Chino Rheem made PokerGO Tour history at the 2025 PGT PLO Series II as October neared its end. The 45-year-old poker pro from Los Angeles came out on top in the festival-long points race to secure his third PGT series championship, becoming the first contender to ever earn as many. He was previously crowned the champion in both the 2023 PGT Mixed Games II and 2025 PGT Mixed Games festivals.
Rheem is also a three-time World Poker Tour champion, a World Series of Poker main event final-tablist, and a European Poker Tour main event winner. The longtime tournament fixture now has nearly $18.1 million in recorded scores after this most recent run inside the PokerGO Studio at ARIA Resort & Casino Las Vegas.
This latest series victory saw Rheem cash in seven of the ten pot-limit Omaha events that made up the schedule, with four final-table finishes and one title run. His total earnings of $798,900 for the festival were the most of any player.
Rheem saved the best for last. His lone title came in the $25,000 buy-in finale, the highest-stakes event offered. He beat out a field of 68 entries to earn $510,000, locking up the series championship in the process. As a result, he was also awarded the PGT Gold Cup and a $10,000 PGT Passport.
Rheem’s Road To Victory
The 306 PGT points that came with the win in the final grew Rheem’s total to 597, giving him a 110-point margin of victory over Bryce Yockey, who won two titles during the series. While Yockey managed more first-place finishes, Rheem had twice as many final-table showings and more than twice as many cashes.
Rheem kicked off the series with a runner-up showing in event no. 1, navigating his way through a field of 146 entries to earn $106,000. He then recorded a min-cash in event no. 3 and a ninth-place showing in event no. 5. While he did not cash in event no. 6, it would mark the last time that he hit the rail empty-handed during the festival. From event no. 7 on he rattled off finishes of sixth, fifth, eighth, and first.
Frederic Normand was the only other player to cash in more than half of the tournaments offered, with six in the money finishes.
Rheem’s success at this festival also helped propel him to second in the season-long PGT points race and 26th in the Card Player Player of the Year race presented by CoinPoker.
PGT PLO Series II Final Standings
| Rank | Player | Points | Titles | Final Tables | Main Prize Pool Earnings |
| 1 | Chino Rheem | 597 | 1 | 4 | $798,900 |
| 2 | Bryce Yockey | 487 | 2 | 2 | $537,600 |
| 3 | Sean Winter | 459 | 1 | 4 | $320,800 |
| 4 | Isaac Haxton | 360 | 0 | 3 | $512,800 |
| 5 | Veselin Karakitukov | 358 | 1 | 2 | $447,300 |
| 6 | Taylor Wilson | 355 | 1 | 2 | $284,400 |
| 7 | Joao Simao | 354 | 0 | 2 | $491,000 |
| 8 | Frederic Normand | 353 | 0 | 3 | $313,400 |
| 9 | Sam Soverel | 318 | 0 | 2 | $365,400 |
| 10 | Ben Lamb | 293 | 1 | 1 | $292,500 |
Narrowing The Field
This event ran from Oct. 24-25. The $1,700,000 prize pool was reserved for the top 10 finishers. The final day began with 11 players remaining and Artem Maksimov in the lead. Sean Rafael was the first player to hit the rail for the day, and the last to do so without a payday. He bubbled when his overpair of aces and nut flush draw were unable to overcome the two pair of two-time bracelet winner Dylan Weisman.
LaDarren Banks recorded his fourth cash of the series in this event, finishing 10th for $51,000 when his A♦Q♦9♣8♣ lost facing the A♥4♣3♣2♥ of two-time Super High Roller Bowl champion Isaac Haxton, which made the wheel on the river. This brought Banks’ haul for the series to $129,100.
German bracelet winner Christopher Frank soon followed, with his pocket aces and a gutshot straight draw being bested by Haxton, who had top pair of jacks on the flop and made two pair after Frank’s stack was committed and held from there. Frank earned $51,000, bringing his lifetime haul to nearly $6.9 million.
