2025 OlyBet Showdown Riga Voodoo SE Day 6: Michel Leibgorin Wins €555 Championship (€17,685)

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2025 OlyBet Showdown Riga Voodoo Spring Edition

The 2025 OlyBet Showdown Riga Voodoo Spring Edition €1,100 Main Event was heating up on Thursday for what promises to be a packed house over the weekend, with the final two of three opening flights played out with Estonia’s Ott Jaakson leading the way to start Day 2 with late registration remaining open for the first three blind levels of Day 2 with more than 100 entries already in the field. It was an action-packed day with three players earning trophies with France’s Michel Leibgorin winning the largest prize thus far this festival after shipping the three-day €555 Championship for €17,685.

The event was one of the largest in Latvian poker history with 169 entries creating a €79,325 prize pool. Leibgorin and Sweden’s Arasch Mirzai accomplished a rare feat as both players always held dominating stacks and were the top two on the chip counts to start Day 2 and the final table before finishing in the top two spots with Mirzai earning €13,070 despite missing out on the trophy.

Leibgorin is one of the most prominent names in attendance in Latvia with more than $2 million in cashes from The Hendon Mob and now will have more than 17 thousand good reasons (and a trophy) to have good memories of his poker experience in the Latvian capital of Riga.

Meanwhile, a pair of Finns joined Leibgorin in the winner’s circle Thursday evening. Janne Kahonen denied the start-of-Day 2 chip leader in the Main Event Jaakson a victory after defeating the Estonian heads-up in the €150 NLH to win the €3,450 top prize.

However, the other trophy might be a bigger story as Finland’s Joni Liimatta has been on a flag quest, meaning he flag hunts to cash in tournaments in as many different countries in the world. While most players hunt trophies, Liimatta would have been happy to walk away with a cash so his The Hendon Mob profile would be decorated with the Latvian flag. Liimatta got his cake and ate it too as he not only cashed but also earned the trophy in the €250 NLH Progressive Bounty for €2,053 plus bounties.

Read on to learn more about the sixth day of the 2025 OlyBet Showdown Riga Voodoo Spring Edition at Olympic Voodoo Casino.

Leibgorin and Mirzai Dominate to Earn Five Figure Hauls in the €555 Championship

Michel Leibgorin
Michel Leibgorin

The three-day Event #8: €555 Championship was full of action but two players consistently stood out throughout the event in France’s Michel Leibgorin and Arasch Mirzai. The duo avoided any big clash until the end as they cruised along to the top two spots while maintaining dominate stacks from the start of Day 2 with seemingly the biggest competition among the other players is who else could squeeze their way onto the podium.

Leibgorin won all the chips at the end to win the €17,685 top prize while Mirzai will go back to Sweden with a five-figure score of his own of €13,070. Latvia’s Sergejs Piratovs, who was proudly wearing the same lucky black t-shirt as can be seen in the lead image of this article throughout the three days of action, finished the best among the local crowd with a third-place performance worth €8,880.

Event #8: €555 NLH Championship Results

Place Player Country Prize
1 Michel Leibgorin France €17,685
2 Arasch Mirzai Sweden €13,070
3 Sergejs Piratovs Latvia €8,880
4 Valeriy Hrachov Ukraine €6,920
5 Lasse Laukkarinen Finland €5,370
6 Baptiste Albert Jacques Caim France €4,180
7 Vygerdas Jonikas Lithuania €3,250
8 Klaudijus Bajoras Lithuania €2,630
9 Roberts Krīgers Latvia €2,120
10 Romāns Krasins Latvia €1,760
11 Joona Koivisto Finland €1,760
12 Hryhorii Meleshenko Ukraine €1,540
13 Manoel Assuncao Ferreira Gomes Filho Brazil €1,540
14 Ott Jaakson Estonia €1,360
15 Mārtiņš Priede Latvia €1,360
16 Mindaugas Grigaitis Lithuania €1,240
17 Algirdas Saveikis Lithuania €1,240
18 Harijs Ērglis Latvia €1,140
19 Edgaras Pipine Lithuania €1,140
20 Raivis Pučurs Latvia €1,140

Janne Kahonen Wins First of Two Thursday Title for Finland in €150 NLH

The one-day €150 NLH attracted 105 entries to create a €12,967 prize pool. Several of the players that hit the rail on the final table joined the action in the €150 NLH while others opted to hop into the €1,100 Main Event. Sergejs Piratovs opted to get into the action with the same lucky t-shirt and managed yet another cash for two in the same day after chopping a min-cash of €290 with Poland’s Jakub Matusiak for both players to nearly earn their buy-in back with a €145 prize.

