WPT Tournament of Champions
Level 1: 75/150 with a 25 ante

The tournament area is being set up and we’re 30 minutes away from kicking off the WPT Tournament of Champions. While we wait, it’s time to introduce a new twist the gang at the World Poker Tour brought with them for this invite-only event.

A shot clock.

Much like basketball, players in the Tournament of Champions will be limited to a specific amount of time to make a move. They have up to 30 seconds on the “action clock” or else their hand goes into the muck.

There are extensions available for tough decisions and other variants, but we will go into that later. For now, we have the dealers (and Vince Van Patten pictured above) learning how to operate the system so everything goes off without a hitch.

WPT Tournament of Champions
Level 1: 75/150 with a 25 ante

The 2016 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown has crowned 29 champions with one more to go. The final tournament of the series will also conclude the World Poker Tour season with their Tournament of Champions beginning today at noon.

The $15,000 buy-in tournament is available only to members of the WPT Championship Club so we expect a very talented field today in the meeting room. It also features a ton of bonus prizes provided by WPT and their partners. The added loot includes:

• $100,000 in cash
• A special Hublot® watch
• An Aurae® Solid Gold MasterCard
• A pair of Monster Gold Headphones
• A custom premium poker table from BBO Poker Tables
• A seat in Tiger’s Poker Night Presented by World Poker Tour
• A round of golf at the world-class Shadow Creek Golf Course with Matt Savage and two friends
• A 2016 Corvette

Each of the final six players will also win a Monster SoundStage, the high-definition wireless home music system with multi-room audio.

The Corvette — added to the prize pool by Monster — is the newest addition to the list of bonuses, and it brings the total additions to more than $250,000 in cash and prizes.

WPT Tournament of Champions Structure Sheet

2016 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Hollywood
WPT Finale (Event 22)
$10,000 No Limit Hold’em
Total Entries: 342
Prize Pool: $3,249,000
April 17-21, 2016

The WPT Finale attracted 342 players to the $10,000 buy-in event and quickly surpassed the $2,000,000 guarantee. The prize pool grew to $3,249,000 with $705,885 set aside for the eventual WPT Finale Champion.

The tournament drew players from around the world including 3-time NFL Super Bowl winner Richard Seymour, Oscar-nominate actress Jennifer Tilly, and Cricket Hall of Famer Shane Warne. The field also included WSOP Main Event winners, WPT World Champions, and top pros mixing with our local regulars.

It took two full days of action to play down and the live-streamed WPT final table six players were set when Lyle Vincent was eliminated in 6th place.

Local regular Richard Leger began the final table with the chip lead and he was follwed closely by two-time WPT Champion Chino Rheem. It was a talented, successful group of players taking their seats in the Paradise Live Theater.

WSOP bracelet winner Bryan Piccioli had the shortest stack at the start and was eliminated early by Leger. William Benson was the least tenured player at the final table and went out in 5th place after surviving against a tough table for two hours.

Leger had the lead at the start of the final table but was unable to ride it to a championship. He dropped down the counts as Aditya Prasetyo rose and was eliminated in third place to start the heads up battle.

Rheem held a small lead against Prasetyo and he never gave it up. After 40 minutes of heads up action, Rheem won the last pot of the Finale to take the title, trophy, and seat into the WPT Tournament of Champions. Rheem also became only the fourth player to win three WPT titles after Gus Hansen, Carlos Mortensen, and Anthony Zinno.

“I always say that every time I win that one feels good, but this one feels real good.” Rheem commented about his victory. “It’s been a couple years since I got to see anything substantial in any type of tournament.”

“I guess I just want to be accepted as a good player.” he continued. “That’s good enough for me. You will never hear me say that I’m the best because I know that I’m not.”

“If my peers can say ‘oh yea, Chino can play’ that’s good enough for me.”

Rheem was already eligible to play in the WPT Tournament of Champions, now he has a seat in the game courtesy of this win and the talented field might help his chances.

“When I’m playing against better players, they make me play better.” Rhee, said when asked about the Tournament of Champions. “Tomorrow’s tournament isn’t going to be a soft field, it’s going to be tough.”

“I just hope that whatever run-good I used in this, I still have some left over and I can carry it on to tomorrow.”

Congrats to Chino Rheem and we will see him in the WPT Tournament of Champions.

