Originally posted by Mantelo
Went to one Live event, had a deep run but on the stone cold bubble my shove of 10BB with A♣:K♦: was called by Big blind's K♠:Q♥:. Flop was safe but Queen on the Turn sent me to rails. Fortunately there was some kind of protection to bubble boy and at least I got my Buy-in back.
Nice!
Best of luck in Campione!
Bankroll Challenge 2025
Week 86
Weekly profit 83 €
Starting bankroll 10 000€
Last Update 26 100 €
Current Bankroll 26 183€
Goal Bankroll 60 000€
Good day Grinders 
Some time from my last post, but as you can see from results, standing almost at the same place 
My trip to Campione wasn't successful looking from poker perspective. 3 bullets in the Main, nowhere close ITM. I can't say that these were my best poker games, and also the card run was not on my side either. My 2nd bullet was moving towards something, but A♦:K♣: didn't hold versus A♦:7♠: in blind versus blind preflop spot with 30BB effective. However, everything outside poker was great, the Swiss Alps including, and for the first time I could spend some time in wonderful Como region!
So how am I breakeven in this period despite firing multiple barrels in Main Event? Poker gods sometimes take, and sometimes give 
The golden chest on my first online session after the trip! Not bad considering it was only a 10$ tournament..
Originally posted by Mantelo
So how am I breakeven in this period despite firing multiple barrels in Main Event? Poker gods sometimes take, and sometimes give
Wow!
It seems my last trip of 2025 will be the same as the start of 2026 
Campione is becoming my favorite place for poker, and with PokerStars becoming an official partner with casino in this city, it looks like I might travel here more frequently.
Bankroll Challenge 2025
Week 87
Weekly profit 927 €
Starting bankroll 10 000€
Last Update 26 183 €
Current Bankroll 27 110€
Goal Bankroll 60 000€
Good day PokerStrategy members
A nice week, most of the profits coming from a 50$ Monster stack event. Although not a win, but bronze also gave me a 4 figure score
Remember last week I posted my success in qualifying for Campione Main Event? Well, yesterday I got my second bullet also 
Hopefully my first attempt will take me to day 2 and the ticket will get converted to Tournament Money instead.
And there is one more thing.. 
My travel list for 2026 is updated as yesterday I qualified for Irish Open as well. Been there 2 years ago and it looked like a great tournament, no wonder last year it won an award for the Best Stand-Alone Festival. This year it is 2,5 Million guaranteed so I expect a huge crowd of players
Ha wow, Irish open - that will be the inofficial PokerStrategy meeting place!
Make sure to have a meet-up with Barry Carter & Co, all I read about the event is great (except the weather)!
Good luck and merry Christmas to you. I hope all is well, how is the homestead doing in the wintertime?
Originally posted by SvenBe
Ha wow, Irish open - that will be the inofficial PokerStrategy meeting place!
Make sure to have a meet-up with Barry Carter & Co, all I read about the event is great (except the weather)!Good luck and merry Christmas to you. I hope all is well, how is the homestead doing in the wintertime?
Everything above zero is ok for the weather 
The homestead is sleeping now, I guess we will give it a rest for another two months
Another year passed by and it is time to look over my goals of 2025
1. Have 10 trips outside Lithuania, at least 1 country new to me *0,5 point
February - Cyprus
March - Switzerland, PokerStars Open Campione
June - Namur, Belgium
September - Riga
November - Lugano & Como, Italy
Very few trips last year, but at least I found Switzerland for the first time! Indeed, Lugano will be my first stop of 2026 as well, PokerStars Open Campione festival. I have another Main Event ticket for Irish Open, so definitely I will be coming there in April. There are still 2 Silver passes in my PokerStars account and those probably will be used on PokerStars Open Paris and Namur.