A pair of Norwegians and friends of poker.pro were battling at the final table with Vidar Assersen earning yet another cash in Latvia with an eighth-place performance worth €470, while Morten Bremseth nearly advanced to the podium in fourth-place for €1,180.

This wasn’t the best of showings for the local crowd with Latvia’s Kaspars Avots performing the best with a sixth-place finish for €740 before Poland’s Michal Goral followed him to the payout desk with a slip worth €920 after finishing in fifth place.

The podium finish played out something similar to what we’ve seen play out many times over the past decade at Olympic Park Casino in Tallinn with two Finns and one Estonian remaining. Finland’s Samuel Saariaho bowed out in third place for €1,627 before his countrymate Janne Kahonen defeated Estonia’s Ott Jaakson (second – €2,370) heads to earn the €3,450 top prize.

2025 OlyBet Showdown Riga Voodoo Bounty €150 NLH Final Table
2025 OlyBet Showdown Riga Voodoo Bounty €150 NLH Final Table

Event #17: €150 NLH Results

Place Player Country Prize
1 Janne Kahonen Finland €3,450
2 Ott Jaakson Estonia €2,370
3 Samuel Saariaho Finland €1,627
4 Morten Bremseth Norway €1,180
5 Michal Goral Poland €920
6 Kaspars Avots Latvia €740
7 Viesturs Romanovskis Latvia €590
8 Vidar Assersen Norway €470
9 Aklilu Laitinen Finland €380
10 Enea Subashi Greece €330
11 Mikus Bergs Latvia €330
12 Toms Čivčs Latvia €290
13 Sergejs Piratovs Latvia €145
14 Jakub Matusiak Poland €145

Joni Liimatta Earns Flag and Trophy in the €250 NLH Progressive Bounty

The €250 NLH Progressive Bounty was the final event to kick off on Thursday with the field attracting 83 entries for a €17,347 prize pool including €8,300 reserved for progressive bounties.

A small Latvian rail emerged after Siarhei Fashchanka bubbled the event rooting for poker coach Matīss Celmiņš. Roberts Krīgers, who earlier in the day was the first out on the final table in the €555 NLH Championship, wound up witnessing the same result for his friend Celmiņš who got no further than a min-cash of €320 plus bounties.

Lithuania’s Vygerdas Jonikas (sixth – €620 + bounties), Ukraine’s Vitalii Boiko (seventh – €500 + bounties), and United Kingdom’s Daniel Stancer (eighth – €400 + bounties) were the next to go before the final Latvian in the field in Roberts Leja exited in fifth place for €760 + bounties.

Italy’s Edoardo Mancinelli just missed out on the podium after bowing out in fourth place for €970 leaving two Lithuanians in the way for Liimatta to earn his first Latvian flag with a trophy.

Svajunas Šeduikis earned €1,371 plus bounties for his Bronze finish which automatically resulted in Liimatta and Venckus to earn the €2,053 top prize from the prize pool with Liimatta earning the massive bounty at the end to go with his flag and his trophy.

2025 OlyBet Showdown Riga Voodoo Spring Edition €250 NLH Progressive Bounty Final Table
2025 OlyBet Showdown Riga Voodoo Spring Edition €250 NLH Progressive Bounty Final Table

Event #18: €250 NLH Progressive Bounty Results

Place Player County Prize
1 Joni Liimatta Finland €2,053
2 Steponas Venckus Lithuania €2,053
3 Svajunas Šeduikis Lithuania €1,371
4 Edoardo Mancinelli Italy €970
5 Roberts Leja Latvia €760
6 Vygerdas Jonikas Lithuania €620
7 Vitalii Boiko Ukraine €500
8 Daniel Stancer United Kingdom €400
9 Matīss Celmiņš Latvia €320

