On six separate occasions, Philip Sternheimer reached the top 10 of a World Series of Poker mixed games event. He’d made five final tables, with close calls in 10-game, dealer’s choice, H.O.R.S.E., an Omaha eight-or-better and seven-card stud eight-or-better mix, and deuce-to-seven triple draw.
Until Friday afternoon, Sternheimer had to settle for something short of a coveted WSOP gold bracelet on each of those occasions.
But no more.
Sternheimer finally broke through for his signature win in the $10,000 pot-limit Omaha eight-or-better championship. The German-born, U.K.-based mixed game specialist’s first career WSOP bracelet comes with a staggering $763,087 payout after outlasting a record-shattering field of 386 in this event.
When day 4 of this tournament began, it was already a heads-up matchup between Sternheimer and Bruno Furth. There was a real possibility for Sternheimer to make this the shortest tournament day of poker in WSOP history.
On the very first hand of the day, Furth was all in with one pair, aces, and a five-three low. Sternheimer had deuce-three for the nut low, a flush draw and an open-ended straight draw. Only the two non-diamond deuces would give Furth a scoop, and any 10, five or diamond would give Sternheimer a scoop and the victory.
They’d ultimately chop, as is often the case in Omaha eight-or-better.
One Big River
Furth pushed his way into the lead, but then came a similarly precarious pot with 18 of the 23 million chips in play in the middle. On a flop of A♦ 9♦ 6♠, Sternheimer held A♠ 9♥ 4♠ 3♦ for top two-pair and a four-three low draw. Furth held J♦ 10♠ 3♥ 2♦ for the nut low draw and a flush draw. The hand easily could have swung in either direction.
The 7♣ on the turn completed Furth’s low and gave him three additional outs to scoop with a straight draw. But the 2♥ river changed everything. Now, in addition to his two-pair, Sternheimer had claimed the nut low and scooped the whole pot.
Furth found a double and fought back valiantly, but he’d never reclaim the lead. On the final hand, the chips got in on a Q♥ 9♦ 2♥ flop. Sternheimer had top set with Q♠ Q♦ J♦ 9, though he blocked a few of his own outs. Furth had K♦ J♥ 5♣ 3♥ for straight and flush draws, plus a backdoor low draw.
The 4♠ was a strong turn for Furth, giving him outs to the low and a straight draw. But the 2♠ river paired the board, prevented a low and made Sternheimer a WSOP champion with a full house for the scoop.
A Tough Final Table
Philip Sternheimer captures his first WSOP bracelet in Event #36: $10,000 PLO Hi‑Lo 8-or-Better Championship—taking home $763,087 in style! #WSOP2025 @TheMannheim pic.twitter.com/fs8XbrRfrr
— WSOP – World Series of Poker (@WSOP) June 13, 2025
With Sternheimer’s win, the top eight finishers in this tournament each had at least one gold bracelet to their name. Shaun Deeb and Brian Hastings each made a serious push at joining Nick Schulman and Benny Glaser in becoming seven-time winners this summer, but they settled for third and fourth place, respectively.
Three-time WSOP winner Christopher Vitch (5th) and two-time winner Sam Soverel (7th) were also in the mix.
POY Race Implications
With this victory, Sternheimer banked an impressive 1,500 Card Player Player of the Year points. Sternheimer also earned himself 763 PokerGO Tour points for this win, pushing him all the way up to fifth on the PGT season-long leaderboard. Back in March, Sternheimer made back-to-back final tables in the PGT Mixed Games series inside the PokerGO Studio.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points | PGT Points |
| 1 | Philip Sternheimer | $763,087 | 1,500 | 763 |
| 2 | Bruno Furth | $508,705 | 1,250 | 509 |
| 3 | Shaun Deeb | $348,304 | 1,000 | 348 |
| 4 | Brian Hastings | $243,144 | 750 | 243 |
| 5 | Christopher Vitch | $173,121 | 625 | 173 |
| 6 | Magnus Edengren | $125,772 | 500 | 126 |
| 7 | Sam Soverel | $93,273 | 375 | 93 |
| 8 | Dennis Weiss | $70,639 | $250 | 71 |
| 9 | Edward Jackson Spivack | $54,657 | 125 | 55 |
Photo credit: PokerGO / Miguel Cortes.
