Chino Rheem Wins WPT Copy+Paste Title

Looks like we were slightly off on which major tournament Chino Rheem was going to win.

Chino Rheem is running good.

After a poker career that for years wasn't too bad, wasn't too good, Chino has figured it out in 2008. He final tabled two WSOP tourneys (including the Main Event), and now, after never even having one World Poker Tour cash in his name, he has won the WPT Copy+Paste title.

Chino beat Justin Young heads-up for the win, banking $1,538,730. Young takes home $936,760.

Of note, Chino was NOT wearing a Poker Stars patch. Why? They dropped him. Chino had the biggest and most vocal support group at the final table and plenty of friends in the pro ranks, but behind the scenes he hasn't been worth the hassle for Stars, apparently. Like we always say though, can you really ever be mad at a guy named Chino?

The rest of the final table payouts were: Evan McNiff ($540,440), Steve Sung ($396,206), Amnon Filippi ($288,235), and Hoyt Corkins ($216,175).

Chino Rheem, Hoyt Corkins, Amnon Filippi Gun for WPT Copy+Paste Title

The WPT has once of its most pro-packed final tables in awhile at the Copy+Paste.

All six remaining players are full-time pros, and most of those are people you've actually heard of before too.

Leading the way is Steve Sung, stacked at 5,885,000. Sung has $1.4M in career earnings and a second place finish at the WPT Bay 101 event earlier this year.

He's followed by Evan McNiff with 4,805,000. McNiff is the only member of the McNiff/de Knijff combo to make the final table. He has five in-the-monies this year, including three cashes at the 2008 WSOP.

The rest of the final table includes former November Nine^TM hostage Chino Rheem (4,240,000) (note to Amanda Leatherman...do NOT ask him how he feels about being knocked out if he doesn't win the event...don't do it), Amnon Filippi (2,750,000), Justin Young (2,410,000), and Hoyt Corkins (2,295,000).

Follow the final table action later today here.

Don't Ask Chino Rheem How He Feels After Busting Out of a Tournament

Who knows what they'll show during tonight's 2008 WSOP Main Event broadcast, but emotions were running high for Chino Rheem after he suffered a brutal bad beat from eventual winner Peter Eastgate and busted from the final table.

So when a reporter asked how he was feeling after the bust, let's just say he felt like "poo-poo" and the question itself he thought was "making love" "not too intelligently."

Chino Rheem's 2008 WSOP Main Event exit interview

Chino Rheem Will Not Win the 2008 WSOP Main Event

Well, it was still a sick call.

When we picked "David" Chino Rheem to make a deep run in the 2008 WSOP Main Event, most people (like Andrew Feldman at ESPN.com) thought, "who"?

6,800+ eliminations later, Chino, the most experienced pro in the field, was knocked out of the 2008 WSOP Main Event in seventh place. Chino's A-K was sucked out on by Peter Eastgate's A-Q.

But thanks for making us look smarter than we really are, Chino.

Actually, we're pretty f'in smart, so thanks for validating that.

At the dinner break, the chip stacks are: Ivan Demidov 30,725,000, Peter Eastgate 27,175,000, the back in contention Dennis Phillips 26,950,000, Ylon Schwartz 20,475,000, Scott Montgomery 20,300,000, and Darus Suharto 10,600,000.

EPT Barcelona: Lorena Van Heerde Nowhere To Be Found

Day 1A of the EPT Barcelona Open brought in 292 players, none of which was half Spanish, half Dutch model Lorena Van Heerde. View more pics of her here.

The EPT Barcelona Open almost hit its cap of 300 entrants, as 300 minus 8 showed for Day 1A action. Among those were 2007 WSOPE winner Annette Obrestad, a woman, 2004 WSOP champ Greg Raymer, and Vanessa Rousso, who went to Duke. None of them made it past Day 1A though.

Leading the way after Day 1A is Michael Murra, stacked at 87,000. Other big name big stacks include Lorenzo Lamas (61,000) and past EPT winner and kid who starred in that Star Wars video, Glen Chorny (55,000).

Making through to Day 2 (albeit short-stacked) include two hostages from The November Nine^TM, including our pick to win it David "Chino" Rheem and Scott Montgomery.

Get a full recap from Poker Listings here and follow Day 1B here. Also check out on Blonde Poker for off-the-beaten-path coverage here.

