Rasmus Sihvonen Claims OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker Main Event Title
Table Of Contents
The first OlyBet Showdown of 2025 is in the bag, with the OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker Main Event crowning its worthy champion on February 2. Finland's Rasmus Sihvonen is that champion. He navigated past 295 opponents to turn his €555 investment into a career-best €28,760 score.
Sihvonen only had eight live cashes dating back to July 2023 before this Main Event. Those cashes weighed in at a combined $31,831. The Finn doubled his live earnings with the first recorded victory of his fledgling career, coming out on top of a final table dominated by local Lithuanian players.
2025 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker Main Event Final Table Results
| Rank | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rasmus Sihvonen | Finland | €28,760 |
| 2 | Vygerdas Jonikas | Lithuania | €19,310 |
| 3 | Nerius Rutkauskas | Lithuania | €13,670 |
| 4 | Lukas Kviecinskas | Lithuania | €10,200 |
| 5 | Raivis Pucurs | Latvia | €7,810 |
| 6 | Julius Grieze | Lithuania | €6,080 |
| 7 | Egidijus Liutkevicius | Lithuania | €4,830 |
| 8 | Vilius Zamzickas | Lithuania | €3,920 |
| 9 | Ernestas Taunys | Lithuania | €3,920 |
Thirteen players returned to the seats for the third and final day of the Main Event, each vying for a spot at the final table. Aklilu Laitinen, Paal Vermundsdammen, Vilius Zabarauskas, and final table bubble boy Egidijus Oleinik were the first players heading to the cashier's desk at the Olympic Casino Vilnius.
Ernestas Taunys was the final table's first casualty. Taunys three-bet his short-stack all-in after an opening raise from Nerius Rutkauskas. The initial raiser called and showed pocket kings, which held against the at-risk player's ace-ten. An ace on the turn looked to have rescued Taunys, but a king on the river sent him to the showers.
A relative cooler hand relieved Vilius Zamzickas of his stack. Julius Grieze opened on the button, Sihvonen three-bet from the small blind only for Zamzickas to four-bet shove from the big blind. Grieze folded but Sihvonen called. It was Sihvonen's pocket kings against the pocket queens. A board void of drama busted Zamzickas in eighth place.
Kings of Tallinn 2025 Celebrates 10th Anniversary With €1M Guaranteed Main Event
The next elimination happened during the 20,000/40,000 level. Lukas Kviecinskas opened to 105,000 under the gun, Grieze moved all-in for 700,000 on the button, and Rutkauskas four-bet shoved for 2,000,000. Kviecinskas ducked out of the way, and Grieze found his ace-jack in a world of pain against Rutkauskas' pocket aces. Grieze picked up a flush draw but it didn't come in.
Latvia's Raivis Pucurs had been nursing a short-stack for a while and made a play for his last ten big blinds. Pucurs moved all-in wit ace-six from the cutoff, and Vygerdas Jonikas called in the small blind with a pair of jacks in the hole. Jonikas flopped a set to leave Pucurs needing running cards; he was drawing dead on the turn.
Fourth place and the first five-figure prize of the Main Event went to Kviecinskas, who got the last of is chips in good with ace-queen against Sihvonen's ace-seven in a battle of the blinds. However, a seven on the flop propelled Sihvonen into the lead, where he stayed through the turn and river.
Sihvonen held a commanding lead going into three-handed play. He held 70 big blinds, Rutkauskas 33 big blinds, with Jonikas bringing up the rear with a sub-ten big blind stack. You would have thought Jonikas would be the third-place finisher, but you'd be wrong.
After Jonikas folded his button, Sihvonen forced Rutkauskas all-in with a shove from the small blind. Rutkauskas called off his stack with jack-ten of diamonds, and Sihvonen sheepishly turned over the lower seven-deuce. The Poker Gods rewarded Sihvonen's gutsy play by putting a seven on the flop. The turn and river bricked, and the weakest hand in No-Limit Texas Hold'em sent Sihvonen into a heads-up battle with Jonikas.
Unsurprisingly, the heads-up battle was short. The final hand saw Sihvonen limp for 80,000 from the small blind, Jonikas raise to 400,000, and Sihvonen call. Jonikas fired 400,000 on a ten-deuce-four rainbow flop, and Sihvonen called. The six of diamonds on the turn put two diamonds in view, and Jonikas fired a 900,000 bet. Sihvonen was going nowhere and quickly called. The five of heats completed the board, and Jonikas shot a fired bullet, this time a 2,000,000 bet that set him all-in. Sihvonen didn't believe his opponent's story and called.
Jonikas revealed ace-seven for a triple barrel bluff, which couldn't beat the ten-eight of hearts in Sihvonen's hand. Jonikas bowed out in second place, leaving Sihvonen to capture his first live title and a career-best €28,760.
What's Next on the OlyBet Schedule?
There is not long to wait before the next OlyBet Showdown event takes place because OlyBet Showdown Riga Voodoo Spring Edition runs from March 22-30. However, before that, the 2025 edition of the ever-popular Kings of Tallinn runs from February 21 to March 2 in the heart of the Estonian capital city.
Kings of Tallinn features a €1,100 buy-in Main Event carrying a €1 million guarantee. Last year, some 914 players bought in and created an €859,160 prize pool. The tournament ended in a three-way chop, with Aleksi Naski and Mantas Tamulevicius banking €105,000, and Edgaras Kausinis taking home €120,910 and the winner's trophy.
