Latvia's AIgars Petrovs (pictured below) had a spectacular Day 1b and took the overwhelming overall chip lead after leading the 38 Day 1b survivors with 427,000 from his 30,000 starting stack.

Aurelijus Sipavicius won a big pot with kings vs. tens against Rinatas Suleimanovas to finish the day in second place with 259,000, placing him in third place overall with still one more opening flight to go just behind Petrovs and Day 1a chip leader Aurimas Stanevicius.

Mantas Nanartavicius (235,000), local baller Kasparas Klezys (214,000), and Erikas Laugzemys (209,000) also managed to advance from Day 1b with at least 200,000 in chips, while Estonian poker hero Urmo Velvelt is near the top half of the field with 99,000.

Day 1b attracted 142 entries to bring the total up to 306 entries when taking into account the 162 entries on Tuesday's Day 1a. So far, 88 players advanced to Day including 50 on Day 1a and 38 more on Day 1b.

Check out all of the chip counts below and we will be back to post the Day 1c chip counts, Day 2 seat draw, and we will see you back on Thursday when Day 2 begins at 1 p.m.

Level 12: 1,000/2,000 (2,000)
Entries: 41/142

The floor stopped the clock and announced to the dealers and players that after the hand they are on they should play four more hands. After these hands, players will bag their chips into tomorrow's Day 2 with the action kicking off at noon.

Stay tuned as final chip counts from Day 1b will be shared within the hour. Later this evening, we will share the final Day 1c chip counts and the Day 2 seat draw.

Level 12: 1,000/2,000 (2,000)
Entries: 45/142

Rinatas Suleimanovas had a big stack throughout most of Day 1b. However, he now has his work cut out for him after losing a massive pot to Aurelijus Sipavicius (pictured below standing up).

Suleimanovas four-bet jammed from the button his massive stack. Sipavicious quickly called off his big stack of 125,000 and was in amazing shape after the cards were turned over.

Aurelijus Sipavicius:
Rinatas Suleimanovs:

Nothing special happened on a blank flop for Suleimanovs and Sipavicius became one of the bigger stacks during Day 1b, just behind at the moment the likes of Latvia's Aigars Petrovs.

Level 12: 1,000/2,000 (2,000)
Entries: 48/142

The final blind level of Day 1b kicked off moments ago. The clock will stop in about 30 minutes at a random time at which point the tournament staff will announce how many hands each table needs to play before the surviving players bag and tag their chips.

Shortly after this, we will post the final chip counts of the day. We will also post the final chip counts of the Turbo Day 1c, which currently has 18 entries and counting.

Level 11: 1,000/1,500 (1,500)
Entries: 53/141

Vilius Zamzickas bet 15,000 into a pot of more than 20,000 with the on the board. Paulius Jucys (pictured below) went into the tank for close to two minutes before he bet 36,000, leaving just a sneaky 500 red chip in his stack.

Zamzickas tanked for more than a minute before he called. Jucys turned over the for a full house to win a big hand near the end of Level 11.

Level 11: 1,000/1,500 (1,500)
Entries: 58/141

The 2023 Vilnius Ace Breaker Main Event champion Vasilij Barna (pictured below) busted his third bullet of Day 1b and his fourth overall just after the break. His next bullet didn't go much better.

Barna three-bet jammed his starting stack and was called by Lukas Kviecinkas.

Vasilij Barna:
Lukas Kviecinkas:

Things went from bad to worse for Barna as Kviecinkas improved to a set on the flop. Barna was drawing dead after Kviecinkas further improved to a full house on the turn. The river completed the action and Barna is likely to either hop in for another bullet on Day 1b or try his luck on Day 1c which is about to begin.

Latvia's Aigars Petrovs (pictured below) became the first player to pass 300,000 in chips during the first two opening flights.

Check out his stack and some of the other big ones from around the room during the final break of day.

The Day 1b players are on their final 15-minute break of the day. Blinds will increase to 1,000/1,500 (1,500) before moving onto the final blind level of the day with blinds at 1,000/2,000 (2,000).

Meanwhile, Day 1c will start in around 40 minutes. While we won't be reporting hands from the turbo flight, we will provide vital stats from Day 1c including final chip counts before posting the Day 2 Seat Draw.