Odds on 2008 WSOP November 9(TM) - UPDATE

Editor's Note: When Harrah's came to us back in April this year and said, "Hey Entities, we're going to do this thingy with the 2008 WSOP Main Event final table were we delay it till November. Can you help us come up with a cool way to brand it?" we said "Ok...but it will be our trademark." They said, "We guess that's aieght." So we said, "All right well we're naming it 'The November 9^TM'." And Harrah's was like, "Coolio. We're Audi 500." *

It took a little longer than we would've expected, but we finally have some odds on The November 9^TM for the 2008 WSOP Main Event.

Dennis Phillips, who we are slowing changing our opinion on and possibly upgrading to "Good for Poker^TM," leads "the^TM" way at 3/1. He's followed by Scott Montgomery at 4/1.

Our pick to win from the get-go, the guy you just can't get mad at although we may be downgrading to "Bad for Poker^TM" David "Chino" Rheem, is at 15/2. And with eight big blinds left, Tommy Rocky Horror Kelly Kim brings up the rear at 25/1.

Head over to Bodog Life here to view the rest of the odds. Discuss the odds or who you think has the best value in the WCP forum here.

* Conversation didn't quite happen like that. Or at all.

UPDATE: Tell us who you think will take it down. Head over to the WCP forum and cast a vote in our poll here. (Btw, the correct answer is Chino Rheem).

David "Chino" Rheem Downgraded to Potentially Bad for Poker

 

This one hurts.

Turns out that David "Chino" Rheem, our random pick from the get-go to win the 2008 WSOP Main Event, has a warrant out for his arrest in Florida.

Chino, who got his start in Florida at the same casino as Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi (who was sweating him big time en route to the final table), has multiple convictions, including felonies, in Broward County. According to the Sun Sentinal:

Eight years ago in Broward County, Rheem was convicted of dealing in stolen property and burglary, both felonies, as well as larceny and possession of marijuana, court records show. He was sentenced to four months jail time and 30 months probation.

He also failed to appear in court on a 2003 misdemeanor trespassing charge in Hollywood, according to state criminal records, leading to a court order for his arrest. The warrant for his arrest remains active.

Chino, come on man. However, since this site is all about the Entities and our agenda, we're willing to overlook this, since he was our pick and all. In fact, we'd be willing to bet that Chino has since learned from his earlier indiscretions and has since set up multiple inner city rec centers to help mold the minds of youths in Florida. "Learn from my mistakes," he probably tells them, "and you too one day can win the World Series of Poker..." is what he says.

Good job, Chino. Readers, if there's a lesson or two to be learned from all this: 1) get on our good side, and 2) have a friendly sounding nickname like "Chino." Can't get mad at a guy named "Chino," can you?

Read the full Sun Sentinal here.

2008 WSOP Main Event Final Table Is Set

These guys are it.

The 2008 WSOP Main Event has it's "November Nine^TM" as the final table is finally set.

The chip leader for the next four months will be Dennis Phillips, stacked at 26,420,000. Phillips has been impressive and aggressive all today, playing the role of big stack well.

Our pick David "Chino" Rheem was up and down, but will go into final table play 7th overall with just under 11M.

The unofficial chip counts of the other remaining players are Ivan Demidov (23,920,000), Peter Eastgate (19,300,000), Scott Montgomery (19,300,000), Ylon Schwartz (13,040,000), Darus Suharto (13,020,000), Craig Marquis (10,120,000), and Kelly Kim (2,900,000).

All in all, this final table is a major bad beat considering the star power going into the last two days. But hey, that's poker.

David "Chino" Rheem Gets Sucked Out On, Then Sucks Out

In a hand you'd only typically see on Stars, David "Chino" Rheem called an all-in against Ivan Demidov. Rheem had 10-10, the Russian guy 9-9.

The flop gave Chino a set, but the turn gave Ivan a flush. The hit cut Rheem's stack in half, as he's got 8.4M and Demidov now has 18.7M.

That hit was very Bad for Poker^TM.

Our very first vlog from Rheem coming soon. (vlog now below)

UPDATE: Just a few hands later, Chino sucked out a straight against Joe Bishop on the river. Another Stars hand. We're down to 10.

VIDEO: David "Chino" Rheem at 2008 WSOP Main Event

David "Chino" Rheem - Good for Poker(TM)?

