David “Chino” Rheem
David “Chino” Rheem is an American professional poker player whose career connects the original November Nine era with the modern PokerGO Tour. A three-time World Poker Tour champion and winner of the 2019 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event, he has also established a substantial record in mixed games.
The Hendon Mob profile checked for this article records 20.368.677 $ in live tournament earnings. His largest individual cash remains 1.772.650 $, earned for seventh place in the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event. The same October 2026 snapshot places him 76th on the all-time money list.
His achievements stretch beyond a single breakthrough. Major hold’em victories, a heads-up championship and mixed-game series titles show how his tournament career has developed across different formats and generations of opponents.
Name and Poker Background
Although tournament databases list him as David Rheem, he is almost universally known in poker as Chino. His Hendon Mob profile lists the United States as his nationality and Los Angeles, California, as his residence.
His development involved both Florida and Southern California. PokerGO’s career retrospective describes his early experience at Seminole Hollywood, where the Mizrachi brothers were part of the poker environment. Southern California’s card rooms later became closely associated with his identity as a professional.
These roots matter because Rheem’s public reputation developed primarily through live play. His best-known results came at physical tables, where opponents could see his reactions, hear his conversation and face his decisions over long tournament sessions.
Early Tournament Results
Rheem’s recorded cashes go back to 2004. By the middle of that decade he was appearing in international festival results and at the World Series of Poker, building experience before the televised achievements that made him widely recognisable.
In 2006 he finished second to Allen Cunningham in the WSOP 1.000 $ no-limit hold’em event with rebuys, earning 327.981 $. That result was an early indication that he could compete deep in major events. It also preceded his much more visible Main Event run by two years.
The 2008 November Nine
The 2008 WSOP Main Event introduced the November Nine format, separating the final table from the summer tournament. Rheem became one of the nine players who returned to Las Vegas after that extended break.
He finished seventh for 1.772.650 $. His elimination came against eventual champion Peter Eastgate: Rheem held ace-king against ace-queen, but a queen on the flop changed the outcome. The finish remains his largest recorded live tournament cash in the profile checked for this article.
The Main Event gave him a much broader audience. It also created a reference point for the rest of his career, although his later championship wins would become just as important to assessing his tournament record.
First WPT Title at the Five Diamond
Rheem ended 2008 with a victory at the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic at Bellagio. He defeated Justin Young heads-up and collected 1.538.730 $, turning a year already defined by a major final table into a championship season.
The contrast between the two results is useful: the WSOP Main Event supplied his biggest cash, while the Five Diamond supplied his first WPT title. Prize size and competitive achievement do not always follow the same order in a player’s career.
Epic Poker League Victory
In 2011 Rheem won the inaugural Epic Poker League Main Event, a 20.000 $ six-handed no-limit hold’em tournament. The victory paid 1.000.000 $ and added another seven-figure result against an experienced field.
That period also brought documented controversy over debts to other players and probation imposed by the league. These matters form part of his public career history, but the available historical reporting does not establish the current status of every private financial obligation.
Winning the 2013 WPT World Championship
His second WPT title came in the 2013 WPT World Championship at Bellagio. Rheem defeated Erick Lindgren heads-up for 1.150.297 $, winning one of the tour’s flagship events.
The championship extended his WPT success well beyond his first victory in 2008. Rather than remaining a player remembered for one exceptional season, he had now won major titles five years apart.
The event’s historical identity should also be kept clear. This was the Bellagio WPT World Championship of that period, distinct from later editions of the championship staged at other venues.
A Third WPT Championship in 2016
At the 2016 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Finale, Rheem defeated Aditya Prasetyo to win 705.885 $. The event drew 342 entries and made him the fourth player at that time to collect three WPT Main Tour titles.
He joined Gus Hansen, Carlos Mortensen and Anthony Zinno in that historical group. The distinction describes the situation when he won in April 2016; it should not be read as a claim that the group has remained unchanged.
His three WPT victories came at Bellagio and Seminole Hard Rock, across three separate seasons of his career. Together they form one of the strongest parts of his hold’em résumé.
The 2019 PCA Main Event
Rheem won the 2019 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event at Atlantis in the Bahamas for 1.567.100 $. The 10.300 $ tournament attracted 865 entries, including re-entries, and ended with Daniel Strelitz as runner-up.
He began the six-player final day with the chip lead and eliminated each of his five remaining opponents. The final hand saw his pocket fives beat Strelitz’s ace-two, completing a particularly decisive closing performance.
