Onyx High Roller Series | Paulius Vaitekunas wins after over 3 hours, taking home $52,200 in a 7-player bounty tournament.

On August 16, 2026, the Onyx High Roller Series concluded at the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa in Northern Cyprus. The Bounty event, with a buy-in of $10,200, attracted only seven players, but the pace of the game was extremely fast. Lithuanian player Paulius Vaitekunas entered at Level 4 and ultimately won the title in just over three hours, taking home a total of $52,200.

For Vaitekunas, this tournament was the fastest-paced one he'd ever experienced in his live tournament career. He pointed out that he only joined at Level 4, and the tournament ended at Level 11; compared to players who were seated from the start, he actually had more than an hour less playing time.

Seven players competed for the championship, with the champion receiving $32,200.

This $10,200 Bounty uses a fairly straightforward reward structure.

Since only 7 players ultimately participated, the regular prize pool of $32,200 was not distributed among multiple rankings but was entirely reserved for the final champion. In addition, each elimination of an opponent would earn an additional $5,000 in bounty.

Vaitekunas ultimately eliminated 3 opponents, earning an additional $15,000 bounty. He also retained his own $5,000 bounty as the last survivor, bringing his total earnings to $52,200.

He entered at Level 4 and already secured the first bounty.

Only five players were seated at the start of the tournament, but two more joined at Level 4, bringing the final number of participants to seven. Vaitekunas was one of the two players who joined late.

Although he entered the competition late, he became the first contestant to receive the prize money.

Vaitekunas eliminated German star Manig Loeser in 7th place, immediately winning a $5,000 bounty, which means he had recovered nearly half of his purchase cost shortly after entering the game.

On the other side, Moussa Ahmad lost to Aleksandr Kirichenko in a front flip competition, becoming the next player to leave the arena.

With all five players back, the championship officially entered Winner-Take-All mode.

When the break ended, only 5 players remained on the field, and no other players chose to extend their registration.

This officially confirms that the $32,200 regular prize pool will be entirely won by the last survivor. From this point onward, in addition to the champion's prize, each elimination also directly represents a $5,000 bounty, and the pace of the game immediately speeds up.

Felipe Ketzer, with the shortest stack, was eliminated after only about 5 minutes back at the table; Chengyu Liao was also eliminated shortly after, giving Kirichenko his second prize.

Only Vaitekunas, Kirichenko, and Vladas Tamasauskas remained on the field.

A three-out on the river gives him a comeback victory over his compatriots, putting him with a nearly 3-1 lead going into heads-up play.

After the three-person table started, the situation gradually tilted in Vaitekunas's favor.

He first chipped away at Kirichenko's chips through several small to medium pots, and then won a larger pot, starting to widen the gap between himself and his two opponents.

What truly shifted the tide of the championship was his hand against his compatriot Vladas Tamasauskas.

PokerNews reports that Vaitekunas hit one of his last three outs on the river, completing a comeback and eliminating Tamasauskas in third place. This elimination earned him another 1TP 4T 5,000 bounty, and put him in heads-up play with a near 3-to-1 chip lead.

Kirichenko's final bluff failed, and the champion was decided in just a few hands.

The champion Heads-Up's opponent is Aleksandr Kirichenko.

However, this heads-up match did not go through the long back-and-forth that many high roller tournaments do. Vaitekunas started with a huge lead, and the championship match ended after only a few hands.

In the final crucial hand, Kirichenko opted to fire continuously to complete a large bluff, but the timing wasn't ideal. Vaitekunas quickly called, successfully catching his opponent's bluff and ending the game immediately.

This hand not only allowed Vaitekunas to take home the entire $32,200 regular prize pool, but also earned him Kirichenko's $5,000 bounty, completing his third elimination.

Since Vaitekunas himself was not eliminated, he retained his bounty of $5,000, bringing his total reward to $52,200.

Having played a lot of Spin & Go, short-table experience became key.

Vaitekunas mentioned after the match that his long-term experience in Spin & Go was very helpful in small 7-player tournaments.

He believes that short-table environments require a wider range of games and produce different table dynamics compared to typical large MTTs. Having accumulated a larger sample size of short-table games, he is more familiar with understanding ranges and game variations.

This experience was indeed reflected in the competition: Vaitekunas entered late at Level 4 and won the title at Level 11, with the actual time spent at the table being even shorter than most other participants.

"It's good to have the trophy" concludes the Onyx series.

Vaitekunas actually enjoyed the quick match more than the long, drawn-out battle.

He said it was important to finish the race before the evening really started so he could get enough sleep; he also gave high praise to the Onyx High Roller Series venue and overall environment.

When asked whether the series was a success, Vaitekunas wasn't overly concerned about the less-than-ideal results in other events. For him, taking home a championship trophy at the end of the series was enough to conclude his trip to Northern Cyprus.

Starting in a 7-player mini-high roller event at Level 4, and winning the $32,200 regular prize pool after more than 3 hours, plus a total prize of $20,000, Paulius Vaitekunas became one of the fastest winners at the end of the Onyx High Roller Series with an extremely efficient victory.

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