Level 10: 600/1,200 (1,200)
Entries: 62/139

Saulius Strasevicius checked with the on the board after the turn. Egidijus Digrys (pictured below) fired out 12,500 into a pot of at least double that.  Strasevicius jammed for more than the 52,700 Digrys had in his stack.

"Wow!" said Digrys before he found a call.

Egidijus Digrys:
Saulius Strasevicius:

There was no sweat for Digrys as Strasevicius was already drawing dead. Digrys officially doubled after the river completed the board.

Level 10: 600/1,200 (1,200)
Entries: 66/139

Martynas Kaulakys (pictured below) bet 7,900 into a pot of around 20,000 with the on the board after the turn. Jose Costa jammed for around 25,000. Saulius Strasevicius folded before Kaulakys snap-called.

Jose Costa:
Martynas Kaulakys:

Costa was drawing dead and was officially out of chips after the river further improved Kaulakys from a set to a full house.

"Good game," Costa said with a smile before shaking Kaulakys's hand.

Level 10: 600/1,200 (1,200)
Entries: 69/137

We caught up with Finland's Jukka Juvonen (pictured below), who is fresh off a side event victory last night in the €120 NLH Tuesday Express Knockout.

The Main Event didn't treat him that well. He late entered but didn't last long. Juvonen recapped his demise.

He shared that he had cowboys and his chips went in on a flop with his opponent holding eight-five suited. His opponent connected with his five on the flop and also had a flush draw. So, it was basically a coin flip at this point.

Juvonen was on the losing end after his opponent completed his flush and opted to enter the €30 satellite to the €1,100 NLH High Roller.

Ant Gokcek, who bagged a six-figure stack during Day 1a, is back in the house playing the High Roller.

"Aren't you worried that you will be still playing the Main Event when the High Roller starts?" we asked.

"Day 2 is tomorrow," replied Gokcek. "High Roller is on Friday."

"But, Day 3 is also Friday," we responded. "Don't you hope you will still be playing?"

Gokcek said he will cross that bridge when it comes but he can always late register the satellite if he wins a ticket and advances to Day 3 of the Main with late registration in the High Roller open until the end of the first blind level of Day 2 on Saturday.

Day 1b has already reached 136 entries. This means there are already 300 entries in the Main Event with still a few levels to go in Day 1b, a full day of Day 1c, and late registration during the first hour of tomorrow's Day 2.

With this in mind, at least 400 entries are conservatively expected in the Main Event.

Level 9: 500/1,000 (1,000)
Entries: 80/133

Alenas Pelegrimas (pictured below) had his stack of 37,300 in the middle and was up against Arminas Nemeika.

Alenas Pelegrimas:
Arminas Nemeika:

It was looking like Pelegrimas may have been heading to the showers after getting nowhere on either the flop or the turn. However, the spiked the river to improve him to a better two pair than Nemeika to win the big flip.

Meanwhile, Nemeika was down to about two big blinds after the hand and dusted this off the next hand.

Latvia's Aigars Petrovs held the chip lead at the break. Check out some of the bigger stacks from around the room with four more levels of action on Day 1b.

It's time once again for players to get up and stretch with the third 15-minute break. Players will come back to play two more blind levels with blinds at 500/1,000 (1,000) and 600/1,200 (1,200) before heading off on their final break of the day.

We will update the bigger stacks from around the room shortly after the action resumes for Level 9.

Level 8: 400/800 (800)
Entries: 80/126

Mantas Urbonas (pictured below) opened from the hijack before Mindaugas Sungaila called from the cutoff. Marius Kudzmanas three-bet from the button before Urbonas jammed a fairly large stack. Sungaila got out of the way before Kudzmanas called off his stack of approximately 35,000.

Marius Kudzmanas:
Mantas Urbonas:

Urbonas pulled ahead on the flip after the flop and improved to trips on the turn. No miracle came for Kudzmanas on the river. Instead, the river improved Urbonas to a full house and Kudzmanas was out of chips at least for now.

Level 8: 400/800 (800)
Entries: 79/123

Kestutis Jungevicius (pictured below) checked the turn with the on the board before Vilius Zamzickas bet about 1/4 of the pot with a bet of 4,000. 

