Ville Keranen Leads Final 9 in 2026 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius €555 NLH Championship

by
Richard Hayes
May 14, 2026

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Ville Keranen Leads Final 9 in 2026 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius €555 NLH Championship
Ville Keranen

Olympic Casino Lietuva was again a hive of activity yesterday, as the 2026 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius continued in full swing. While only one trophy was awarded, the destination of the €555 NLH Championship title became clearer as the field was reduced to a final table, while Day 1a of the flagship event, the €1,100 Main Event, also took place.

Finland’s Ville Keranen, who already earned a trophy on the first day of the festival, is looking to repeat his success as he leads the way in the €555 NLH Championship, which is live reported at poker.pro. With just nine players in the €555 NLH Championship and €2,140 already locked up, all players have their eyes on the trophy and the €18,685 top prize. The field grew on Day 2 to 169 entries for a €80,275 prize pool with the top 20 players earning at least a €1,150 min-cash.

Lithuania’s Sergej Babincev went from busting in the money in the €555 NLH Championship to entering the €1,100 Main Event, where he bagged the chip lead in the 29-entry field among the 14 survivors.

Meanwhile, earlier this festival, Lithuania’s Linas Petruškevičius earned his first international trophy in the €200 PLO4/PLO5. The Lithuanian proudly shared his winner’s photo on his Facebook profile after a déjà vu moment when he earned his second trophy this festival in the €250 PLO4/PLO5 on Wednesday.

Linas Petruškevičius Wins €250 PLO4/PLO5 Progressive Bounty

Linas Petruškevičius

The €250 PLO4/PLO5 Progressive Bounty was the sole trophy up for grabs yesterday, and a total of 18 entrants created a €1,962 prize pool. It was split by an all-Lithuanian top three, with Linas Petruškevičius ending up with the trophy and final bounty, after defeating Jonas Lapinskas and WSOP bracelet winner Vincas Tamašauskas.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1 Linas PetruškevičiusLithuania€766
2 Jonas LapinskasLithuania€766
3 Vincas TamašauskasLithuania€430

Sergej Babincev Tops Main Event Day 1a Standings

The first flight of the highly anticipated OlyBet Showdown Vilnius €1,100 Main Event has been completed, and Sergej Babincev of Lithuania (218,500) topped the standings to lead 14 qualifiers from 29 entrants.

Babincev holds a decent lead over Khai Kiet Duong of Vietnam (142,500) and Latvian Romans Lihacovs (137,000).

Sergej Babincev

The final two starting flights of the three-day Main Event are today, with players sitting down to a 50,000 starting stack. Day 1b, at noon, features 40-minute levels, while Day 1c, at 7 p.m., plays 25-minute levels, with the action concluding after 12 levels. Late registration remains open until the start of Level 15 on Day 2.

PositionPlayerCountryChipsBlinds
1 Sergej BabincevLithuania218,500109
2 Khai Kiet DuongVietnam142,50071
3 Romans LihacovsLatvia137,00069
4 Adomas JuozapavičiusLithuania134,00067
5 Marek ŽigelEstonia118,50059
6 Audrius NavickasLithuania111,00056
7 Egidijus MatonisLithuania108,50054
8 Gytis LazauninkasLithuania103,50052
9 Edgaras KausinisLithuania94,00047
10 Romas BassusLithuania81,00041
11 Artūras AntonianasLithuania53,00027
12 Audrius ŠiaulysLithuania52,50026
13 Giedrius GrigoriusLithuania51,50025
14 Aurimas StanevičiusLithuania44,50022

The poker.pro live reporting team, headlined by Richard Hayes, will be on the floor covering the action in the Main Event from the start of Day 2, which kicks off at noon on Friday, May 15. Our coverage today will be focused on the final day of the €555 NLH Championship.

Ville Keranen Leads Final Table in €555 NLH Championship

Ville Keranen

Day 2 of the €555 NLH Championship reduced the field to a final table of nine players, led by Finland’s Ville Keranen, all of whom have locked up a €2,140 payday, but will surely be eyeing the first-place prize of €18,685 when they return at noon on May 14 for the final day.

Keranen (1,460,000) holds a reasonable lead over his closest challengers, Lithuanian pair Sigitas Raila (1,020,000) and Andrej Sidinevskij (935,000), and obtained his stack largely through a huge rockets versus ace-king cooler versus Matas Budginas.

Friend of poker.pro Morten Bremseth had a day he wishes to forget after he bubbled the event when his aces were unable to hold against Justinas Adomauskas’s nines.

Three-time WSOP Circuit winner Kęstutis Jungevičius (11th – €780), Day 1a chip leader of the €1,100 Main Event Sergej Babincev (12th – €1,560), and Jonas Lapinskas (18th – €1,150) were among the notable players to cash before moving onto other events on Wednesday.

Head to poker.pro to follow the action until a winner is crowned in the €555 NLH Championship.

TableSeatPlayerCountryChipsBlinds
21 Alex HeinonenFinland505,00017
22 Robertas VisockasLithuania415,00014
23 Sigitas RailaLithuania1,020,00034
24 Ville KeranenFinland1,465,00048
25 Andrej SidinevskijLithuania935,00031
26 Onni HarmaalaFinland720,00024
27 Tomas KovalenkaLithuania700,00023
28 Algirdas SaveikisLithuania345,00011
29 Paulius KisieliusLithuania655,00021

2026 OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Schedule (Thursday, May 14)

Iryna Tsikhanskaya

Olympic Casino Lietuva is expected to be packed, with two NLH side-event trophies for players to compete for, a €200 buy-in event at 5 p.m., and a €250 Progressive Bounty at 9 p.m.

The €555 NLH Championship will play to its conclusion, while two further starting flights of the €1,100 NLH Main Event are also on the menu.

TimeEvent
12:00Event #10: €555 NLH Championship Day 3 (Final Day)
12:00Event #17: €1,100 NLH Main Event Day 1b
17:00Event #20: €200 NLH
19:00Event #17: €1,100 NLH Main Event Day 1c
21:00Event #21: €250 NLH Progressive Bounty

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