In the 51 year history of the World Series of Poker, just two Lithuania players had managed to win bracelets before Vincas Tamasauskas joined them after his win over the 267 entries in WSOP Online Event #13 ($5,000 Pot Limit Omaha Championship) on GGPoker.
During the 2020 WSOP Online, Vladas Burneikis became the first Lithuanian to win a WSOP bracelet and Gediminas Uselis became the second just a few weeks later.
The seven players who started Wednesday’s final table battled for 45 minutes before the first player was eliminated. Hernando Guzman called from early position and Ben Lakatos called from the cutoff. From the button, Ben Wilinofsky raised to 300,000 and only Guzman came along. The flop came and Guzman checked. Wilinofsky bet 802,500 and then called when Guzman moved all in for 2,174,587. Wilinofsky turned over for two pair while Guzman showed for top pair with a straight draw. Neither the turn or the river were any help however, and Guzman was out in seventh.
Nearly a half hour passed before an all in pre-flop battle of the blinds sent another player to the rail. Florian Fuchs raised to 210,000 from the small blind before Lakatos re-raised to 630,000 in the big blind. Fuchs responded by calling off the rest of his 410,534 chip stack. Fuchs showed while Lakatos was slightly ahead with . The flop put Lakatos comfortably in front and as the turn and river completed the baord, Fuchs was eliminated in sixth place.
Just a minute later, Wilinofsky found himself another victim. On the button, Wilinofsky raised to 155,000 and David Wang jammed from the big blind for 311,956. Wilinofsky called and showed while Wang tabled . Wilinofsky took the lead on the flop. Wang actually lost some outs on the turn and was officially eliminated when the fell on the river.
Despite being responsible for two of the first three bustouts, Wilinofsky was the next player out just a few hands after losing a massive pot to Lakatos. Tamasauskas opened to 200,000, Lakatos called from the button, and Wilinofsky bet his last 259,542 from the small blind. Fernando Habegger called from the big blind, and Tamasauskas and Lakatos also came along for the ride. Everybody checked the flop and the turn. After the completed the board, Lakatos bet enough to force Habegger and Tamasauskas to fold. Wilinofsky flipped over for top two pair but was shown bad news when Lakatos sowed for a full house to cement Wilinofsky’s fourth place finish.
Three-handed play carried on for another 16 minutes until Tamasauskas took out his first opponent of the night. Lakatos called from the button, Habegger bet 480,000 in the small blind and Tamasauskas defended the big blind. Lakatos opted to fold. After the flop, Habegger moved all in for 331,781 and Tamasauskas called. Habegger was a 2-1 favorite after showing against the that Tamasauskas held. The turn completely flipped the script and gave Tamasauskas the best hand. The river was a formality as Habegger was sent packing in third place.
Tamasauskas held a 3-1 chip lead when heads up play began and needed just five minutes to close out the victory. The final hand of the night started with Tamasauskas raising to 350,000. Lakatos called and then checked after the flop. Tamasauskas bet 210,000 and Lakatos raised to 1,365,000 and Tamasauskas called. The turn was the and both players checked. After the river, Lakatos bet his last 2,431,831 and Tamasauskas called. Lakatos showed for a wheel, which was no good after Tamasauskas tabled for a full house to eliminate Lakatos and ship Tamasauskas his first WSOP bracelet.
Final Table Payouts
- Vincas Tamasauskas – $268,926
- Ben Lakatos – $194,439
- Fernando Habegger – $140,583
- Ben Wilinofsky – $101,645
- David Wang – $73,491
- Florian Fuchs – $53,135
- Hernando Guzman – $38,418