2. Extend Trophy board or ship Major MTT online event *1 point
This year I had to move from Natural8 to Olybet platform as Natural8 no longer accepted players from Lithuania. Although it is the same GG Network, but there are no benefits like Rakeback or Bonuses on Olybet. However, this platform provides satellites with huge overlays to nearby Live Events and one of those led me to shipping Main Event for 10k. Definitely my biggest achievement of the year
3. Reach Final Table in Sunday Million, GG Masters or any 1 Million Guaranteed event *0,5 point
2 tables phase was the most I could reach last year in GG Masters. With players pool still increasing it will be more difficult to complete this goal next year. But it only needs one deep run to make a great year and hopefully that comes in 2026.
4. Study poker 360 hours *1 point
January - 47 hours
February - 34 hours
March - 33 hours
April - 38 hours
May - 41 hours
June - 43 hours
July - 51 hours
August - 43 hours
September - 19 hours
October - 27 hours
November - 17 hours
December - 12 hours
With 405 hours, the target was met. The beginning was great, however there was a significant drop at the end of the year. Now I have to make sure that a restart will be as strong as last time 
5. Experience of 10 educational trails, in Lithuania & Europe *0,5 point
Larnaca, Salt Lake Trail
Lugano, The Olive Grove Trail
Dūkštai, Lithuanian educational path
Bartkuškiai, the sand dune of Bartkuškis
Como, the paths around Como lake
Another half pointer. Have to do better next year
6. Foster our Homestead *0,5 point
We do like our homestead and it seems like fauna likes it as well. Can't give a whole point here as we still don't have fresh water or electricity. My wife has already ordered lots of new flowers seeds so expect it to be a busy spring and summer
7. Reach 100k XPoints Total on French Duolingo *1 point
Consistent job here, having fulfilled the tasks in every month. Total Xp - 126k, way above the target
8. Help Top Kickers team avoid relegation and have 10 attacking returns *1 point
It was a fine season for a team, a mid table position with a positive goal difference Personally I had 4 goals and 10 assists, total of 14 contributions that is 1/3 of the total team goals. That would be a nice score in any fantasy game
9. Read 12 books *1 point
Mysterious Egypt by Angelina Zaleckaitė
Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
Numero Zero by Umberto Eco
Malone dies by Samuel Beckett
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai
Les yeux de Mona by Thomas Schlesser
The Boy Who Granted Dreams by Luca Di Fulvio
The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe
Summer at the lake by Erica James
Mad by Chloé Esposito
Goal completed and plus lots of fairytales for our daughter 
10. Complete 10 Bucket List activities *0,5 point
Listen to a famous Concert
Experience Sauna procedures with friends
Set eyes on the Nature Wonder
Listen to Live Opera
Organize outdoors event for friends
Take part in Formula-1 weekend
Watch Live reputable football match in a stadium
Attend a music Festival
Watch a performance in Theatre
Witness one of the new World Wonders
Not everything went to the plan and only 5 tasks reached 
Ant that brings.. 7,5 points in Total. Very similar performance to my previous years, maybe not greatest but not bad either.
For the year of 2026 no extraordinary changes, just continue to live a happy healthy life and share the enjoyment with the surrounding people.
All the best for You this Year!
Bankroll Challenge 2025
Week 88
Weekly profit 3928 €
Starting bankroll 10 000€
Last Update 27 110 €
Current Bankroll 31 038€
Goal Bankroll 60 000€
Good day Grinders
Looks like the games in the early 2026 are very juicy! At least my first week of the new year is pretty good. Biggest result so far coming in a 22$ Double Deuce tournament. A field of almost 900 players, a huge boost to bankroll and overall mood.
Last Sunday gave me one more present.. Additional seat to Irish Open event You might find some recognize someone else amongst the winners, SvenBe was right about potential PokerStrategy meeting place
Good evening grinders
Couple of nice results this week..
Firstly, on Thursday evening I won one of the seats to Kings of Tallinn event. That means my second trip of the year belongs to Estonia
Then I got a deep run in 150$ GG Masters, finishing 30th in the end. Last hand with black pocket jacks into chipleaders Kings
A week was finalized with another seat to PokerStars Open Campione, the festival I am heading tomorrow. This is my 3rd ticket for the Main Event, but hopefully one will be enough
Wow, nice one!
