Only two editions old, the Kings of Vilnius has already become Lithuania’s flagship poker festival. The third edition runs at Olympic Casino Lietuva from 4 to 13 December 2026, with 35 numbered events, a €2,000 High Roller and a €1,100 Main Event guaranteed to pay out at least €250,000.
- Dates: 4–13 December 2026, at Olympic Casino Lietuva in Vilnius.
- Main Event: €1,100 buy-in, €250,000 guaranteed, three Day 1 flights from 10 December.
- Other highlights: the €555 Kings of Vilnius Championship and the €2,000 NLH High Roller (8-max).
- Last year’s Main Event drew 327 entries and a €310,650 prize pool, beating the guarantee by more than €60,000.
- Live satellites run every day of the first week, with online qualifiers on OlyBet Poker.
A Young Festival With a Strong Identity
OlyBet launched the Kings of Vilnius in November 2024, billing the first edition as the largest guaranteed poker tournament ever held in Lithuania. A €250,000 guarantee on a €1,100 Main Event was a bold move for the market, and the local poker community responded. The fields were overwhelmingly Lithuanian, and the festival quickly took on a proudly home-grown character that sets it apart from many of the bigger international stops.
The Kings brand itself is borrowed from OlyBet’s best-known festival, the Kings of Tallinn in Estonia, which has run for more than a decade and recently completed its 2026 Autumn Edition. Vilnius now closes the operator’s live calendar each year, giving Baltic players one last major festival before the winter break.
How Mantas Bagocius Won in 2025
The second edition confirmed the festival’s place on the map. The 2025 Main Event attracted 327 entries, building a prize pool of €310,650, and the final table was almost entirely local, with eight Lithuanians filling the nine seats.
The title went to Mantas Bagocius, but only after a remarkable comeback. Heads-up against Paulius Kisielius, he found himself trailing by roughly three to one in chips. He won the first two pots of the duel, one of them with a big river bluff, and after Kisielius doubled up with pocket aces the pair agreed a deal that left €10,500 and the trophy to play for. Bagocius won the last hand with top pair and a better kicker, collecting €58,130 and the crown.
The same €250,000 guarantee is back for 2026, but the schedule has grown, and with a full year of OlyBet satellites feeding into it, organisers will be hoping to beat last year’s numbers.
The €1,100 Main Event
The Main Event is the centrepiece of the festival. Players start with 30,000 chips and play 40-minute levels on the standard flights. Day 1A starts on Thursday, 10 December, at 4:00 p.m., and Day 1B on Friday at noon. For those who prefer a faster structure or need a last chance to get in, a Turbo Day 1C with 25-minute levels starts on Friday at 8:00 p.m.
All survivors return for Day 2 on Saturday, 12 December, and the champion will be crowned on Sunday, 13 December. With the 2025 field comfortably beating the guarantee, the realistic target this year is a prize pool north of €300,000 rather than the guaranteed minimum.
The Championship and the High Roller
The €555 NLH Kings of Vilnius Championship opens the festival and has quickly built a following of its own. It offers three starting flights across the first weekend: Day 1A on Friday, 4 December, at 5:00 p.m., Day 1B on Saturday at noon and a Turbo Day 1C on Saturday at 9:00 p.m. Day 2 is on Sunday, and the winner will be decided on Monday, 7 December. Lithuania’s Linas Bulksas won the event in 2025, and local players have so far dominated it.
The €2,000 NLH High Roller is the biggest buy-in on the schedule. It is played 8-max with 50,000-chip starting stacks and 40-minute levels, starting on Wednesday, 9 December, at 4:00 p.m. and finishing on Thursday from 1:00 p.m. This is the event where travelling professionals tend to show up in force. The Bulksas brothers have won the first two editions between them, so one of the storylines in 2026 will be whether anyone else can break that run.
Something for every game
Beyond hold’em, the schedule features a €555 PLO4/PLO5 Championship, a 6-handed €200 HORSE Championship, a 6-handed €250 PL Sviten Championship — the Scandinavian pot-limit draw game that has become a fixture at OlyBet festivals — and several button-round-each events that rotate between hold’em and Omaha variants. There is also the €150 Queens of Vilnius for women players.