PGT season-long points race leader Alex Foxen bubbled the official final table via a three-way all-in that was won by six-time bracelet winner Jason Mercier. Mercier opened from the button for 105,000 with Q♠J♠10♥9♣. Weisman three-bet to 345,000 from the small blind holding K♠K♣5♣4♦. Foxen called all-in with A♠J♦5♥3♠ for 65,000 total and the flop came down A♥K♦Q♦. Weisman shoved for 575,000 with his set of kings and Mercier called with his flopped straight. The 9♠ turn and 6♣ river kept Mercier’s hand best. Foxen and Weisman both earned $68,000 as the eighth and seventh-place finishers, respectively.
Official Final Table Begins
Despite scoring that double elimination, Mercier ended up as the next to hit the rail. Mercier got the last of his stack in after a 8♣4♦2♠ flop with J♣10♦9♣8♦ leading the A♥K♥10♣6♠ shoved by two-time bracelet winner Joao Simao. The Brazilian improved to top pair on the K♠ turn and held through the 7♦ river to narrow the field to five. Mercier took home $94,000 for his efforts.
Rheem won several hefty clashes with Maksimov during five-handed play, with the final being the last of Maksimov’s tournament. The chip went in with Rheem’s pair of aces and nut flush draw facing second pair, straight draws, and a lower flush draw for his opponent. The turn and river kept Rheem ahead, though, and Maksimov settled for $127,000.
Two-time bracelet winner Sam Soverel also lost a big one to Rheem, finding himself with just a handful of big blinds to work with afterwards. Simao won the rest with trip fours to end Soverel’s run in fourth place ($170,000).
Shortly after that, Simao squared off against Haxton in a set-over-set scenario. The chips went in on a flop of A♦K♥J♥ with Haxton’s K♠K♣7♠2♦ ahead of Simao’s A♣J♠J♣4♥. Simao was not drawing to just a single out, though, as he could also hit an ace to make a higher boat. The Q♥ turn changed nothing, but the K♦ river saw Haxton make quads to win the pot and eliminate Simao in third place ($230,000).
Set over set between Joao Simao and Isaac Haxton.
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Heads-Up With Haxton
The final showdown for the title began with Rheem holding 8,590,000 to Haxton’s 5,010,000. The stacks hung around a roughly 2:1 advantage for Rheem in the early going, but the decisive hand that swung the match soon arrived.
Haxton raised to 240,000 from the button with A♦A♣7♠3♦ and Rheem defended his big blind with J♦10♠8♠7♥. The flop came down 6♠5♠2♦ and Rheem checked with his flush and straight draws. Haxton bet 280,000 with his overpair of aces and straight draws. Rheem check-raised to 900,000. Haxton called and the 3♠ rolled off on the turn. Rheem checked and then called Haxton’s 720,000 bet. The 9♠ completed the board, prompting another check from Rheem. Haxton fired 2,550,000, leaving just a single 5,000 chip behind. Rheem shoved and Haxton folded, leaving himself with a shot at an improbable ‘chip-and-a-chair’ spin up.
Haxton was forced all in on the next hand and picked up A♦Q♠Q♥9♥. Rheem rolled over A♠6♠6♦4♦ and the board came down 10♣5♠3♥8♦2♣ to give him a six-high straight and the win. Haxton earned $331,000 as the runner-up. The bracelet winner now boasts nearly $63.6 million in lifetime cashes, the seventh-highest total of any player in poker history.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points | PGT Points |
| 1 | Chino Rheem | $510,000 | 504 | 306 |
| 2 | Isaac Haxton | $331,000 | 420 | 199 |
| 3 | Joao Simao | $230,000 | 336 | 138 |
| 4 | Sam Soverel | $170,000 | 252 | 102 |
| 5 | Artem Maksimov | $127,000 | 210 | 76 |
| 6 | Jason Mercier | $94,000 | 168 | 56 |
| 7 | Dylan Weisman | $68,000 | 126 | 41 |
Photo credit: PokerGO Tour / Antonio Abrego
