Chino Rheem Wins 25k WPT Championship

Sunday May 26,2013 : CHINO RHEEM THE NEW WORLD POKER TOUR CHAMP
 
Seriously tough final table dominated by poker pro
 
The often controversial poker pro Chino Rheem took down the $25,000 buy-in World Poker Tour Championship title and a prize of $1,150,297 over the weekend, dominating a remarkably tough final table.
 
It was Rheem's second WPT title – he was previously victorious in the WPT Five Diamond Classic at Bellagio in WPT Season 7.
 
Rheem was the chip leader by a long chalk when the final table action started, several million chips ahead of his nearest rival on a final table that comprised Jonathan Roy, David Peters, Erick Lindgren, Brandon Steven and Matt Hyman.
 
It was a dominant position that Rheem relinquished only briefly during a tense and  lengthy struggle for supremacy.
 
The quality opposition meant that it was an all-nighter, with just over 258 hands played before a winner emerged.
 
When Roy busted out in third for $421,800, the stage was set for a heads up between Eric Lindgren and Rheem, with the latter holding a 3 to 1 chip lead, but it was a long, one hundred hand battle before he was able to despatch his very experienced opponent as Lindgren doubled up and fought every inch of the way.
 
In the end it was just not enough, and Lindgren had to be content with the runner-up prize of $650,275.