Do you track your ROI in those smaller qualifiers? I assume they are high variance but maybe you and Barry are the only one who know how to play them?
Originally posted by SvenBe
Wow, nice one!
Do you track your ROI in those smaller qualifiers? I assume they are high variance but maybe you and Barry are the only one who know how to play them?
To be honest, I think variance is not that big as it might look. If everyone is equal in skill, you collect a package once in 10 tournaments. But there is a catch, "if" These tournaments are very very soft & it makes it even more profitable if I am allowed to play for multiple tickets. There are no bots in satellites as you must play at least your first ticket Live and following strict GTO theory is far away from a perfect strategy. In theory, in late stages you should just jam Ax hands even for 30 blinds as the only profitable hand to call you is AA, but when people call you off with ATs and 88, the game becomes very complex
Alright, January has passed and it is a time to reveal my goals for 2026! No major changes from the ones I used to have before, but completing one or two more would be nice
1. Have 10 trips outside Lithuania, at least 1 country new to me
January - Campione D'Italia, PokerStars Open
February - Kings of Tallinn
April - Irish Open
May - Monte Carlo, PokerStars Open
Just got back from my first trip of the Year Before the tournament, I spent two days in Torino (1st picture) and Milan (2nd picture). Booked a hotel close to iconic San Siro stadium and just later I realized that this is the place where Winter Olympics have the Opening ceremony. A nice start for the journey and then I took a bus to picturesque Lugano (3rd and 4th photos), which is only 10 km from Campione D'Italie. I was very happy with my table on day 1, but it took me exactly the last hand of the day when I called a 4bet jam with J♣:J♠: vs A♦:5♦: with 40BB effective both to reach 1,5x average stack. On day 2 I got a very tough table, nobody was giving the chips away so I had to wait for good hands to go into battle mode. In the middle of the day I picked A♦:K♦: and called a cold4bet jam of 30BB against 7♣:7♥:. After a Q♣:Q♦:J♥: flop it was still a coinflip, but my percentage jumped to 96% on Turned Ace. My opponent used the old trick - stand up and grab a coat - which worked perfectly well as 7♦: fell on the River From that point nothing seemed to work, and when my check/raise semibluff with 7♣:4♣: on J♣:5♦:2♥:K♣: didn't work in Blind vs Blind battle, I was down to 20 BB only. It was still around 100 players to bust until money, so my chances to sneak in were not so good. On the bubble phase I maintained 10BB stack and exactly with 1 person left to bust, I got A♣:K♦: in Middle position. After some consideration I decided to fold as the Big Blind was fancy chipleader and in similar situation he called off with 5♠:4♠: so I had a feeling he would be happy to gamble with half of the deck. Not sure if he would have folded or called his J♣:8♦:, but he clashed with other big stack and won a pot on the board of K♠:T♥:T♣:J♦:J♥:. The next hand was the one when bubble burst and it was time to try to double up. Actually it was a good spot to triple up when I picked A♣:K♦: again. With chipleader opening for a big size, my only options was to jam ~5BB stack. Big blind also jumped in and we saw K♠:2♦:2♣: flop. I was already happy about possibility to play ~20 BB stack again, but check/raise on the River rung the bells - Big blind showed A♥:2♣: Next day I played a 400€ Mystery Bounty side event but with 25% field left, my UTG 12BB jam of A♣:K♣: was called by SB 6♠:6♦:. I bricked and my poker on that trip ended
I am still happy with my overall play and I have big hopes for next festival - in 5 days I am going to Kings of Tallinn. I have one Main Event ticket and hopefully it will be enough to battle for 1 million guaranteed prize pool! My other confirmed trip is Irish Open in April, and very probably Monte Carlo in May. I still have one Silver pass to use in 2026 and Monaco would be a perfect place as I have never been there
2. Extend Trophy board or ship Major MTT online event
Same goal as last year and hopefully similar results
3. Collect all Zodiacs on GG Network
Not sure if it is possible to win all 12 different tournaments but I will give it a try! A minor problem that the first tournament of the day for Rat avatar starts at 6 am, which is a challenge to wake up Usually I jump in with late registration counting last minutes so it is tough to break through with a short stack.
