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Friday, February 17, 2017 2:54 PM Local Time
Lithuanian pro turns American vacation into a Circuit victory and $13,284 in cash
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (February 16, 2017) — Stepas Tindziulis had his sights set on winning Event #9 at the Palm Beach Kennel Club, but he was eliminated early in the day. Fortunately, there was a Turbo running that afternoon, and Tindziulis jumped straight in. By the end of the night, he was sitting alone with all the chips, posing for photos with his first gold ring.
Tindziulis is a 30-year-old professional poker player from the European capital city of Vilnius, Lithuania. He primarily plays online, and this live result represents his most significant one to date. He’s been dabbling in poker since college, though.
“At the time, I was studying at University, and I was into sports really seriously,” he said. “Almost at an Olympic level.” Tindziulis is a modern pentathlete, specializing in the sport that combines fencing, swimming, show jumping, pistol shooting, and cross-country running. “I wasn’t on the National team, so I had no money. I had seen poker on Eurosport for the first time, and I figured I would give it a try online.”
Tindziulis’ online career began with a freeroll victory for a few bucks, and within a couple months, he was playing $100 tournaments and larger without ever having to deposit. When asked what brought an online grinder to this part of the world for a live poker tournament, Tindziulis just laughed.
“My buddies were in Mexico hanging out, and I was really craving a sunny day because it’s winter in Lithuania right now,” he said. “I contacted them, and they told me they are going to Cuba. I said, ‘That’s a good idea. I want to go too.’ And they said, ‘Oh yeah, there’s a Circuit event nearby too, in West Palm Beach.’” He turned his palms up and shrugged as if the rest of the story is self-explanatory.
Tindziulis and crew spent about two weeks in Cuba before making the short flight to South Florida to continue their vacation. “We went to Miami, tried the beaches and all the other stuff for a few days, then we came here to play poker,” he said.
It turned out to be quite a profitable decision. Three of his fellow countrymen cashed in ring events this series, one of them made a final table, and now Tindziulis has a WSOP Circuit ring to bring back home to Lithuania.
In his postgame interviews, the champ seemed duly pleased with his own performance. “I basically made no mistakes, I guess,” he said. “Maybe one minor mistake one or two levels before the bubble. I had no hands; I was short on chips all day. But I got lucky in flips, and I got hot at the right time.”
Friday, February 17, 2017 2:16 AM Local Time
It took about 14 hours of play to decide a winner in the Turbo, but the last hand has just been dealt. Stepas Tindziulis (pictured above) is the champion, outlasting the field of 164 entries to win the ring and the top prize of $13,284.
Tindziuls is a 30-year-old professional poker player from Lithuania who is on the tail end of a poker vacation on this side of the pond. This result is the largest of his live poker career, and it comes with a piece of gold jewelry to take back home. A more comprehensive story about his win will be published shortly.
Daniel Swartz (below) finishes as the runner-up, earning $8,210.
Friday, February 17, 2017 1:44 AM Local Time
Stepas Tindziulis and Daniel Swartz are heads-up for the ring in Event #10, and Tindziulis begins the match with the chip lead.
Stepas Tindziulis - 980,000 (33 bb)
Daniel Swartz - 660,000 (22 bb)
Blinds are 15,000/30,000 with a 5,000 ante, putting about 55 total big blinds in play.
Friday, February 17, 2017 1:40 AM Local Time
Friday, February 17, 2017 1:25 AM Local Time
The final three players are on a 15-minute break, and it seems likely it'll be their last of the evening given the pace of play so far. Here's how they stack up:
Stepas Tindziulis - 744,000 (31 bb)
Max Young - 676,000 (28 bb)
Daniel Swartz - 216,000 (9 bb)
Max Young has already moved into the lead in the race for Casino Champion here, and he's looking to add a second ring to his week's haul. Blinds are moving to 12,000/24,000 with a 4,000 ante, meaning the average stack has shrunk to about 23 big blinds.
Friday, February 17, 2017 1:07 AM Local Time
Friday, February 17, 2017 12:51 AM Local Time
Friday, February 17, 2017 12:50 AM Local Time
Friday, February 17, 2017 12:07 AM Local Time
Friday, February 17, 2017 12:01 AM Local Time
Friday, February 17, 2017 12:00 AM Local Time
Thursday, February 16, 2017 11:59 PM Local Time
Thursday, February 16, 2017 11:58 PM Local Time
From a starting field of 164 entries, just 10 players remain in this Turbo. They've just drawn for new seats for the last time, combining around the final table. Here's the lineup:
Seat 1: Max Young - 362,000
Seat 2: Brian Gordon - 179,000
Seat 3: Marty Zabib - 64,000
Seat 4: Eric Rivkin - 249,000
Seat 5: Jeremy Guthart - 50,000
Seat 6: Jeffrey Silverstein - 70,000
Seat 7: Juan Mendoza - 144,000
Seat 8: Steve Jungmann - 110,000
Seat 9: Stepas Tindziulis - 100,000
Seat 10: Daniel Swartz - 290,000
Max Young is making his third final table appearance of the series, and finish of ninth or better would move him into the lead in the race for Casino Champion at this venue.
Blinds are 4,000/8,000 with a 1,000 ante in the current level, putting the average stack north of 30 big blinds. Everyone left is guaranteed to earn at least $959.
Thursday, February 16, 2017 9:11 PM Local Time
Level 14 is underway in the Turbo, playing 1,000/2,000 blinds with a 300 ante. The starting field of 164 entries has been trimmed to 36 players, with exactly half of them slated to finish in the money. The average stack is about 23 big blinds.
Ring winner and South Floridian Darryll Fish (pictured) is still in, sharing a table with Jon Borenstein, among others. Daren Stabinski is grinding along, as well, along with Elliott Zaydman and Eric Rivkin. And so is Max Young. The Event #6 winner has already cashed four times and made two final tables in this series, putting him in third place on the current Casino Champion leaderboard.
Thursday, February 16, 2017 7:39 PM Local Time
Registration is now closed for Event #10. This $365 Turbo attracted 164 entries, creating a prizepool worth $49,200. That money will be shared by the final 18 players, with a min-cash worth $660. A top prize of $13,284 and the series' 10th gold ring are reserved for the winner. The full breakdown of the payouts can be found in the "Prizepool" tab above.
There are 60 players left at the moment, and play is scheduled to continue tonight until there is just one.
Thursday, February 16, 2017 1:17 AM Local Time
The second event on the schedule today is a $365 Turbo that will run from start to finish before the lights go out. It's the tenth of 12 total events and the second of two turbos on the calendar for this series. Carlos Loving won the first, putting an exclamation point on a memorable day at the Palm Beach Kennel Club.
Here are the vitals for this evening's event:
- This is a one-day event
- Players begin with 10,000 in tournament chips
- Levels are 20 minutes apiece
- Late registration and single re-entry are available until the start of Level 9 (7:15 p.m.)
Cards go in the air at 4 p.m.
Wednesday, February 15, 2017 7:26 PM Local Time