The PCA victory is separate from an EPT Main Event title. Its importance stands on its own: it was another major international championship, achieved more than a decade after his breakthrough year.
Heads-Up Success and a Personal Turning Point
In April 2022 Rheem won the inaugural PGT Heads-Up Showdown for 400.000 $. He advanced through a 32-player bracket and defeated Darren Elias in the final after earlier wins over Nick Schulman, Jeremy Ausmus, Bill Klein and Isaac Kempton.
After that victory he spoke publicly about sobriety, support from people around him and changes to his daily routine. Those comments provide his own account of a personal turning point during that period, rather than a basis for assumptions about his present private life.
The result also demonstrated success in a distinct tournament structure. A heads-up bracket requires repeated match victories, unlike a conventional multi-table event in which the field gradually combines at fewer tables.
Mixed Games Become a Major Strength
Rheem won the overall PGT Mixed Games II series title in October 2023. He returned to the top of a mixed-game festival leaderboard in 2025, becoming a two-time PGT Mixed Games series champion.
His 2025 series included third place in 10.200 $ H.O.R.S.E., victory in 10.200 $ 8-Game and eighth place in 15.200 $ Dealer’s Choice. Those finishes produced 348.500 $ in prizes and 384 leaderboard points.
These achievements broaden the picture supplied by his WPT and PCA wins. Mixed-game events require players to move between different rules, betting structures and hand rankings, making sustained results across a festival a different test from one hold’em final table.
Further PokerGO Tour Victories
Rheem continued winning in hold’em alongside his mixed-game results. In September 2025 he took Event #5 of the Poker Masters, a 10.100 $ no-limit hold’em tournament, for 280.000 $. He defeated Daniyal Gheba heads-up.
In February 2026 he won the opening 5.100 $ H.O.R.S.E. event at PGT Mixed Games. The tournament drew 101 entries, and he received 112.100 $ after a heads-up prize agreement with Dylan Linde, with play continuing to determine the winner.
PokerGO described that February victory as his ninth career PGT title at the time. It also distinguished an individual event win from an overall series championship, two achievements that are sometimes confused when summarising a player’s record.
Selected Career Results
| Year | Tournament | Finish | Recorded prize |
| 2006 | WSOP 1.000 $ No-Limit Hold’em with Rebuys | 2nd | 327.981 $ |
| 2008 | WSOP Main Event | 7th | 1.772.650 $ |
| 2008 | WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic | 1st | 1.538.730 $ |
| 2011 | Epic Poker League inaugural Main Event | 1st | 1.000.000 $ |
| 2013 | WPT World Championship, Bellagio | 1st | 1.150.297 $ |
| 2016 | WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Finale | 1st | 705.885 $ |
| 2019 | PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event | 1st | 1.567.100 $ |
| 2022 | PGT Heads-Up Showdown | 1st | 400.000 $ |
| 2025 | PGT Mixed Games 10.200 $ 8-Game | 1st | 195.500 $ |
| 2025 | Poker Masters Event #5, 10.100 $ No-Limit Hold’em | 1st | 280.000 $ |
| 2026 | PGT Mixed Games opening 5.100 $ H.O.R.S.E. event | 1st | 112.100 $ |
Playing Style and Competitive Range
Rheem’s televised hold’em performances are associated with active play, table conversation and a willingness to apply pressure. PokerStars’ account of his PCA victory highlighted both his hand reading and his ability to find folds, offering a more complete picture than aggression alone.
No single style description explains every decision over a career this long. His results provide firmer evidence: he has won large live hold’em events, a specialist heads-up tournament and mixed-game series leaderboards. That range is central to his place in tournament poker.
Career Figures and Their Meaning
The figures below describe the Hendon Mob profile snapshot checked for this article. Rankings change as results are added, so they are best understood alongside the date of verification.
Live tournament cashes are gross payouts. They do not deduct buy-ins, travel costs, re-entries or any sharing arrangements, and they cannot establish a player’s net worth. Private cash-game results and a complete online record are outside this total.
| Category | October 2026 profile snapshot |
| Recorded live tournament earnings | 20.368.677 $ |
| Largest recorded live cash | 1.772.650 $ |
| All-time money list | 76th |
| United States all-time money list | 36th |
| California all-time money list | 2nd |
| Best historical all-time money-list position | 43rd |
| Nationality | United States |
| Listed residence | Los Angeles, California, United States |
Career figures checked on October 20, 2026. Recorded live tournament earnings are gross cashes and exclude private cash-game results. Image positions refer to three separately supplied AI-generated illustrations created in October 2026.