Bradley Ruben Captures First Career PGT Title in Event #5: $5,100 Pot Limit Omaha

Bradley Ruben scored a double knockout four-handed to amass 75% of the chips in play and, following a deal with Frederic Normand, survived a roller coaster of a heads-up match to capture the $115,250 first-place prize in Event #6: $5,100 Pot Limit Omaha at the 2024 Texas Poker Open. 

The 105 entrants in Event #5 created a prize pool of $525,000, marking it as the biggest Pot Limit Omaha prize pool in the state of Texas's history. Fifteen players took home a piece of the record prize as Jeremy Ausmus (15th), Christopher Chomenko (14th), Michael Swimelar (13th), Daniel Holmes (12th), Matthew Wantman (11th), Nicholas Vita (10th), Texas Poker Open Main Event Champion Ren Lin (9th) and Jonathan Gaviao (8th) all hitting the rail before the final table could begin.  

The final table started off with a bang as short stack Andrew Ige got his chips into the middle with double-suited ducks from the big blind, only to run square into Tyler Brown's double-suited pocket kings. Brown turned a set, and Ige headed to the payout cage to collect his $21,000 seventh-place prize. 

Fellow start-of-the-day short stack Philip Shing made his second consecutive final table after finishing fifth in Event #5, but the Octopi Poker Founder had another short day. His pocket jacks ran squarely into the pocket kings of David Mzareulov, and he finished in sixth place for $26,250. 

Normand had started the day with the chip lead, and after briefly losing it to Brown, he would wrestle it back when his double-suited ace-ten-nine-seven turned Broadway to send Joshua Barney and his double-suited ace-eight-six-three to the rail in fifth place for $34,125. 

Four-handed play was all Ruben, as the four-time WSOP bracelet winner picked up pot after pot to take the chip lead from Normand and Brown as the battle ragged on. 

Brown scored a double through Ruben to dent his stack, but as the blinds increased to 100,000/200,000, the double only amounted to a ten big blind stack, and fifteen minutes later, fireworks would ensue. 

Ruben opened under the gun to 700,000. Mzareulov moved all in for 1,425,000 on the button, Brown moved all in for 1,800,000 in the small blind, and Ruben called having both players covered. Ruben held ten-nine-eight-seven with spades, and he looked to send Mzareulov's ace-queen-queen-three with hearts and clubs and Brown's ace-king-seven-six with hearts and diamonds to the rail. 

The flop fell jack-ten-ten, immediately improving Ruben to trips to take a commanding lead, but needed to fade the boardway outs of both players. The turn and river bricked, leaving Mzareulov to collect the 47,250 fourth-place prize and Brown to collect the $60,375 third-place prize. 

Heads-up play would get dicey for Ruben as Normand whittled him down. Normand picked up a double into the chip lead just before a dealer change when he rivered a full house to best Ruben's rivered straight. With the chip stacks now suddenly nearly even, the players took a short break, at which point they agreed to the deal to change the payouts for first and second place, securing a six-figure payout for both. 

Once the deal was reached, the deck shifted back into Ruben's favor as he pulled back in front within the first few hands and would eventually lean on Normand, whittling him down to just eight big blinds before getting it all in with eight-eight-five-five against Normand's ace-three-three-duece. 

Neither player would improve on the king high board as the Norman would settle for the $105,250 second place prize and his fifth career six-figure score. 

The win marked Ruben's first PGT victory and his first tournament win since November of 2023 when he captured his first WSOP Circuit ring during the Main Event of the Choctaw, Oklahoma stop. 

Event #5: $5,100 Pot Limit Omaha Final Table Payouts

Season Leaderboard Remains Unchanged

What's Next On the Texas Poker Open Schedule?

Three events remain at the 2024 Texas Poker Open, and Event #6: $10,100 No-Limit Hold'em is already underway, and you can catch all the day-one action here.

To close out the PGT-qualifying portion of the Texas Poker Open, a one-day $5,100 Pot-Limit Omaha (Turbo) Event has been added to the schedule starting at 6:30 pm CT on May 1st, and the $10,100 Pot-Limit Omaha high roller beginning on May 2nd.

Tomorrow's final table stream has yet to be determined, but it can be seen on PokerGO in its entirety with a tentative start time of 11 am PT, with Brent Hanks and Jeff Platt on the call. 

For complete PGT schedule information, check out pgt.com/schedule.

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