Gediminas Uselis displayed off his skills and leveraged his years of experience at the final table of the 2021 World Poker Tour Seminole Rock ’N’ Roll Main Event after starting the day in the middle of the pack in the final table chip counts and weaving his way to his first WPT title and a career-high $778,490 first-place prize.

Online grinders might know Uselis as one of Lithuania’s elite players, but he also has an extensive live resume that includes taking down the recent $1,600 MSPT event at the Venetian in Las Vegas for more than $325,000. It’s been a non-stop grind for Uselis as of late, something he acknowledged immediately after his victory.

“I came here, and this [the Main Event] was the first tournament I sat down in,” Uselis said to the World Poker Tour in his post-event interview. “I didn’t sleep much, and I just kept going and going. I was playing small pots, big pots, slowly building. Slowly, nothing special.”

“There was, for sure, a bunch of action,” he continued. “It was a crazy table, so I just needed to wait. I made a couple of moves because there were a couple of amateurs as well, so I was really lucky to make this final table.”

The action kicked off early. With only five big blinds, Anshul Rai knew he was going to have to make a move sooner rather than later. And on the very first hand of the final table, he made his stand. From under the gun, Rai moved all-in for his final 875,000 holding . It folded around to Harout Ghazarian in the small blind who put in a raise to 1.5 million with his , and Uselis let go of his big blind. Rai looked in good shape to double up with the dominating hand, however the flop came , flipping the script and putting Ghazarian ahead with two pair. The turn came the , leaving Rai with just three outs to survive. The river completed the board and just like that Rai was eliminated in sixth place for $170,835 and the table was down to five players.

That was just the beginning some fast-paced early final table action. Clayton Maguire, who started the day third in chips, found himself slipping down the chip counts after the elimination of Rai.

With the blinds at 100,000/200,000 (200,000 ante), Maguire lost back-to-back pots which led to his eventual elimination. First, he dropped an important pot to Ghazarian where Clayton held the but Ghazarian showed down the on a board of for a pot of nearly 10 million. Then, the very next hand, Maguire completed the small blind with his and Selahaddin Bedir jammed his bigger stack all-in holding the . Maguire snap-called and was in position to score a quick double up, however the board didn’t cooperate leaving Maguire to hit the exit in fifth place for $211,925.

Play slowed down until the first break of the day and the chip stacks evened out with everyone holding on to more than 40 big blinds. But soon thereafter, Bedir found himself getting short and with the blinds up to 200,000/400,000 (400,000 ante) he made his final stand. With roughly 15 big blinds, Bedir moved all-in from under the gun holding and when it was on Jacob Ferro in the big blind, he quickly called with the . The flop came , keeping Ferro’s ace-king in the lead and giving him a gutshot straight draw to the nuts. Bedir was in bad shape looking for a pair or backdoor diamonds to catch up. The turn came the and Bedir was down to his final card. The river was the and made his exit in fourth place for $282,380.

Three-handed play saw Ferro holding on to a commanding chip lead but Uselis, steadily adding to his stack. Finally, roughly 45-minutes after the last bustout, another big clash took place. Harout Ghazarian completed the small blind with his and Uselis put in a raise to 1.3 million holding the . Ghazarian then three-bet all-in for more than 12 million and Uselis snap-called. There was little drama for the pocket kings on the board and Ghazarian was sent out in third place for $380,000. The knockout pushed Uselis over 30 million in chips and essentially pulled him event with Ferro headed into heads-up play.

The heads-up match could have taken some time as both players started with over 75 big blinds. But Uselis quickly leveraged his experience and pulled ahead just before the next break. Immediately after the break, Uselis extended his chip lead to roughly four-to-one.

But in the end, it was a cooler that cut short this battle. With the blinds at 300,000/500,000 (500,000 ante) Ferro raised to 1 million holding the and Uselis put in a three-bet to 3.3 million with one better, his . Ferro shipped all-in, Uselis beat him into the pot, and the pair saw the setup. There was a jack in the door, eliciting a gasp from the small crowd watching, but a queen right behind it. The board ran out ending Ferro’s run in second place for $573,605 and awarding Gediminas Uselis his first World Poker Tour title and the $778,490 first-place prize.

WPT Seminole Rock ’N’ Roll Final Table Results

1. Gediminas Uselis – $778,490
2. Jacob Ferro – $573,605
3. Harout Ghazarian – $380,000
4. Selahaddin Bedir – $282,380
5. Clayton Maguire – $211,925
6. Anshul Rai – $170,835