Krisjanis Stankevics Wins No Filter Nordic & Baltic Championship Main Event

After three days of fantastic poker action, all played in a wonderful atmosphere at Olympic Park Casino in Tallinn, Krisjanis Stankevics of Latvia has emerged as a deserved winner of the No Filter Nordic & Baltic Championship Open €1,100 Main Event.

Stankevics defeated Guillermo Gordo of Spain following a lengthy heads-up battle, after the pair agreed a deal. Gordo took €66,790 and Stankevics banked €65,110, with the players playing on for €14,000 and the trophy.

After building a lead over Gordo, Stankevics was denied the title by a rivered chopped pot, but the 27-year-old Latvian didn’t let that setback affect his focus, despite Gordo looking like he was threatening a comeback, and he sealed the deal shortly after.

Stankevics gained his entry to the event by winning an online OlyBet giveaway competition, and has parlayed that free ticket into his biggest career score of €79,100.

No Filter Nordic & Baltic Championship Open Main Event Final Table Results

*Denotes heads-up deal

Winner’s Reaction

Stankevics, who came into Day 3 in the middle of the pack, and was at the absolute bottom of the standings at the start of Day 2, struggled to believe he was standing with the trophy.

“It feels surreal, unbelievable almost. I started Day 2 dead last with half a starting stack, it’s a pretty crazy story to get in from a giveaway and win it. I wasn’t thinking about whether it was possible to win this morning at all, I just wanted to get as deep as possible.”

“I ran well the whole tournament, I don’t think I lost a single flip the whole time, and when I got it in, I pretty much had the best hand all the time somehow.”

“The atmosphere this week has been amazing, it almost felt like a home game, with everyone wanting to talk to you at the tables. This is pretty much the only place I play live. If I get a ticket, I come here, that’s basically my poker story!”

On being denied the title by the chopped pot, and a tough battle with Gordo, Stankevics said “Yeh, he hit the chop, and then he won a few pots after, and I was trying not to get tilted or start to feel like maybe it’s not meant to be. He hit two rivers on me after that as well, got some momentum, but I managed to keep my composure. And then, the final hand, I trapped him. I feel like I played pretty well the whole time.”

Stankevics hadn’t given too much thought as to how this bankroll boost might impact his future poker plans, saying “I’m not sure, we’ll see, it really hasn’t sunk in yet. I think tonight I’ll enjoy a few beers and think about that later!”

Road to the Title

The 358-entry field had been reduced to 16 players for the final day, and Jae Kim of Norway started the day with a significant chip lead, with Gordo in fifth, while Stankevics rounded out the top ten. Those figures created a €340,100 prize pool, with the first-place prize topped up by OlyBet to €100,000, as per the tournament guarantee.

Johan Karlsson made a quick exit when he ran into the ace-king of Stankevics, who proceeded to take a big chunk out of Kim’s stack after a light three-bet jam from the Norwegian.

In a frantic start to the day, the knockouts kept coming as Jonatan Fors’ queens came up against the kings of Kai Lehto, and Torsti Kettula ran top pair into the rockets of Mikael Haapaniemi. After the exits of Elias Suhonen to Lehto, and Jamil Shamoun and Tomas Graham to Quoc Ly, the tournament had reached the final table bubble within two hours of play.

After the first break, Stankevics and Gordo tangled for the first time, but certainly not the last, when Gordo turned a straight against Stankevics top pair. The final table was set when Stankevics picked up ace-king to dispose of Daniyel Destici, and Ly and Gordo were leading the way, with the eventual champion in third.

After Joel Torres Jimenez was the first player to exit the final table, Stankevics once again proved to be Kim’s nemesis as he busted the start of day chip leader with queens.

A flurry of knockouts followed, as Haapaniemi exited after four-bet jamming into Gordo’s aces, and short-stack Ville Mesiranta busted to Lehto.

Stankevics claimed another victim when he turned a straight against Otto Kiiskinen to send the Finn packing in fifth. Gordo proceeded to win a flip against Ly to send him to the rail in fourth, resulting in three-handed combat between Stankevics, Gordo and Lehto.

Stankevics and Gordo gradually pulled away from Lehto, and Lehto was left short when he had to check-fold the flop against Gordo in a three-bet pot, having put in a significant amount of his stack preflop. Stankevics finished Lehto off shortly after to set the stage for the final duel between Stankevics and Gordo, Gordo holding a slight lead.

With the players looking at a €54,100 heads-up match, they sought to reduce the variance and agreed the aforementioned deal during the break. However neither player was prepared to do anything other than fight hard for the trophy and remaining prize money, and a 90-minute heads-up battle ensued.

Stankevics landed the first significant blow early to take the lead, and he extended it when he picked up pocket queens. Stankevics put clear daylight between him and his opponent when Gordo gave up on a chunky pot on the river with air, and he seemed set for the title shortly after, but was denied by a chop on the river.

Gordo threatened a comeback, finding two favorable rivers in quick succession to come back into it, but he fell into a trap set by Stankevics to finish the contest. Stankevics flopped a straight, and check-called three streets as Gordo triple-barrel bluffed with a missed gutshot, sending the Latvian into dreamland.