We picked David "Chino" Rheem to win the 2008 WSOP Main Event almost two weeks ago.

On the surface, this one is a no-brainer.

Having randomly picked David "Chino" Rheem from the get-go, we're naturally inclined to say he's definitely Good for Poker^TM. And by "Good for Poker^TM" we mean "Good for Wicked Chops Poker."

However, it's not such a clear-cut case.

We all know that the Asian countries are better poker players. Kind of like how Arabs make better terrorists. It's just in their DNA. So really, do we need any more over-confident hyper-loose-aggressive Asians from Commerce flooding the scene?

On the other hand, Chino is definitely one of the more charismatic figures left. He's a good sport. And we picked him from the beginning. He should make good TV. And he was our pick from Day 1.

Chino is looking good for the final table now, as at 10:15pm PST we're down to 11 and he is third overall with just shy of 14M.

2008 WSOP Update: Dennis Phillips Goes Up, Tiffany Michelle Goes Down

FOWCP Tiffany Michelle hanging in there on Day 7 of the 2009 WSOP Main Event (photo courtesy of Wicked Chops Poker).

We'll have more to come shortly, but Dennis Phillips has built his stack up over 14M at the latest break.

Poker hottie and The Last Woman Standing^TM Tiffany Michelle took a hit and now has a little over 5M.

Our pick to win, David "Chino" Rheem^TM (sorry dude, but had to trademark your name) is hovering around 7M.

And Brandon Cantu is now down to just over 4M.

In somewhat related news, when the 27 players started today, we had 3 Canadians, 2 Danes, 1 Swede, 1 Russian, 1 Romanian, 1 Brit and 18 U.S. Americans left. Draw your own conclusions about how fucking awesome U.S. America is from that.

24 remain...

2008 WSOP Main Event: Dennis Phillips, Craig Marquis Are Chip Leaders With 27 Left

Brandon Cantu has his sights set on the Main Event title, or maybe just being this year's Lee Watkinson-Markholt.

Soooo...let's start the search for this year's Jerry Yang and Lee Watkinson-Markholt now.

With the elimination of Mike "The Mouth" Matusow in 30th place (brutal, on a flop of A-A-5, both he and Paul Snead checked, the turn was a 9, Snead moved all-in, Matusow called...The Mouth holding A-J, Snead A-9...ouch), all of the major headliner names are gone.

Even Cristian Dragomir The Fragrance is out.

With 27 remaining, the two chip leaders are Dennis Phillips (11,910,000) and Craig Marquis, who may or may not be related to Vanilla Ice (11,460,000). Phillips certainly has some Jerry Yang appeal (i.e. no appeal), but history has shown us that the chip leader with 27 left won't be the chip leader at the end unless your name is Jamie Gold. An interesting story thread could've been all the young Internet pros going deep, like Marquis, but lots of those guys (David Benefield, Gbecks) have been knocked out too, so oh well.

Phillips and Marquis are followed by the still running hot/looking hot FOWCP Tiffany Michelle with 9,755,000.

Our pick to win it, David "Chino" Rheem, continues his steady climb with 8,280,000. Aside from us picking him since the beginning, Rheem will be interesting as he should make "good TV^TM" since he makes Kenny Tran look like the offspring of Humble Pie and Modest Mouse.

And the likely pick to be this year's Lee Watkinson-Markholt, Brandon Cantu, 4,740,000.

Finally, the search for this year's Brad Kondracki starts and ends with Chris Klodnicki.

Get full chip counts here.

2008 WSOP Day 5: Gingers Flame Out, Hot Girl Goes Deep, Hellmuth Blow Up

Cristian Dragomir The Fragrance (above center) put Phil Hellmuth on mega-tilt, earning the Poker Brat a one-orbit penalty.

What a day at the 2008 WSOP Main Event.

With a ton of notable names coming into play today, the hype/anticipation levels were high. Plus, a bunch of gingers were in contention, as well as some hot girls going deep, and our random pick to win it from the beginning, David "Chino" Rheem, meaning we would have no shortage of stuff to make fun of cover.