So take a guess, how many Zodiacs I will collect at the end of the year?
4. Reach Final Table in Sunday Million, GG Masters or any 1 Million Guaranteed event
Well, it was a close one on my first month! At one time with 100 players left I was chipleading, but 4 table phase was the best I could reach in the end. Black Jacks run into Kings ant that was GG
5. Study poker 360 hours
January - 31 hours
Exactly the pace to complete the goal. From my personal experience, my first months usually are strong, but my studying hours drop down later, especially in summer times and Christmas period. Let's see if I can maintain the line for a longer period this time.
6. Visit 10 famous places/objects in Lithuania outside Vilnius with my family
Well, there is a reason why Lonely Planet named Lithuania the #2 best country to visit globally and the #1 destination in Europe for 2025. As most people, I like to travel to other countries but sometimes the hidden gems are closer than you think. I am already making a list where I would like to go, so hopefully in my next update I will include some spectacular photos
7. Foster our Homestead
We haven't visited our homestead in two months now as we are facing some heavy snow and cold in Lithuania. Let the land rest and next month we will start some work again. With no sun and temperatures dropping to -30 Celsius now, our camera doesn't last for more than a day so no pictures of wild for now
8. Collect all Monthly badges on Duolingo
1st one of January in my pocket! Learning French does not only help me practically in French speaking countries, but it has many positive influences in brain work. I've read some articles that active bilingualism can delay the onset of Alzheimer’s and dementia symptoms by an average of 4 to 5 years. And as long as I can keep my mind fresh, I will be happy with my life
9. Help Top Kickers team avoid relegation and have 10 attacking returns
4 goals and 10 assists was my result last year and I would be very happy to show similar statistics. In my last goal I mentioned that for a happy life you need healthy mind, but healthy body is as much important. If Ronaldo can play at high level at the age of 41, surely I can do it in Sunday league at 38
At this moment Top Kickers is participating in winter outdoors championship and we are exactly in the middle. Couple of good matches and we can sneak into Top3 unexpectedly
10. Read 12 books
Last goal the same as usual Just like learning other language, reading has plenty of benefits for your brain. It also helps to reduce stress, increase your IQ, focus and concentration. Surely that can be helpful for poker, right?
As my first trip this year was to Italy, I chose
Leonardo da Vinci by Altaev
to start 2026
Extra points
Listen to a famous Concert
Experience Sauna procedures with friends
Set eyes on the Nature Wonder
Listen to Live Opera
Organize outdoors event for friends
Take part in Formula-1 weekend
Watch Live reputable football match in a stadium
Attend a music Festival
Watch a performance in Theatre
Witness one of the new World Wonders
So I decided to put some activities for enjoyment and extra points! And what a better start than a football match in Italy? As I didn't reach Final Table in Campione, I had a free Sunday. I looked in Serie A fixtures and saw that Como play at home versus Atalanta, a potential battle for Champions League spot. Not the cheapest price of 80€ for a ticket, but damn it was worth it! Although match ended 0-0, it saw an early red card, Goal expectation of 5.3 for a home team, a missed penalty at minute 96, tremendous atmosphere and breathtaking location. A perfect way to end the trip
Bankroll Challenge 2025
Week 89
Weekly profit 358 €
Starting bankroll 10 000€
Last Update 31 038 €
Current Bankroll 31 396€
Goal Bankroll 60 000€
Couple of online sessions and once again on the trip! Tonight I'm flying to Tallinn to play the Main event in its Kings of Tallinn Festival. I only have one ticket from online so it might be a very short trip
Indeed, it was a short trip I found a bag on Day 1, something around average stack with 50 Big blinds, from 30k to 70k. The amount I am very comfortable with and in the first levels of day 2 I managed to get up stack to 90k. And then this hand happened
CO made a standard open, BU flatted together with SB, and I made a big squeeze from the BB with A♣:K♦: Original raiser (who wore PokerCode hoodie), just 4bet shoved exact stack as mine of 60BB and immediately I started shaping his range, TT-QQ, AQ(s), probably some bluffs like A5s, maybe suited broadways if he thinks I'm often light here (which is truth). Interestingly BU also shipped his 20BB stack but because of his style I was confident he had a weak gambling range (not a surprise he had J♥:9♥: ). I thought for a minute if I could ever find a fold here as there was 30% of the field left, but eventually tossed my chips in the middle. The only likely hand I was afraid was pocket Kings so I was a little relieved when opponent rolled over J♣:J♦:. Little chance for a set, but it was unnecessary as no Ace or King appeared on the board.
