It’s often in poker that a big pot is lost and a player is left with only crumbs. The old phrase “A chip and a chair” is often thrown out in an attempt to spark a touch of hope when all feels lost. Caleb Furth, better known as Bruno, proved that a positive attitude and determination can overcome all odds.
With only a single 100,000 chip at the 80,000 big blind level, Furth went on to spin his 1.25 big blinds to victory against some of the best in the world at Paris and Horseshoe Las Vegas.
Lightning Strikes Twice
Furth is no stranger to the bright lights, as this is his second bracelet in a Pot-Limit Omaha tournament; this one was special as it did provide a new high score of $620,696 for the young American pro. Furth prevailed over Event #5: $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha, which attracted 757 entries, generating a total prize pool of $3,482,200.
When asked how he felt about the spin-up to victory, he explained:
“Yeah, at that point, pressure was off. We had ten left so I was sure that I was going to be the next one out, so I was willing to gamble – I did. Doubled up back to average… an unbelievable journey. I’m elated.”
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Caleb Furth | United States | $620,696 |
| 2 | Fabian Riebau-Schmithals | Germany | $413,762 |
| 3 | Martin Kabrhel | Czechia | $288,775 |
| 4 | Matthew Cosentino | United States | $204,808 |
| 5 | Mark Aridgides | United States | $147,647 |
| 6 | Noel Rodriguez | United States | $108,221 |
| 7 | Jeremy Trojand | Germany | $80,673 |
| 8 | Lawrence Brandt | United States | $61,179 |
Final Table Dynamics
Despite battling back to average, the final table was no easy task – Furth had to contend with German Pot-Limit Omaha specialist, Fabian Riebau-Schmithals, his eventual heads-up opponent. Riebau-Schmithals seemed to have a stranglehold on the final six, when he had over 25,000,000 of the chips in play, with the next closest stack sitting below 4,000,000. This predictably made life difficult for the table of short stacks, as they were all vying for massive pay jumps.
Furth won a series of small pots but significantly closed the gap in a hand where he got three streets of value against the eventual runner-up.
Once play got down to three players, Furth dispatched the divisive Martin Kabrhel, who seemed to make a few friends and many enemies along the way in this particular tournament.
Furth had this to say about playing with Kabrhel:
“I think that he acts in a way to upset other people, hoping to get under their skin. It did work on me briefly. I was quite upset with him during the final table while he was wasting everyone’s time and defying the floor.”
Kabrhel had the clock called on him more than twenty times during the tournament.
That concludes PokerNews coverage of Event #5: $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha. Stay tuned for more coverage of the 2025 World Series of Poker throughout the summer!
