Mantas Bagocius Shakes Off the Self-Doubt to Become King of Vilnius
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Vilnius has a new hometown champion. Mantas Bagocius capped a resurgent 2025 by winning Olybet Poker's Kings of Vilnius €1,100 Main Event at Olympic Casino Lietuva, outlasting a 327-entry field and sealing a €58,130 score after a heads-up deal with fellow Lithuanian Paulius Kisielius.
The €310,650 prize pool comfortably cleared the €250,000 guarantee, but for Bagocius, this one wasn’t about the money. It was about validation.
The Lithuanian pro has been on a tear this year, winning a WSOP Online Circuit ring for $411,850 and adding results that rebuilt a confidence he openly admits had wavered. So lifting the biggest title on home soil hit differently.
“If you’re from here, this is the one you want to win,” Bagocius told poker.pro.
"I’ve had a bit of a renaissance this year, winning the ring and now this, after a tough couple of years where I was really starting to question where I was going; it was maybe starting to affect my confidence in my game. But I continued working hard and studying, and this year things have clicked into place. I have a winner’s mentality, I only think about winning when I play.”
Kings of Vilnius Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mantas Bagocius | Lithuania | €58,130* |
| 2 | Paulius Kisielius | Lithuania | €47,630* |
| 3 | Deividas Butnoras | Lithuania | €30,140 |
| 4 | Vasilij Barna | Lithuania | €21,340 |
| 5 | Roman Kulijev | Lithuania | €15,170 |
| 6 | Martynas Racinskas | Lithuania | €11,330 |
| 7 | Jae Han Kim | South Korea | €8,700 |
| 8 | Valerij Dobrinskij | Lithuania | €7,280 |
| 9 | Baptiste Caim | France | €6,270 |
*indicates heads-up deal
Final Table Action
The final day began at lightning pace, trimming 16 players to nine in the opening hour. Early chip leader Jae Han Kim looked poised for a deep run, but he ultimately cost his place at the table with several mistimed moves. Vasilij Barna briefly dominated the final, knocking out multiple opponents before a costly cooler against Kisielius flipped the script.
Once three-handed, Bagocius, Kisielius, and Deividas Butnoras battled through a long, cagey stretch until Kisielius rivered a set of nines, beating Butnoras' aces and queens to reach heads-up with a commanding lead.
Down nearly 3:1 when the duel began, Bagocius refused to fade. He won the first two big pots which included a huge river bluff, before the players agreed to a chop (€47,630 each), leaving €10,500 and the trophy to play for.
What followed was a duel neither player wanted to lose. Bagocius moved ahead with two pair, but Kisielius immediately doubled with aces to keep things interesting. In the end, Bagocius’ better kicker in a top-pair-versus-top-pair clash sealed it, completing the most meaningful victories of his career.
Imagery courtesy of Olybet/poker.pro