Jungevicius snap-called before both players quickly checked the river. Jungevicius turned over the . Zamzickas showed the which turned out to be enough to beat his opponent's big slick.

Level 7: 300/600 (600)
Entries: 84/112

Aurimas Vaitiekunas (pictured below), who had slightly more than the more than 20,000 in the pot checked the river with the . Algirdas Sulkys jammed and Vaitiekunas tanked for about 30 seconds before he called.

Vaitiekunas turned over the nut-flush with . Vaitiekunas attempted to muck his cards face down but the dealer pulled them out of the muck and showed that Vaitiekunas held for the top pair.

Level 7: 300/600 (600)
Entries: 84/112

Paulius Jucys (pictured below) was low on chips during the break but just doubled through Linas Radionovas.

Jucys jammed for 10,800 into a pot of a little more with the on the board after the turn. Radionovas quickly called and the cards were turned over.

Paulius Jucys:
Linas Radionovas:

Jucys was ahead with his king kicker but further improved to an unnecessary top two pair to win the hand after the river completed the board.

Level 7: 300/600 (600)
Entries: 83/111

Martynas Racinskas was with the chip lead at the second break. Racinskas is no stranger to success at Olympic Casino Lietuva.

In fact, Racinskas was in all his glory in 2020 after winning the biggest event in Vilnius of the year in the Fisherman's Challenge Main Event.

Best of luck to Racinskas and the rest of the field.  Check out some of the bigger stacks from around the room below:

Players are on their second 15-minute break. We will update some of the bigger stacks from around the room shortly after the break has concluded.

Players will play two more blind levels in 300/600 (600) and 400/800 (800) before their next break.

Level 6: 200/500 (500)
Entries: 87/105

Bahadir Hatipoglu fired out for 8,000 into a pot of a little bit more with the on the board after the turn. One player folded before Simonas Parednis (pictured below) jammed for more than 13,000. Another player folded before Hatipoglu tanked for nearly a minute. Eventually, Hatipoglu found a call but likely wishes he found a fold as he was drawing dead.

Simonas Parednis:
Bahadir Hatipoglu:

There was no card in the deck that would push Hatipoglu ahead of his opponent's wheel. Parednis officially doubled his stack after the river paired the board.

Level 6: 200/500 (500)
Entries: 87/105

The warm welcome given to Urmo Velvelt (pictured below) apparently didn't mean players at his table would just hand him their chips. The Estonian poker beast had just crumbs in his stack when he jammed about a pot-sized bet in a small pot after the landed on the flop. Evaldas Katinas quickly called and the cards were turned over.

Urmo Velvelt:
Evaldas Katinas:

Velvelt flopped top pair and had some outs to get ahead of the overpair held by Katinas. However, Velvelt bricked both the turn and river and was out of chips.

"Looks like second bullet," Velvelt said to us after the hand as he headed over to the cashier to hop back into the mix on Day 1b of the Main Event.

Level 5: 200/400 (400)
Entries: 88/102

Aigars Petrovs bet 2,000 into a pot of around 7,000 with the on the board.  Vladas Burneikis (pictured below) raised for most of his stack to 7,000. Petrovs tanked for close to a minute before he called.

Petrovs apparently had air as soon as the call was made, he mucked his hand for Burneikis to win the hand regardless of what he had at showdown.

Level 5: 200/400 (400)
Entries: 89/99

Paulius Jucys (pictured below) plays in all of the bigger events in Vilnius and is often seen running deep and also has been witnessed in the past battling it out in Olympic Park Casino in the Estonian capital of Tallinn where the Kings of Tallinn will take place in less than a month on Feb. 23 to March 3.

Jucys hasn't had the best start but it is early and nothing to be overly concerned about. Recently, he checked the turn with the on the board before he called a bet of 2,200 into a pot of 4,400 by Alenas Pelegrimas. Both players checked after the river paired the board.

Jucys turned over the . His two pair wasn't strong enough to win the pot as Pelegrimas connected with his ace and won the pot after tabling the .

Several other notable players have joined the mix including Poland's Dominik Ostrowski and local heroes Algirdas Saveikis, poker coach Arvydas Merfeldas, and Arturas Dauksevic.

