Coleman and Morris Win Events #8 and #9 As Chino Becomes Mixed Games Champion

The final two events of the PGT Mixed Games Series II were won by Maxx Coleman and Arthur Morris as Chino Rheem bagged enough points to win the Championship Bonus of $25,000. At a thrilled PokerGO Studio at ARIA in Las Vegas, Rheem’s result of third place in Event #8, the $25,300-entry 10-Game Championship that acts as the nine-tournament festival’s Main Event earned him the overall leaderboard title.

Coleman Wins Event #8 for $245,000

The eighth and penultimate event of the Mixed Games Series II festival was the biggest entry. Costing $25,300 to play, the event had 29 entries and that meant just five players would cash. After Jeremy Ausmus busted in sixth place to miss out on the money places, it was the Event #6 winner Dylan Weisman who min-cashed in fifth place for $50,750.

In No Limit 2-7 Single Draw, Weisman lost to the man he was trying to overtake for the overall Championship, Chino Rheem. The eventual leaderboard champion directly asked Weisman, “Show me what I have to beat!” after Weisman stood pat with a queen. Weisman responded by showing Rheem, and the leader of the pack drew an eight on the river to hold a 9-8-7-5-2 and that was enough to bust Weisman.

After John ‘World’ Hennigan busted in fourth place for $79,750, Rheem himself departed in third place but by then it looked certain that Event #9 would not reach the numbers needed to mean that an outside chance of overtaking Rheem would be a big enough top prize and therefore PGT points in Event #9. That was confirmed a short time later to make sure that Rheem took the $25,000 Championship Bonus.

Heads-up, Alex Livingston and Maxx Coleman went all out for the top prize after smoothing out the payouts. Coleman took the title and lifted the trophy after getting the better of Livingston in Limit Hold’em to reverse the stacks having initially been behind. The final hand in Limit Hold’em saw A flop of prompt a re-raise all-in from Livingston with . Coleman called with as the Canadian’s bluff was well and truly caught. The turn and river rewarded the hero call from Coleman who took the trophy and an extra $13,000.

* denotes heads-up deal between the final two players.

 Arthur Morris Wins Event #9 for $49,000

The final event of the PGT Mixed Games Series was a race to the finish as the $5,100-entry No-Limit 2-7 Single Draw tournament ended with four players in the money and Arthur Morris on top of the podium. With a total of 24 entries, Morris dominated a busy event by leading at the first break, in the top two the next time players got to the bar and eventually triumphed at the final table.

There was a big name who busted close to the money, as Nikhil ‘Nik Airball’ Arcot left in seventh place, yet another victim of Morris on his way to maxing his chances. Former evet winner from earlier in the series David Prociak bubbled the money in fifth place after Nick Schulman also got close to profit without making it.

With four left, Argentinian Andres Korn cashed for $12,000 in the min-cash place, before Philip Sternheimer got close to another event victory only to fall in third for $19,200. Heads up rivals Morris and Event #1 David Funkhouser agreed a deal to smooth out the top two payouts before the latter fell just short in his bid to bookend the series with wins in both the first and last event. That honor was denied him by Morris, who claimed his first win on the PokerGO Tour.

Chino Rheem Crowned Championship Winner

After eight events, Chino Rheem was almost certain to be this series’ winner of the $25,000 PGT Mixed Games Series Championship Bonus awarded to the player who tops the leaderboard after all the tournaments. Not enough entries came in Event #9 to threaten that lead and that meant Chino had done it. After a period of several years where he has battled addiction and returned to conquer his demons, Chino caught up with us last week to tell us about his journey to redemption.

Clearly, putting himself in a positive mindset and dedicating real time to poker in the recent Poker Masters, Chino has now cashed for over a million dollars in that festival and this one. There may be no player in poker in better form right now. Chino cashed in five out of the nine events and has been delighted with his focus in recent times. Pledging to pay back debts, clear his reputation and play with pride to build a life for his son, Chino Rheem is a man on a poker mission right now, and the results are showing it.

Coming third in Event #1, the $10,200-entry H.O.R.S.E. event for $72,000 saw Chino get off to almost the best start possible. Taking the lead in the championship with an outright win in Event #2, the $10,200 Big Bet Mix, Chino banked another $171,000 and 171 PGT points that saw him sneak into the top 40 of the year. Currently, he’s on target to make the grade and qualify for the $1 million freeroll at the end of the year in December.

Marking his third cash in five events, Event #5 saw Chino cash for $44,000 in fourth place in the $10,200 buy-in Triple Stud Mix. No cash in Event #6 opened the door to those with a win on their ticket, but Event #7, the $10,200 Triple Draw Mix saw Chino return to profit, cashing for $30,600 in sixth. In Event #8, the $25,300-entry 10-Game Championship, Chino came third for hid fifth and final cash of the series for $116,000  , sealing his eventual leaderboard win.

Here’s how those final PGT Mixed Games Series results looked: