Vladas Burneikis needed little time to go from final tablist to bracelet winner in Event #49 of the 2020 WSOP Online. (PokerStars photo)

The shortest recorded war in history was the Anglo-Zanzibar War. It lasted 38 minutes. That’s the same amount of time that Vladas Burneikis needed to dust off the final table of Event #49 ($500 Turbo Deepstack NLHE) of the 2020 World Series of Poker Online on Sunday night on the way to earning the first WSOP bracelet of his career.

Burneikis eliminated five of his final eight opponents to win $192,523 and the hardware. Prior to this win, his lifetime WSOP cashes totaled $3,568 and his total live earnings was just a tad more than $200,000.

Five minutes after the final table began, the first player was sent packing. Action folded to Pierre Marlin in the cutoff and he moved all in for 21,744,166 and Jimmy Guerrero called from the big blind for 7,817,956. Guerrero showed KcKs and Merlin tabled Ac3s. The AsKh2d flop paired Merlin’s ace but gave Guerrero middle set. The 4d turn kept Merlin’s runner-runner hopes alive and the 5c turn completed his straight to eliminate Guerrero in ninth place.

Eight minutes later, Burneikis opened to 3,000,000 from middle position and Guillaume Nolet moved all in for 8,978,617 from the big blind. Burneikis called and tabled AhKd and found out he was racing against the 9c9d of Nolet. The board ran out Ad5d2dJsQc to give Burneikis top pair and elimniate Nolet in eighth.

Six minutes later, Burneikis ended another player’s night. Burneikis opened to 2,400,000 from middle position before Zhewen Hu raised all in for 10,445,311 from the big blind. Burneikis called and showed KdJh while Hu tabled 8c8h. The KsJc7h flop put Burneikis in control and neither the Qh turn or 4d river kept Hu from a seventh place result.

Burneikis simply couldn’t be stopped at this point. Two minutes after eliminating Hu, the Lithuanian grinder came out on top of a blind versus blind battle. Action folded to Burneikis in the small blind and he raised to 20,400,000 and Ezequiel Waigel called all in from the big blind. Burneikis showed 8s6s and Waigel happily showed AhTh. The 8c4s3d flop flipped the script and Waigel was unable to change it back as the 4c turn and 4h river completed the board. Waigel was done and dusted in sixth.

The next elimination also came in a battle of the blinds but this time Burneikis was in the role of spectator. Pierre Marlin moved all in from the small blind and Jeff Cormer called all in from the big. Marlin happily turned over AcAs and Cormier tabled AhTh. The Td7h2d flop gave Cormier a pair of tens and the 3h turn added a flush draw. The Qd river was a brick for Cormier and he was eliminated in fifth place.

Two hands later, Burneikis sent the short stack home. Down to less than half of a big blinds, Brendan Sheehan was all in from the small blind with Js2h and Burneikis called from the big with Qh4d. The 7s5d3sTdQc runout made Sheehen’s elimination in fourth place official.

On the very next hand, Merlin moved all in from the small blind for 42,739,662 and Kolev called from the big blind. Merlin showed KcJh and Kolev had live cards with Qh9s. The KhTs2c flop left Kolev drawing to a gutshot or some runner-runner help. The 2h turn was a blank as was the 3c river and Kolev was out in third.

After the fast-paced eliminations leading to heads up, the one-on-one battle took a relatively longer time. Burneikis needed 10 minutes of play to finish off Merlin.

Down to just under five big blinds, Merlin moved all in for 9,736,310 and Burneikis called. Merlin tabled 9h8h and Burneikis had QsJd. The Ad5h5s flop missed Merlin. The Qc turn however made his bustout official and the Qd river served only as an unnecessary needle. Burneikis’ victory also included a $12,000 WSOP Europe package.

Final Table Payouts

  1. Vladas Burneikis – $192,523
  2. Pierre Merlin – $147,052
  3. Boris Kolev – $105,732
  4. Brendan Sheehan – $76,022
  5. Jeff Cormier – $54,660
  6. Ezequiel Waigel – $39,301
  7. Zhewen Hu – $28,258
  8. Guillaume Nolet – $20,317
  9. Jimmy Guerrero – $14,608