Lithuanian Domination On the Fourth and Final Day of The Festival Weekend Vilnius
Somehow, the fourth and final day has already passed at The Festival Weekend Vilnius. Two new Main Event champions were crowned in the debut stop in the Lithuanian capital, one in the €555 Main Event PKO and in the €350 Mixed Game Main Event TORSES. The titles won't be going far from the city, as both players hail from the beautiful Baltic nation. Here is a look at the action that took place across the tournament floor at Olympic Casino Lietuva.
€555 Main Event PKO
A field of 8 returned to the final table to battle for bounties in the first running of the €555 Main Event PKO. It was a Lithuanian podium when play returned, with Liutauras Armanavičius leading the chasing pack.
| Rank | Name | Amount | Bounty (€) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liutauras Armanavičius | 1,870,000 | €1,700 |
| 2 | Kęstutis Jungevičius | 1,360,000 | €1,700 |
| 3 | Gerardas Lukšėnas | 1,100,000 | €1,550 |
| 4 | Raymond de Groot | 980,000 | €600 |
| 5 | Sigitas Raila | 725,000 | €450 |
| 6 | Jari-Pekka Hurri | 705,000 | €700 |
| 7 | Marc Gork | 685,000 | €1,700 |
| 8 | Peter Bergman | 490,000 | €500 |
The first major collision came between the Kęstutis Jungevičius and The Festival Series regular, Marc Gork. He was tied with the two Lithuanians at the top of the counts in terms of bounty totals. Armanavičius opened to 60,000 with blinds at 15,000/30,000. Gork put in a small three-bet from the button, and Jungevičius four-bet. Armanavičius folded, and Gork moved all in. Jungevičius called with 9 9 . Gork had K K .
The cowboys held up across the 5 10 A 7 5 to propel Gork up the chip counts. Jungevičius's start to the session was far from ideal. He doubled up compatriot Sigitas Raila as he binked a nine on the river with A 9 against Jungevičius's A Q . Raila jammed around 550,000 from the big blind over Jungevičius's under-the-gun open.
Raila then won another hand to continue climbing the chip counts, as his A K faded a flush draw on the flop against Gerardas Lukšėnas's A 9 . However, it wasn't to be Raila's day, as he was dispatched by Armanavičius. Armanavičius opened from the hijack to 80,000 with the blinds at 20,000/40,000. Raila moved all in for 545,000 from the button. Action folded around to Armanavičius, who went into the tank for a minute or so before making the call.
His 5 5 was in bad shape on the flop against Raila's A J , as the dealer fanned the A 10 3 flop. The 10 gave both players two pair, but the 5 gave Armanavičius a full house. It was then the Day 2 chip-leader Jungevičius's turn to hit the payout desk as he busted in a three-way affair against Armanavičius and Peter Bergman. Armanavičius rivered a flush to dispatch his fellow countryman.
Gork had a rollercoaster ride up and down the counts. He was the victim of a cooler against Armanavičius. Armanavičius opened to 100,000 from the button. Marc Gork three-bet to 325,000 from the small blind. Armanavičius called. The 9 4 9 flop was checked around before Gork check-called a bet of 400,000 on the 8 turn. Gork checked again on the 8 river. Armanavičius then bed 800,000. Gork tanked for a moment before flicking in the call. He had A A but was bested by A 9 .
On the next hand, Gork was all in for 625,000 versus Armanavičius once again. Gork had another premium in the form of K K , and Armanavičius had A 10 . Gork made quads across the J 2 10 K K .
Lukšėnas had a quiet start to the session, but was all in and at risk versus Armanavičius twice in quick succession. Firstly, he doubled with A 3 against K 5 across the J 3 6 J 6 . A few hands later versus the same opponent, he jammed over a button open for 1,060,000 with A 8 . Armanavičius made the call.
