Player Update: David 'Chino' Rheem

It didn’t take Chino Rheem long to get over his WSOP disappointment.

Obviously winning over $1.7million at the Main Event would be enough to satisfy most players, but Rheem was visibly fuming when his AK was out-flopped by Peter Eastgate’s AQ to send him packing in 7th place. Check out the video below:

But just 5 months later he is celebrating an even bigger score after taking down the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond Classic for a cool $1,538,730 last weekend.

With a $15,000 buy-in and location at the Bellagio, this WPT title is generally regarded as one of the most prestigious to win and a glance through the starting field of 497 would confirm the amount of world-class players all gunning for first prize.

Of course, the poker community already knew that Rheem was one such player but his WSOP heroics on ESPN may have made him a one-hit wonder in the public’s eyes until now.
The Florida native came through a final table that included the likes of his good friend Steve Sung, Hoyt Corkins, Ben Straate & Mike Matusow to secure his first ever WPT title and take his live tournament winnings to over $4million.

The Poker King describes the winning hand:
“Rheem raised pre-flop and Young called. The flop came Q-8-3 rainbow. Young checked, Rheem bet and Young moved all-in. Rheem insta-called and turned up pocket Kings for an overpair, while Young showed Q-5 of clubs for top pair and a backdoor flush draw. The turn brought the nine of hearts, meaning that Rheem would only have to dodge a Queen or a Five to win the tournament. The river was the harmless two of diamonds, and Rheem took down his first WPT title.”

Other well known players to go deep included Clonie Gowen (10th, $86,470) who was ironically seated on Howard Lederer’s table earlier in the tournament while in the process of launching a $40million lawsuit against Full Tilt! Robert Mizrachi (11th, $72,060), Nick Schulman (13th, $72,060), Martin De Knijff (14th, $67,255) & John Hennigan (23rd, $43,235) also made the money,

But clearly the tournament belonged to Chino, who has made over $3million this year and gained significant TV coverage to elevate him to celebrity pro status. It would be no surprise to see him add another major title to his name in 2009.