I was later analyzing this hand and the only thing that caught my eye was how much equity J♥:9♥: takes from J♣:J♦:, although the equity of K♣:A♦: drops just by couple of percentages.
So, in conclusion - I played 3 international tournaments this year, cashed in one Main event, busted all three with Ace King Maybe Anna Kourkikova nickname is for a reason
Originally posted by Mantelo
So, in conclusion - I played 3 international tournaments this year, cashed in one Main event, busted all three with Ace King
It surprises me how much of a trap AK can be!
That seems you will have a very good answer for Patrick Leonhards question on Twitter:
"How often does a good poker player bust a tournament:
Bluffing / Coolered / Bad Beated / Losing a flip / Calling off deadYou have 100 units to distribute to the 5 categories."
In the responses he was applauding people who had Losing a Flip on the 50%+ side of things. I think that sounds like you are in this category, too.
Just as the cover photo tells, Welcome March! 2 months behind our backs, let's look at my yearly goals
1. Have 10 trips outside Lithuania, at least 1 country new to me
January - Campione D'Italia, PokerStars Open
February - Kings of Tallinn, Estonia
April - Irish Open
Campione and Tallinn are done, next on my agenda is Irish Open. I was very very close to going in Cyprus this week however. Looking through satellites on GG, I found that there is a festival in Merit, North Cyprus, so I gave it a try. First I won a 50$ qualifier on Saturday to 500$ satellite and on the Final Stage on Sunday I climbed to position 7. Five packages guaranteed, in the end prizepool reached 6 packages and consolidation prize for 7th position. It was a bizarre Final Table as that was exactly the day when military action started in the region and couple of drones stroke Cyprus. Although I was still playing for the main package, I was already debating if finishing 7th for a healthy 2,5k would be a safer option And indeed, I finished 7th so no headache to organize the flights
2. Extend Trophy board or ship Major MTT online event
Reached day2 in a micro SCOOP event, and with 4 tables left, I hit a dream flop! Allins on the Turn, one outer didn't come
3. Collect all Zodiacs on GG Network
Still can't get through the first barrier, although I was just one flip away from collecting the Rat!
4. Reach Final Table in Sunday Million, GG Masters or any 1 Million Guaranteed event
4 table phase on January is still the result to beat this year.
5. Study poker 360 hours
January - 31 hours
February - 28 hours
February was short, so trailing 1 hour from projection. But still happy with the quality of studying, hopefully it will transform into nice results!
6. Visit 10 famous places/objects in Lithuania outside Vilnius with my family
Now as the winter has gone, I've made some reservations for spring and summer. Expect some pictures in next summary
7. Foster our Homestead
Just charged my camera so next week we are going to visit our homestead for the first time this year! Curious how it will surprise us
8. Collect all Monthly badges on Duolingo
February badge collected, 2 out of 2 for the year 
9. Help Top Kickers team avoid relegation and have 10 attacking returns
Winter outdoor season is over, taking 8th place in the end. One or two positions higher would be nice, but we don't give too much emphasis on this format anyway. This month we start our preparation for 11x11 summer league which is our priority
10. Read 12 books
Leonardo da Vinci by Altaev
The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak
I really wanted to visit Cyprus while it was still snowing in Lithuania, so my last book was exactly about this country. A love story of two youngsters, Greek boy and Turkish girl, tough relationship when the island is divided in half.
So this is my progress of the year, nothing extraordinary but still on a firm track
Until next times!