Lukšėnas flopped a flush draw and rivered a pair to best the superior holding of A 9 across the 6 K 2 6 8 to double again. This propelled Lukšėnas up to second to keep the home nation at the top two in the counts.
After the first break in play, Armanavičius claimed yet another bounty, that of Jari-Pekka Hurri. Armanavičius made two pair to claim the Finns' bounty. Raymond de Groot was next on the chopping block, and his ace-three offsuit was dominated by Lukšėnas's ace-queen offsuit. Kicker played for the Lithuanian across a king-high runout.
Bergman had an up-and-down session. He ran into Gork's jacks after he jammed the button with pocket tens. There were no miracles for Bergman, and the last Swede standing departed in fourth. Gork couldn't keep that momentum going, and he jammed around 1,200,000 from the small blind with the blinds at 80,000/160,000 against a button open from Armanavičius, who was easily the most active player at the table. Unfortunately for Gork, his K Q was bested by the A K of Armanavičius.
This left two Lithuanians battling it out for the trophy. However, they both chose to flip for the trophy, a fitting Festival-style ending to the Main Event. Armanavičius had 9 6 , and Gerardas Lukšėnas had Q 3 . Lukšėnas took the lead on the 2 Q J flop, and Armanavičius was drawing dead on the 3 turn. Lukšėnas sealed the deal with the Q river. Lukšėnas was elated to win the Main Event, and he became the first Festival Main Event winner in Lithuania. Below are the payouts.
| Rank | Name | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gerardas Lukšėnas | €7,905 |
| 2 | Liutauras Armanavičius | €7,905 |
| 3 | Marc Gork | €5,470 |
| 4 | Peter Bergman | €3,940 |
| 5 | Raymond de Groot | €3,060 |
| 6 | Jari-Pekka Hurri | €2,380 |
| 7 | Kęstutis Jungevičius | €1,810 |
| 8 | Sigitas Raila | €1,440 |
€350 Mixed Games Main Event TORSES
A field of ten Mixed Game players took to the tables for the finale of the marquee Mixed Game event of the weekend. Jens Rössel came into the final frames as the chip leader. The Mixed Game events have proved particularly popular with the Italian crowd throughout the week, and this one was no exception, with four of the final ten hailing from Italy.
Toomas Maekikokko became the first departure of the day. Giorgio Savignone couldn't spin up his short stack, and he was eliminated by Quentin Spyckerelle who made queens up in Seven Card Stud. Stefano Lagorio also couldn't climb up the counts, and he was the final table bubble boy.
Aleksej Staroverov was the first elimination of final table play, and Festival regular, Matteo Crapanzano became the money bubble boy. Originally, four were to be paid, but the remaining five players agreed on a payout for fifth place.
Albertas Voišnarovič was short, but he began to spin up his stack. He doubled through last Italian standing, Vinci Pasquale in a hand of 2-7 Triple Draw. Voišnarovič drew one, and Pasquale stood pat. Both players pat the following two draws. Voišnarovič had the winner with 2 4 6 7 8 to best Pasqale's 2 3 4 6 9 . Voišnarovič then asked in jest whether he could pick the next game, since he had won the hand.
Voišnarovič kept trending up, and he won a decent pot in PLO8 versus Eriks Gedroics, who was subsequently left short. The latter was at risk a few hands later, but he made trip tens in Stud8 to chop with Spyckerelle who had the low.
Start of the day chip leader Rössel was next to depart, and Voišnarovičs stack kept on growing. Gedirocs was next out to take play three handed. Spyckerelle and Pasquale had a mountain to climb to overtake Voišnarovič. Pasquale couldn't chip up, leaving Spyckerelle and Voišnarovič heads-up. The Lithuanian had a huge advantage of 625,000 to 64,000. Spyckerelle doubled in a 2-7 hand, but ultimately, heads-up play was short-lived. The title was decided in a hand of Stud8.
