Chino Rheem Wins Epic Poker League Main Event

David “Chino” Rheem bested one of the toughest tournament fields of the year by winning the inaugural Epic Poker League Main Event at the Palms Resort in Las Vegas Friday.

Rheem collected $1,000,000 after defeating arguably the two hottest players on the planet, Erik Seidel and Jason Mercier, at the final table. The score is the third biggest of his career — Rheem collected $1,772,000 for a seventh place finish at the WSOP Main Event in 2008 and $1,539,000 for a victory at the WPT Five Diamond Classic in 2009.

It took nearly 80 hands at Friday’s six-handed final table before the first elimination was dealt. Huck Seed more than doubled his stack at the beginning of the day but lost a flip with pocket jacks to the A-K of Mercier to send him to the rail in sixth place with $107,980

That pot gave Mercier the chip lead and he widened that margin after eliminating Gavin Smith in fifth place. Smith got his short stack in preflop with pocket nines, but Mercier found a pair of queens and sent the Canadian pro home with $154,260.

Rheem then made his presence known by knocking Hasan Habib out in fourth place. Habib began the day with the chip lead, but couldn’t find many spots to chip up and ultimately made his exit with a pair of sixes against the sevens of Rheem. Habib earned $237,560, his biggest cash since taking 14th at the WSOP Main Event in 2010.

Rheem held a slight chip lead over Mercier and Seidel and watched as the two titans went to battle. Seidel got his stack in preflop against Mercier’s pocket fives and flopped a king to leave Mercier short stacked, and then Seidel put the PokerStars pro away when his Kc-Jc held up against Mercier’s 9s-8d. Mercier, who won his second WSOP bracelet in June, picked up another $360,970 with his third place finish Friday.

Rheem and Seidel exchanged the chip lead multiple times during a lengthy heads-up match, often times showing each other their cards, before Rheem put away the Hall of Famer. Rheem’s As-Kd had Seidel’s Ac-Qd in bad shape on the final hand, and it only got worse as the board ran out Ad-8c-4d-3d-Td to give Rheem a flush and the title. He was awarded the first-ever Epic Poker League ring by commissioner Annie Duke and escorted to the cage to pick up his winnings.

Rheem’s win creating a giant buzz across the poker community as he had been the subject of controversy during the week. Several members of the high-stakes community — including Will Molson, 2010 November Niner Joseph Cheong and 2011 November Niner Ben Lamb — had come forward claiming that Rheem owed them money. Following Rheem’s win, Lamb informed his Twitter followers that Rheem had paid him back $40,000, but others had only been repaid 10% of the outstanding debts. It’s unknown how much debt Rheem has, but it is assumed that since he was staked into the EPL Main Event, his portion of the winnings won’t cover what he owes.

Rheem was still overjoyed with his victory and posted his jubilation on Twitter: “I did it y’all!! Special Thanks to everyone who’s supported me & @EpicPokerLeague! It’s gonna be a party y’all!!!”

Here’s a look at the final results of the inaugural Epic Poker League Main Event:

1. Chino Rheem — $1,000,000
2. Erik Seidel — $604,330
3. Jason Mercier — $360,970
4. Hasan Habib — $237,560
5. Gavin Smith — $154,260
6. Huck Seed — $107,980