Vytautas Semaska Wins OlyBet Vilnius Showdown Jacks of June High Roller

Saturday witnessed a star-studded affair at Olympic Casino Vilnius. Many big names, including world-renowned Lithuanian Matas Cimbolas, fought in the OlyBet Vilnius Showdown €1,100 High Roller.

Vasilijus Piskunovas earned the nickname Cinderella after coming back from the dead with just two big blinds to take the chip lead at the final table before making a deal with Vytautas Semaska. Semaska came from behind during heads-up play to win the title for €22,470, while Piskunovas collected a healthy €18,000 for his efforts.

Two other winners were crowned on Saturday, including Indre Martoviciute, winning her second Queens title in a row after shipping the Queens of Tallinn Mystery Bounty in March, followed by a Queens of Vilnius title on Saturday, and Renaldas Mankauskas shipping the €150 Saturday Express.

Meanwhile, Arturas Dauksevic, who already won a title this festival in the €350 Warm-Up Progressive Bounty, led the way among the 19 survivors in the two-day €350 OlyBet Special. The event attracted 64 entries, with more to come, with late registration remaining open until cards are in the air for the second and final day on Sunday at Noon.

Semaska Shines the Brightest in the High Roller

Records for a High Roller were broken in Vilnius on Saturday with the Jacks of June €1,100 High Roller attracted 86 entries, including 13 entries on Day 2, for a €82,560 prize pool to establish a new gold standard for High Rollers in Lithuania.

Vasilijus Piskunovas, who was coming off a fifth-place performance in the Jacks of June €555 Main Event, was down to just two big blinds before doubling up no less than five times, including twice against Rolandas Aglinskas to get back into the mix.

The final table bubble, which also was the money bubble, was quite a sweat with several players doubling their short stacks. Aurelijus Sipavicius got his short stack in good with sevens but couldn’t hold against the ace-deuce suited held by Povilas Jakutis to bubble the High Roller.

Piskunovas’s Cinderella story became real as he kicked off the final table with the chip lead followed by the start of the day chip leader Klaudijus Bajoras and eventual winner Vytautas Semaska.

Semaska quickly snagged the chip lead after sending the short-stacked Ricardas Lukauskas to the rail in ninth place for €2,540 when his queen-four got there against ace-eight.

Piskunovas then shedded his Cinderella title in exchange for Table Terminator as he sent both Laurynas Cerniauskas (seventh – €4,380) when his queen-ten beat king-nine suited and Nikodemas Staniukaitis (eighth – €3,460) when his ace-ten won a flip against eight to the rail in succession.

Bajoras was the next to exit in sixth place for €5,410 after running his tens into Raimonas Zilenas’s queens. The Piskonovas domination then continued at the final table as he eliminated the next three players one-by-one.

Povilas Jakutis (fifth – €6,720) was unable to get there with ten-nine suited against Piskunovas’s king-ten. Shortly after, Zilenas (fourth – €8,390) unsuccessfully jammed his fives into Piskunovas’s jacks.

The action proceeded to the heads-up battle after Marijus Dirgela jammed his ace-ten into Piskunovas’s pocket rockets to exit in third place for €11,190.

Piskunovas held a small chip lead over Semaska before the start of the heads-up action. The duo took a break and agreed to an ICM deal which guaranteed Piskunovas at least €18,000 and Semaska at least €17,470.

Semaska quickly regained control and took the chip lead. Shortly after, Piskunovas three-bet jammed for 22 big blinds with king-trey suited. Semaska called with jacks and won the €22,470 top prize after a dry runout on the board for Piskunovas.

Congrats to Vytautas Semaska for an epic victory in the record-breaking 2024 OlyBet Vilnius Showdown Jacks of June €1,100 High Roller.

Sunday, June 9 OlyBet Vilnius Showdown Jacks of June Schedule