Estonia's Urmo Velvelt was supposed to come to Vilnius to have some fun and, of course, play poker with his friend Martin Piik. Piik had to back out but this didn't stop Velvelt from making the short journey alongside PLO crusher Steven Tool.

Tool apparently had a good night in the cash games last night and Velvelt hopes for the same during the Vilnius Ace Breaker Main Event. Velvelt is a well-known online crusher who also has had some success, especially at Olympic Park Casino in Tallinn where the upcoming Kings of Tallinn will take place from Feb. 23 to March 3. He took third place this summer in the Kings of Tallinn Summer Showdown €1,100 Main Event for €49,300.

Many would say that is peanuts compared to what he has won online. He is often witnessed in the $10,300 buy-in Super MILLION$ at OlyBet Poker on the GGPoker network.

Velvelt is here to have fun but also to go home with a trophy. He won't be easy at the tables but he still has his work cut out for him as many other talented players in the field will try to stop him. 

Best of luck to Velvelt and a warm welcome from the Lithuanian poker community to one of poker's brightest stars.

Level 5: 200/400 (400)
Entries: 89/99

Day 1b has yet to see a player awarded with a special Ace Breaker cocktail for cracking someone's aces. Grantas Naujokas but instead is on the rail.

Naujokas jammed his short stack with the on the board after the turn. Yauheni Novik (pictured below) quickly called and although was ahead had a sweat on the river.

Grantas Naujokas:
Yauheni Novik:

A blank completed the board on the river for Novik to win the pot and add to his already impressive stack.

While Naujokas has yet to re-enter, the same can't be said for old-school poker player Mantas Urbonas who lost his stack shortly before Naujokas before re-entering the action.

Level 4: 100/300 (300)
Entries: 85/90

Aurimas Vaitiekunas checked before Karolis Jancauskas bet 1,000 into a pot of 4,000 on the flop.

Vatiekunas called before calling again facing a bet of 2,000 by Jancauskas on the turn. Both players checked the river. Vaitiekunas turned over the before Jancauskas turned over a better pair in to win the hand.

Players are on their first 15-minute break of the day. The blinds will increase to 100/300 with a 300 big blind ante when the action resumes.

Meanwhile, we bumped into Finland's Jukka Juvonen during the break. He was thrilled to win a trophy in last night's €120 Tuesday Knockout Express.

"I don't like entering the Main Event early," Juvonen said about Main Events in general. "I prefer to enter late and avoid the long day."

"What about the turbo flight tonight?" we asked.

"That ends too late," replied Juvonen. "The best for me is to wait a little while longer and to late-enter Day 1b."

Level 3: 100/200 (200)
Entries: 77/82

Martynas Kaulykas (pictured below) appears to getting involved in decent-sized pots whenever we check out the action at Table 3.

This time was no different as Kaulykas three-bet to 2,100 from the blinds and was called by Saulius Strasevicius. 

Kaulykas fired out for 2,000 on the flop. Strasevicius raised to 5,500. Kaulykas paused for a few moments before he called. Both players checked the turn. Kaulykas paused again on the river but opted to check. Strasevicius opted to check it back.

Kaulykas turned over the and connecting with his trey on the flop was good enough. Strasevicius could have mucked his hand at this point, but instead showed the table his before the dealer pushed the chips over to Kaulykas.

Meanwhile, Gintaras Naglius was the latest player to hit the rail. He quickly re-entered the action like the other three players to lose their stacks before he did. Shortly after the hand, Barna lost his stack for the third time including twice today before the first break. He got back into the action in hopes this bullet will be the one that propels him to a big opening day stack.

Level 3: 100/200 (200)
Entries: 72/75

The first Vilnius Ace Breaker Main Event champion Vasilij Barna (pictured below) will need to re-enter for a third bullet after dusting off his second bullet early on Day 1b to Aurelijus Sipavicius.

Barna jammed for 10,000 into a pot of a little less on the flop. Sipavicius thought things over before he called.

Vasilij Barna:
Aurelijus Sipavicius:

Several players had a small chuckle at Barna's attempt to steal away the pot. Sipavicius saw through the bluff and had his opponent drawing dead after the turn. The river completed the board for Sipavicius to win the hand, while Barna headed to the cashier to re-enter.

Meanwhile, Sirak Oganisian hit the rail during Level 2 but has since re-entered as did the first elimination of the day in Edijius Digrys.

