties.
Karaliunas emerged victorious, securing the top prize of $122,716. In addition to his win, he collected $4,551 from the bounties. His heads-up opponent, Luis Noboa, took home $87,594 from the regular prize pool and an impressive $103,034 from the bounties, including the event’s largest envelope worth $100,000.
Navigating the large field, Karaliunas faced many notable players on his path to victory. The final table featured three bracelet winners, including 10-time WSOP bracelet winner and Poker Hall of Famer Erik Seidel, who finished fifth. David Simon, another bracelet winner, bowed out in seventh place, while Brent Hanks, known for his commentary on PokerGO, was the first to exit the final table, finishing ninth.
Additionally, WSOP record holder Phil Hellmuth, with 17 bracelets to his name, had another deep run, placing 12th and marking his 212th WSOP career cash.
Following the same trend, the upcoming 2024 WSOP Circuit Tallinn will be hosting an online ring event as part of the 12-ring festival from July 19-28 at Olympic Park Casino, with a €350 buy-in on July 27 at 5 p.m. exclusively at OlyBet Poker. The other 11 ring events feature a variety of formats and buy-ins, including the €1 million guaranteed €1,500 Main Event from July 23-28.
WSOP Online Event #11: NL Hold’em Mystery Bounty Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize | Bounty Won | Total |
| 1 | Simas Karaliunas | Lithuania | $122,716 | $4,551 | $127,267 |
| 2 | Luis Noboa | United States | $87,594 | $103,034 | $190,628 |
| 3 | Ivan Stankov | Bulgaria | $62,522 | $1,271 | $63,793 |
| 4 | Stuart Pfeifer | United States | $44,961 | $3,517 | $48,477 |
| 5 | Erik Seidel | United States | $32,583 | $2,293 | $34,876 |
| 6 | Kurt Jewell | United States | $23,697 | $10,542 | $34,239 |
| 7 | David Simon | United States | $17,455 | $53,771 | $41,226 |
| 8 | Kenneth Hicks | United States | $12,906 | $1,779 | $14,686 |
| 9 | Brent Hanks | United States | $9,733 | $1,262 | $10,995 |
Karaliunas Joins Lithuania’s Poker Elite
Karaliunas now joins an elite group of eight Lithuanian players who earned their claim to fame with WSOP bracelets victories, including Dainius Antanaitis, Vladas Burneikis, Gediminas Uselis, Vincas Tamasauskas, Karolis Sereika, Marius Kudzmanas, and Paulius Vaitiekunas. Interestingly, five of these wins came from online events, with only one victory achieved in a live event in Las Vegas, when Sereika won the Super Turbo Bounty event in 2021.
Technically, Karaliunas had to be present in Nevada, New Jersey, or Michigan during his play on the WSOP Online series at WSOP.com for his milestone. Previous Lithuanian winners Uselis, Burneikis, Tamasauskas, Kudzmanas, and Vaitiekunas earned their bracelets in the WSOP Online International Series on GGPoker from 2020 until 2023, while Antanaitis won his bracelet in Rozvadov last year during WSOP Europe.
Karaliunas’s victory in this prestigious event highlights his skill and adds a remarkable achievement to his poker resume, further establishing Lithuania’s growing presence in the world of poker.
Lithuania’s WSOP Bracelet Wins
| Year | Event | Winner | Prize |
| 2020 | WSOP Online $500 Deepstack No Limit Hold’em | Vladas Burneikis | $192,523 |
| 2020 | WSOP Online $400 Forty Stack No Limit Hold’em | Gediminas Uselis | $227,186 |
| 2021 | WSOP Online $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship | Vincas Tamasauskas | $268,926 |
| 2021 | WSOP $1,500 Super Turbo Bounty No Limit Hold’em | Karolis Sereika | $195,310 |
| 2023 | WSOP Online $840 Bounty Pot-Limit Omaha | Paulius Vaitiekunas | $81,749 |
| 2023 | WSOP Online $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em Double Chance | Marius Kudzmanas | $145,523 |
| 2023 | WSOP Europe €2,000 8-Game Mix | Dainius Antanaitis | €47,770 |
| 2024 | WSOP Online $500 Mystery Bounty No Limit Hold’em | Simas Karaliunas | $127,267 |
World Series of Poker Circuit Tallinn Up Next (July 19-28, 2024)
The poker action doesn’t stop in Las Vegas as we get ready for it to heat up in the summer in Europe with the return of the World Series of Poker Circuit Tallinn at our flagship casino, Olympic Tallinn Park.
The festival boasts 53 action-packed events from July 19-28, 2024, including a dozen opportunities for entering poker immortality with 12 ring events.
The festival’s highlight is the $1 million guaranteed WSOP Circuit Tallinn €1,500 Main Event. Several players have already secured their seats to ring events in Tallinn. At the same time, many more will continue to win satellites online at OlyBet Poker and Olympic Casinos across the Baltics.
