Caleb Furth Captures Maiden Bracelet in Event #15: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha 8 or Better for $265,361
The final hand for Event #15: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better has been dealt here at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas. Caleb Furth started the day with the chip lead, and by the end of the night, he was the last player standing. Furth overcame a field of 1,277 entrants and last defeated Jiyang Gan to take home the top prize of $265,361 and his first World Series of Poker (WSOP) Gold Bracelet.
Before today, Furth had just under $400,000 in career tournament earnings to his name and a previous best cash of $80,000, a score he has more than tripled with today’s win.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Caleb Furth | United States | $265,361 |
| 2 | Jiyang Gan | China | $176,891 |
| 3 | Walter Chambers | United States | $125,665 |
| 4 | Andreas Frohli | Austria | $90,468 |
| 5 | Michael Machugh | Canada | $66,014 |
| 6 | Andrew Paterson | Canada | $48,833 |
| 7 | Tom Koral | United States | $36,628 |
| 8 | Mathias Bayer | Austria | $27,862 |
| 9 | Jason Daly | United States | $21,498 |
Winner's Reaction
"I feel good", Furth mentioned when asked about his thoughts on winning his first bracelet. "The win mostly means $265,000. I'm pretty happy about the money. I hope there's more to come. I'm going to be playing a bunch of PLO tournaments this summer".
Furth was at the very top of the counts for nearly the entire day leading up to his win, but Gan did not make things easy for him. During heads-up play, Gan came close to closing the gap on several occasions. Furth commented on the respect he has for his heads-up opponent.
"I have nothing but love for Jiyang. We've actually played a lot of cash together. When we were at the final two tables, he actually came up to me and said, "You number one, me number two", and that's how it worked out. With 14 left, he said that to me. And he wasn't second, he was probably eighth in chips (at that point)".
Final Day Highlights
Only 14 players managed to find a bag for Day 3, and the eliminations were fast and furious from the start. PokerNews podcast co-host Mike Holtz was first to fall today in a preflop confrontation against Furth.
Daniel Lowery briefly slowed down Furth’s momentum after making a full house to double up. Furth got those chips right back by first eliminating Sean Troha in 11th place and then Lowery in tenth to set up the nine-handed final table which he entered with a massive chip lead over the other eight players.
The Final Table
Jason Daly began the day with the shortest stack but did an admirable job making a comeback. He found multiple double-ups and won several pots without showdown to keep himself in contention but was left with crumbs after being scooped by Andrew Paterson shortly after the final table began. This time, Daly couldn’t come back from the brink, and he became the first to fall at the final table. Daly was followed out the door by Mathias Bayer and two-time bracelet winner Tom Koral in eighth and seventh place respectively.
Paterson enjoyed one of the bigger chip stacks throughout the first half of the day until Gan flopped the nut-flush and held to send Paterson tumbling down the chip counts. Furth got the rest of Paterson’s chips a few hands later after making a straight and a low. Fellow Canadian Michael Machugh was next to fall after getting it in preflop against Andreas Frohli only for Frohli to river trip sixes.
Gan, who was in the middle of the pack for most of the day began to pick up steam with the elimination of Frohli in fourth place. Although Furth had just over double the chips of both Gan and Walter Chambers heading into three-handed play, both of his opponents weren't going down without a fight and it would take nearly three hours of intense back and forth action before Chambers finally fell in third shortly after after a massive three-way all in that Furth and Gan chopped to leave Chambers with crumbs.
Furth began heads-up play with roughly a 6:1 chip lead over Gan, but despite his victory seeming all but assured, Gan gave Furth a run for his money over their heads-up duel, which lasted nearly 90 minutes. Despite a ton of pressure from Furth, Gan would not go away and won several pots from Furth before finding a full double up to begin closing the gap. Furth eventually got the upper hand after making a full house on the river to leave Gan with just over five big blinds. This time, Gan could not rally back, and he was eliminated a few hands later after one last preflop race.
That's a wrap for PokerNews coverage of Event #15: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better here at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas. Be sure to check out our live-reporting hub for continuing coverage of the 2024 World Series of Poker.