Kings of Vilnius 2026 Schedule
| Date | Time | Event |
|---|---|---|
| Fri, 4 Dec | 1:00 p.m. | €80 Satellite to €555 Championship |
| 5:00 p.m. | €555 NLH Kings of Vilnius Championship Day 1A | |
| 7:00 p.m. | €200 NLH | |
| 9:30 p.m. | €80 Satellite to €1,100 Main Event | |
| Sat, 5 Dec | 12:00 p.m. | €555 NLH Kings of Vilnius Championship Day 1B |
| 3:00 p.m. | €250 NLH Knockout (€50 bounties) | |
| 7:00 p.m. | €200 PLO4/PLO5 | |
| 9:00 p.m. | €555 NLH Kings of Vilnius Championship Day 1C Turbo | |
| 9:30 p.m. | €30 Satellite to €1,100 Main Event | |
| Sun, 6 Dec | 12:00 p.m. | €555 NLH Kings of Vilnius Championship Day 2 |
| 3:00 p.m. | €350 NLH Progressive Bounty Day 1 | |
| 5:00 p.m. | €200 NLH/PLO4 Button Round Each | |
| 8:00 p.m. | €80 Satellite to €2,000 High Roller | |
| Mon, 7 Dec | 12:00 p.m. | €555 NLH Kings of Vilnius Championship Final Day |
| 1:00 p.m. | €30 Satellite to €1,100 Main Event | |
| 3:00 p.m. | €350 NLH Progressive Bounty Day 2 | |
| 4:00 p.m. | €250 NLH Bounty (€100 bounties) | |
| 7:00 p.m. | €200 PLO4/PLO5/PLO6 Button Round Each | |
| 9:00 p.m. | €80 Satellite to €2,000 High Roller | |
| Tue, 8 Dec | 12:00 p.m. | €80 Satellite to €2,000 High Roller |
| 2:00 p.m. | €555 PLO4/PLO5 Championship | |
| 5:00 p.m. | €250 NLH Turbo DeepStack | |
| 9:00 p.m. | €30 Satellite to €1,100 Main Event | |
| Wed, 9 Dec | 12:00 p.m. | €80 Satellite to €2,000 High Roller |
| 1:00 p.m. | €200 HORSE Championship, 6-Handed | |
| 4:00 p.m. | €2,000 NLH High Roller, 8-Max Day 1 | |
| 6:00 p.m. | €200 NLH | |
| 9:00 p.m. | €30 Satellite to €1,100 Main Event | |
| Thu, 10 Dec | 12:00 p.m. | €30 Satellite to €1,100 Main Event |
| 1:00 p.m. | €2,000 NLH High Roller Final Day | |
| 4:00 p.m. | €1,100 NLH Main Event Day 1A (€250,000 GTD) | |
| 10:00 p.m. | €250 NLH Progressive Knockout | |
| Fri, 11 Dec | 12:00 p.m. | €1,100 NLH Main Event Day 1B (€250,000 GTD) |
| 4:00 p.m. | €250 PL Sviten Championship, 6-Handed | |
| 5:00 p.m. | €250 NLH | |
| 8:00 p.m. | €1,100 NLH Main Event Turbo Day 1C (€250,000 GTD) | |
| 9:00 p.m. | €200 NLH Turbo | |
| Sat, 12 Dec | 12:00 p.m. | €1,100 NLH Main Event Day 2 |
| 12:00 p.m. | €10 Satellite to Queens | |
| 3:00 p.m. | €555 NLH OlyBet Special Day 1 | |
| 5:00 p.m. | €150 NLH Queens of Vilnius (Ladies Only) | |
| 8:00 p.m. | €250 PLO4/PLO5 Progressive Knockout | |
| 9:00 p.m. | €150 OlyBet Online Progressive Bounty (€5,000 GTD) | |
| Sun, 13 Dec | 12:00 p.m. | €1,100 NLH Main Event Final Day |
| 1:00 p.m. | €555 NLH OlyBet Special Day 2 | |
| 2:00 p.m. | €250 NLH Wrap-up Progressive Knockout |
Satellites and Online Qualifiers
Players do not need to pay the full buy-in to play the biggest events. Live satellites run from the first day of the festival: €30 satellites award Main Event seats on several nights, while €80 satellites offer seats in the Championship and the High Roller. In practice, there is a route into the main tournaments on every day of the first week.
Online, OlyBet Poker runs its Quest for the Crown qualifiers, with daily low buy-in feeder tournaments and regular finals in the run-up to December. For many players in the Baltics, that online route has become the standard way to reach a Kings festival.
Where to Play and Where to Stay
Every tournament and cash game takes place at Olympic Casino Lietuva, Konstitucijos pr. 20, in the city’s business district on the north bank of the Neris. Cash games run 24 hours a day throughout the festival. Players must be at least 21 and bring a valid government-issued ID. Registration is available at the casino cash desk, or by bank transfer, which must arrive at least 24 hours before the event starts.
The Radisson Blu Hotel Lietuva sits directly next to the venue, with festival rates from €113 a night using the promo code POKER26. The Best Western at Konstitucijos pr. 14, about a seven-minute walk away, offers rooms from €62 a night through OlyBet’s booking arrangement.
What to Watch For
Three questions will shape the 2026 edition. Can the Main Event beat last year’s 327 entries and push the prize pool further above the guarantee? Will a Lithuanian win the Main Event for a third year running, given how strongly local players have performed? And can anyone stop the Bulksas family in the High Roller? With the festival closing OlyBet’s year, there will also be plenty of players looking to finish 2026 with a trophy — and a seat on the Kings of Vilnius throne.