Final Table Results:

1st – David “Chino” Rheem (Los Angeles, CA) $705,885*
2nd – Aditya Prasetyo (Cambridge, MA) $484,130
3rd – Richard Leger (Lighthouse Point, FL) $311,305
4th – Adrian Mateos (London, UK) $200,510
5th – William Benson (Mobile, AL) $154,585
6th – Bryan Piccioli (Allegany, NY) $127,905

WPT Finale Final Results

*Top prize includes $15,000 WPT Tournament of Championship seat

$10,000 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Finale
Level 29: 60,000/120,000 with a 20,000 ante

Chino Rheem moved all in for 885,000 effective on the button, and Aditya Prasetyo quickly called to put himself at risk.

Rheem:
Prasetyo:

The flop was a miss for Rheem, but the turn gave him the lead with a pair of sevens, putting him one card from victory. Prasetyo needed to pair up or fill his straight draw to stay alive, but he could not find an out on the river. The completed the board, and Rheem improved to trip sevens to win the final pot of the day.

Adiyta Prasetyo was eliminated as the runner-up, earning $484,130 for his efforts.

Chino Rheem is the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Finale Champion, becoming just the fourth player in the Tour’s history to win three titles. He collected the top prize of $690,885 plus a freeroll into tomorrow’s WPT Tournament of Champions. A second diamond will also be added to Rheem’s plaque on the WPT Champions Cup as a visual affirmation of his impressive record.

A recap of Rheem’s victory will be published shortly.

$10,000 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Finale
Level 29: 60,000/120,000 with a 20,000 ante
Players Remaining: 2 of 342

Aditya Prasetyo limped in on the button and Chino Rheem checked. The flop was and both players checked to the .

Rheem bet 200,000 and Prasetyo called. The river was the and Rheem bet 420,000. Prasetyo called and Rheem showed , good for trip deuces and Prasetyo mucked his hand.

Rheem extended his lead and Prasetyo is under the 10 big blind mark.

Chino Rheem – 12,770,000 (106 bb)
Aditya Prasetyo – 905,000 (7 bb)

$10,000 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Finale
Level 29: 60,000/120,000 with a 20,000 ante
Players Remaining: 2 of 342

Chino Rheem opened the button to 275,000, and Aditya Prasetyo defended his big blind.

Both players checked through the flop, and the turn was the . Prasetyo led out for 275,000, and Rheem called. The river was the . Prasetyo checked, and Rheem bet 800,000. Prasetyo took a brief pause in what has been a fast-paced heads-up match, spending a couple minutes shuffling chips as he deliberated. Eventually, he folded, and Rheem dragged another pot.

Chino Rheem – 11,790,000 (98 bb)
Aditya Prasetyo – 1,885,000 (16 bb)

$10,000 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Finale
Level 29: 60,000/120,000 with a 20,000 ante
Players Remaining: 2 of 342

Chino limped in on the button and Aditya Prasetyo checked his option out of the big blind. The flop was and both players checked to see the peel off on the turn.

Prasetyo bet 150,000 and Rheem called. The river was the and Prasetyo bet 200,000. Rheem called and Prasetyo tabled . Rheem mucked and Prasetyo dragged the pot.

Aditya Prasetyo – 2,770,000 (23 bb)
Chino Rheem – 10,905,000 (90 bb)

$10,000 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Finale
Level 28: 50,000/100,000 with a 15,000 ante
Players Remaining: 2 of 342

Aditya Prasetyo limped in on the button and Chino Rheem raised to 300,000 out of the big blind.  Prasetyo called and the flop was and Rheem bet 340,000.

Prasetyo called and the turn was the . Rheem checked and Prasetyo bet 475,000. Rheem quickly called and the river was the .

Both players check and Rheem showed , giving him a missed straight draw and king-high. Prasetyo mucked his hand and Rheem took the pot without a pair.

Chino Rheem – 9,110,000 (91 bb)
Aditya Prasetyo – 4,565,000 (45 bb)

$10,000 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Finale
Level 28: 50,000/100,000 with a 15,000 ante
Players Remaining: 2 of 342

Aditya Prasetyo limped in on the button and Chino Rheem checked his option. Both players checked a flop of and the came on the turn.

Rheem checked and Prasetyo bet 100,000. Rheem check-raised to 350,000 and the river was the . Rheem bet 600,000 and Prasetyo called.

Prasetyo folded and Rheem extends his lead.

Chino Rheem – 8,545,000 (85 bb)
Aditya Prasetyo –  5,130,000 (51 bb)