Event #14: €1,100 NLH Main Event Day 2 Chip Counts

Rank Player Country Chips Big Blinds
1 Ott Jaakson Estonia 302,300 302
2 Jesper Hansen Denmark 202,000 202
3 Yevhen Pavlenko Ukraine 165,000 165
4 Elvijs Ķergalvis Latvia 129,300 129
5 Arasch Mirzai Sweden 121,400 121
6 Edoardo Mancinelli Italy 113,300 113
7 Egidijus Matonis Lithuania 110,700 111
8 Min Sung Lee South Korea 108,900 109
9 Joona Koivisto Finland 99,000 99
10 Genādijs Šutkovs Latvia 94,500 95
11 Hryhorii Meleshenko Ukraine 94,200 94
12 Edgaras Pipine Lithuania 87,100 87
13 Kaspars Butāns Latvia 84,400 84
14 Dan Korsunskyy Ukraine 81,700 82
15 Michel Leibgorin France 79,000 79
16 Jurgis Beinoras Lithuania 73,700 74
17 Edgars Strads Latvia 72,300 72
18 Ritvars Čekaļins Latvia 72,300 72
19 Gatis Pele Latvia 72,200 72
20 Jordi Baixas Spain 71,800 72
21 Veli-Pekka Alakorva Finland 70,600 71
22 Matīss Celmiņš Latvia 63,300 63
23 Jakob Pilgaard Denmark 60,700 61
24 Martynas Mockevičius Lithuania 59,200 59
25 Rasmus Sihvonen Finland 55,500 56
26 Ēriks Krūmiņš Latvia 55,300 55
27 Andrei Silencov Moldova 53,600 54
28 Kaspars Jakubonis Latvia 52,100 52
29 Harijs Ērglis Latvia 50,400 50
30 Raivis Pučurs Latvia 50,300 50
31 Jevgēnijs Zotovs Latvia 50,000 50
32 Dominykas Ruškys Lithuania 47,100 47
33 Kristaps Sipols Latvia 46,000 46
34 Vladislavs Petrovs Latvia 43,700 44
35 Areks Dzintars Latvia 43,400 43
36 Roman Petelytski Ukraine 42,400 42
37 Aleksieemil Heikkinen Finland 42,100 42
38 Audun Arild Norway 30,000 30
39 Audrius Laimelis Lithuania 29,900 30
40 Adria Comas I Roura Spain 26,500 27
41 Rytis Pranarauskas Lithuania 25,700 26
42 Klaudijus Bajoras Lithuania 22,400 22
43 Maksims Azarjancs Latvia 22,100 22
44 Petteri Laiho Finland 22,000 22
45 Kristian Haugen Norway 21,800 22
46 Mindaugas Grigaitis Lithuania 20,500 21
47 Kristjan Maasalu Estonia 20,400 20
48 Valeriy Hrachov Ukraine 19,900 20
49 Ignas Navickas Lithuania 14,200 14
50 Vidar Assersen Norway 12,400 12

2025 OlyBet Showdown Riga Voodoo Spring Edition Schedule (Friday, March 28)

While players will be busy during the early part of the day battling and late entering the Main Event, two other players will earn trophies on Friday, March 28 in two one-day events.

The €350 NLH DeepStack Progressive Bounty kicks off at 4 p.m. with players each having a €100 progressive bounty on their heads followed by the €150 NLH at 9 p.m. Of course, cash games will be running throughout the weekend for what promises to be a packed house.

Check out Friday’s schedule below, or head to the 2025 OlyBet Showdown Riga Voodoo Spring Edition landing page at OlyBetEvents to check out the full schedule and more.

Time Event
12:00 Event #14: €1,100 NLH Main Event Day 2
16:00 Event #19: €350 NLH DeepStack Progressive Bounty
21:00 Event #20: €150 NLH
Poker journalist Jason Glatzer boasts more than a decade in experience in poker media and operations. He is well-known in Europe for providing quality reporting, editorial, and commentating at a wide variety of events from around the world including at all major events at our flagship venue Olympic Park Casino

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