Spyckerelle brought in with 2 showing. Voišnarovič completed with the A before Spyckerelle reraised. Voišnarovič called. Voišnarovič was given the Q and bet 15,000. Spyckerelle called with the 9 . He then led for 30,000 as he paired his deuce with the 2 . "Put the rest in" said Voišnarovič, he had been given a jack. Spyckerelle obliged and tossed in his last 1,000.
By seventh street, both players had two pair but no low. Spyckerelle had two pair with threes and deuces, but Voišnarovič had queens and eights for a superior two pair. Voišnarovič was chuffed with his victory, saying, "I am more than happy, I was the only person at the table drinking alcohol as well. I play a lot of Mixed Games online, so I think I have an edge on the field." He completes a Lithuanian Main Event double on the debut of The Festival Weekend Vilnius. Below are the payouts.
| Rank | Name | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Albertas Voišnarovič | €2,603 |
| 2 | Quinten Spyckerelle | €1,800 |
| 3 | Vinci Pasquale | €1,120 |
| 4 | Eriks Gedroics | €850 |
| 5 | Jens Rössel | €400 |
€150 Baby TORSES Supreme
The final tournament of the weekend was the €150 Baby TORSES Supreme, which saw 29 entrants take to the tables, a decent portion of whom were entering the Mixed Game streets for the first time.
The vibes were amazing, and it was a great representation of what The Festival is all about: diverse international flavour, players having fun and trying new games at a very reasonable price point. The Festival team were represented by Melvin Schroen and Martin "Franke" von Zweigbergk, the founder. Unfortunately for the former, he bubbled the final table, although he enjoyed the tournament so much that he bought in twice.
Franke came into the final table with a substantial chip lead over his six tablemates. He went on to bust Grzegorz Iskra and Juergen Fittschen in quick succession.
Joshua Theilemann was on the uptrend. He made trips in a three-way pot in PLO8 before going on to bust the last two Italians, Carlo Braccini and Fabio Bianchi. Reinis Kluss was clearly enjoying his poker. He was in good spirits throughout the tournament, and they only increased as play went three-handed with Theilemann and Franke.
It was a swingy three-way affair, with Franke's advantage not as strong as it was at the beginning of final table play. One of the inside jokes at three-handed play was to always discard three cards in 2-7 Triple Draw. Franke had multiple chances to win the tournament, but the deck kept his tablemates alive so the fun continued.
Theilemann was forced all in for 35,000 in the big blind in a hand of Sviten Special. Franke folded and let Reinis Kluss call in the small blind. Both players drew 2 and they showed down. Kluss had the nut flush and nines in hand with 9 9 2 6 A and Theilemann had 7 3 3 6 K , and was drawing dead.
Franke came into the heads-up battle with an overwhelming chip lead. In Sviten Special, Reinis Kluss called in the small and Franke checked his option. Both checked the J 6 10 flop. Franke drew two, and Kluss drew one. He declined the 2 , which he got face up. On the 4 turn, Kluss bet 80,000. Franke reraised and Kluss called.
Franke had A 5 6 Q Q . Kluss had 10 8 3 4 A for two pair. The 9 gave Franke a flush, and his pair of queens in hand was good to take the whole pot. Below are the payouts.
| Rank | Name | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Martin "Franke" von Zweigbergk | €1,282 |
| 2 | Reinis Kluss | €900 |
| 3 | Joshua Theilemann | €640 |
| 4 | Carlo Braccini | €440 |
| 5 | Fabio Bianchi | €320 |
What's Next?
It won't be long until The Festival Series returns, with the next stop running from June 9 to June 16 at Europe's palace of poker, King's Resort. After that, Tallinn will be the host city of the next weekend, again in partnership with Olympic Casino, and that will run from July 1 to July 5. Online satellites are available across a range of operators for the upcoming stop in Rozvadov, and there will be qualifiers on Olybet to The Festival Weekend Tallinn. Click here to find out more and start your journey.
That's all for now, folks. Until next time.
