They started the day at the top of the leaderboard, and Bruno Furth and David ‘Chino’ Rheem would end the day there. In Event #1 of the 2026 PokerGO Tour PLO Series, it was Furth who came out on top over Rheem to take the trophy. It wasn’t without a fight, either, as both men had their time on the top of the ladder before meeting each other in heads-up play for the first championship on the PGT PLO Series schedule.
$3,000 Buy-In Event #1 Kicks Off Series
After two Day Ones and Day Two, the field for Event #1, a $3,000 buy-in tournament, had been whittled down to the final seven. Furth had been at or close to the top of the standings from the start of the tournament, eventually building a stack of 2.595 million in chips. The journey was a bit rougher for Rheem, who started Day Two with only 159,000 in chips before hitting a run that saw his stack eclipse 2.295 million. Looking to slow down these two powerhouses were John Riordan, Brevin Andreadis, Eran Carmi, overall Day One chip leader Brian Smith, and a short-stacked Allan Le.
Even though he was the short stack, Le made enough moves to avoid being the first elimination. That dubious honor would go to Andreadis, who saw his stack devastated by Rheem after the defending PGT PLO Series champion turned a Queen to best Andreadis’ flopped pair of fives. That hand would put Rheem into the lead, although it was Furth who administered the knockout blow to Andreadis in seventh place.
Furth took the lead back by knocking out Le in sixth place, but Rheem, as usual, was a focal point on the felt. In a battle against Riordan, Rheem would flop a straight flush and get payment on both the turn and river from Riordan to continue to battle Furth for the lead. Riordan was never able to recover from that, eventually falling to Smith in fifth place after Smith hit a runner-runner Broadway straight to top Riordan’s rivered set of Aces.
With four players left, Rheem now began to impose his will. He chopped a decent stack of chips off Furth on two occasions, putting the start-of-day chip leader into the basement of the four players remaining. He would make a gradual climb back, with most of it coming from an exciting three-way pot that saw a player depart the tournament.
After a raise from Furth to 350K, Carmi moved all in for almost a million chips. Rheem four-bet the action all in, and Furth was put to a decision for his tournament. He made the call, and the cards went face up:
Furth (cutoff): A-A♣-J-7♣
Carmi (button): K-K-3-2
Rheem (big blind): A-A-Q-9 (double suited)
The 3-4-5♣ flop hit Carmi but, as often is the case with Omaha Hold’em, the leader on the flop is run down by the end. A 9♣ opened the door for Furth to stay alive in the tournament, and that saving grace would come in the J♣ on the river. Making a nut flush, Furth would scoop up the entirety of the pot, while Carmi left in fourth place.
Tight Three-Way Race
As Carmi left the Venetian tournament room, the three-way fight was on for the Event #1 title at the 2026 PGT PLO Series:
Smith, 3.525 million
Rheem, 3.475 million
Furth, 3.175 million
In an interesting move, nobody spoke about a deal at this point, despite the chance to carve out nearly equal pieces of the remaining prize pool through an ICM chop. It would bring out the best in the players, as the lead swapped among the trio seemingly on every hand. Furth was finally able to put Smith out in third place after Furth flopped a baby pair and turned two pair against a nice, but missing everything, A-K-J-8 had from Smith, to enter heads up against Rheem with more than a 2:1 lead.
Rheem would never get within sniffing distance of the lead. Furth was able to keep Rheem at bay over the twenty-minute heads-up battle, finally putting him away when his A-J-10-10 held up against Rheem’s A-J-7-4. The flop and turn kept Furth in the lead, coming down 9-9-8-5, and the ten on the river gave a momentary thrill for Rheem fans with a straight; alas, that same ten gave Furth a full house, tens over nines, and sealed the Event #1 championship at the 2026 PGT PLO Series for him.
1. Bruno Furth, $150,000 (300 PGT Points)
2. David ‘Chino’ Rheem, $100,000 (200)
3. Brian Smith, $75,000 (150)
4. Eran Carmi, $58,000 (116)
5. John Riordan, $45,000 (90)
6. Allan Le, $35,000 (70)
7. Brevin Andreadis, $26,500 (53)
(Photo provided by PokerGO)