Level 2: 100/100 (100)
Entries: 67/69

It was a three-bet pot with 2,600 in the middle when Agne Ivanauskiene (pictured below) checked in the dark before the landed on the flop. Martynas Kaulykas fired out for 1,000 and Ivanauskiene quickly called.

The hand wasn't super entertaining from there with both players checking the turn and river. But the table got a laugh as Kaulykas apparently had pure air as he opted to muck his hand before Ivanauskiene even showed her cards.

Level 2: 100/100 (100)
Entries: 59/60

Egidijus Digrys holds the "honor" of becoming the first player to hit the rail on Day 1b. Digrys raised to 500 over a limper before Martynas Kaulykas (pictured below) three-bet to 1,500 from the small blind.

There was some action before the river to grow the pot to around 10,000 with the on the board. Kaulykas bet 3,200. Digrys jammed over the top for more than 10,000. Kaulykas made the easy call and Digrys got his hands caught in the cookie jar after turning over .

Meanwhile, Kaulykas had the absolute goods and turned over the for quad cowboys to chip up early on Day 1b.

Level 1: 100/100
Entries: 50/50

Both Dominykas Morkunas and Evaldas Katinas (pictured below) checked the flop before Morkunas fired out for 1,500 into 2,600 on the turn. Katinas called and the river completed the board.

Morkunas bet 2,600. Katinas confirmed the amount before opting to call. Morkunas turned over the but this didn't get the job done with Katinas flopping a better pair with to take down the hand.

Meanwhile, 2023 Vilnius Ace Breaker Main Event champion Vasilij Barna is back in action after exiting early on Day 1a. Lithuania's Vytautas Milbautas took a break from his usual home in Cyprus to hop into the action as well as did Aurelijus Sipavicius, who battled most of Day 1a only to come up short near the end of the day.

Level 1: 100/100
Entries: 45/45

Day 1b has grown to 45 entries during Level 1 to bring the total field up to 207 entries when taking into account the 164 entries on Day 1a. This is enough to already push the prize pool into six digits as it sits on €100,320 and counting.

This will grow throughout the next two days as late registration will remain open throughout today's Day 1b and Day 1c. It will also stay open during the first blind level of tomorrow's Day 2.

Level 1: 100/100
Entries: 44/44

Yauheni Novik opened for 400 from the cutoff before Tautvydas Stravinskas (pictured below) three-bet to 1,100 from the button. Novik called before the landed on the flop.

Novik check-called a bet by Stravinskas for 800 before calling a bigger bet of 2,200 after the turn. Both players checked the river.

The dealer instructed Novik to turn over his cards but he didn't need to as while this was being said Stravinskas turned over the for a rivered top pair. This apparently was good enough as instead of turning over his hand, Novik tossed his cards face down into the muck.

Level 1: 100/100
Entries: 33/33

Day 1b kicked off with 33 entries. Justina Andriukeviciute, Arunas Gelazninkas, Rolandas Suleimanovas, Mantas Urbonas, and Vygerdas Jonikas are among the early entries in the field.

Welcome to Day 1b of the second edition of the OlyBet Showdown Vilnius Ace Breaker €555 Main Event.

Day 1b will kick off a noon on Wednesday and will mirror the structure of Day 1a with players starting with 30,000 in chips while battling a dozen blind levels of 40 minutes each. Players can re-enter until their hearts are content with late registration open not only throughout all three opening flights but also during the first blind level of Thursday's Day 2.

The final opening flight in Day 1c begins in the evening at 8 p.m. The only difference in this flight is that blind levels will be 25 minutes instead of the 40 minutes boasted during the two opening flights.

Day 2 and Day 3 boast deeper structures with one-hour blind levels.

Five players bagged at least 200,000 during yesterday's Day 1a including Day 1a chip leader Aurimas Stanevicius (270,500), Marek Zigel (251,000), Paulius Vaitiekunas (245,500), Edgaras Truskauskas (238,000), and Paulius Zilinskas.

Time will tell who else will join these five players in what promises to be an exciting day. We expect to see Game of Gold's Olga Iermolcheva (pictured below) back in the mix among many other prominent poker superstars. So be sure to stay tuned when the blog goes live at noon.