When play wrapped, some dude we never heard of whose names sounds like an uppity Brit but is actually an Asian from LA, Mark Ketteringham, ended as chip leader stacked at 5.7M.*

Ketteringham is followed by Andrew Brokos (4,080,000) and our favorite hot girl going deep, Tiffany Michelle, with (3,800,000). Michelle is looking really, really good this year...to win the coveted The Last Woman Standing^TM title, which really is what the girls are playing for...because it's certainly not the Main Event title...because...seriously...have you looked at the history of WSOP results? Are women even trying in the Main Event? Are they even entering it?

In great news for anyone who has a soul, many of the top gingers bowed out of the field today. On the last hand of the night, Mark Vos, a ginger, ran his A-K into Dennis Phillips' A-A, sending what is likely the best hope for gingers around the world to the rail.

Also on the last hand at the featured table, Phil Hellmuth finally had a Hellmuthian Moment (phrase credit: Dr. Pauly) against Cristian Dragomir The Fragrance. Dragomir raised pre-flop, Hellmuth popped him back, and Dragomir made the call. The flop came 10 high, Hellmuth checked and The Fragrance fired. Hellmuth mucked A-K face up. Mike "The Mouth" Matusow, sitting next to Hellmuth, begged The Fragrance to show. The Fragrance turned over 10-4. Hellmuth went ballistic, calling The Fragrance an "idot" and "the worst player in history" (what do you expect, he's a scent!). Hellmuth continued the tirade and was smacked with a one orbit penalty that will take effect when play begins tomorrow.

Anyway that was exhausting to type, so just know that only 79 remain, our pick to win it is still hanging strong with 2.3M, and you can get full chip counts here.

* All chip counts unofficial at post time.

Uh Oh

This isn't cool. At all.

In what we can only assume is an all out assualt on the Entities who comprise Wicked Chops Poker, there are currently two gingers in the top 10 chip counts. In fact, James McManus (above) is chip leader at post time stacked at 3.4M. The other ginger in the top 10 is Mark Vos, a ginger, with just over 2M. Fortunately for all involved that still have a soul, Super Ginger has been eliminated.

Of the hot girls going deep and contending for The Last Woman Standing^TM, Tiffany Michelle, a woman, still leads the pack stacked at 1.7M. Kara Scott, a woman, is at 345,000. In all, a surprisingly high total of five women remain. For this late in any tournament the WSOP Main Event, that's gotta be some sort of record. Probably smashes whatever the old record is, actually.

Mike "The Mouth" Matusow is currently at the featured table with 660,000. Also at 660,000 is Allen Cunningham. Our pick (now to win it) David "Chino" Rheem is at 1,880,000. Cristian Dragomir The Fragrance is still doing well with 2,150,000. Shawn "Bad for Poker" Sheikhan has 1,710,000. And still in the hunt for bracelet #12 is Phil Hellmuth with 610,000.

And we are pleased to report that Deng Dong is still alive with 240,000.

Only 144 remain. Get full chip counts here.

2008 WSOP Day 4 Wrap: Pros, Gingers, and Hot Girls Go Deep

Things are looking good for those hoping for a star-studded final table. Then again, we saw this last year, and it didn't quite work out that way.

Regardless, the remaining 195 names in the 2008 WSOP Main Event have plenty of potential.

Leading the pack is the Mormony named (and new Davidson Matthew Club member) Jeremy Joseph with 3.1M. He's followed by Cristian Dragomir, who might actually be a fragrance, with 2,065,000. In third overall is our pick to go deep, David "Chino" Rheem, with 2M. We've been known for our wicked predicting chops, but our Rheem call may be the coup de gras for us if he keeps this going.

Big named big stacks abound, which is really "good for poker^TM." Some of those keeping The Year of the Pro^TM alive include (all unofficial chip counts for now) Brandon Cantu (1,580,000), Shawn "Bad for Poker" Sheikhan (1,500,000), Alex Outhred (1,500,000), Mark Vos, a ginger (1,373,000), Gus Hansen (1,360,000), Victor Ramdin (1,350,000), Allen Cunningham (1,270,000), Matt Matros (1,120,000), Jeff Madsen (770,000), Chip Jett (620,000, Phil Hellmuth (570,000), Mike "The Mouth" Matusow (550,000), and Hoyt Corkins (330,000).

Hot girls Tiffany Michelle and Kara Scott are still going deep with 909,000 and 355,000 respectively.

And Deng Dong still remains with 425,000.

Cards fly^TM again sometime tomorrow.

Get full (and continually updated) chip counts here.