Just a few weeks removed from his appearance at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event final table, David “Chino” Rheem (pictured) proved that he belongs in the same breath as the top names in our industry. Rheem won $1.5 million for taking down the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic, defeating Justin Young heads-up. Members of PocketFives.com shared in Rheem’s joy, taking three of the top 18 spots. The entire tournament was covered on PocketFivesLive.com, the world’s best source for WPT coverage of online poker players. Tournament Reporter Court Harrington has been on site throughout its duration.

On a board of A-6-3 with two clubs, Rheem was all in holding 10-4 of clubs for a flush draw. Young had him dominated, holding A-3 for two pair. Rheem hit lightning in a bottle, drawing the six of clubs on the turn to send him in the lead in the hand. Young needed to catch one of the remaining aces, sixes, or threes to make a full house, but none of his six outs came on the river. The hand gave Rheem a chip lead of 18 million to four million and he never looked back.

On the final hand of the event, Young check-raised Rheem all in after a flop of Q-8-3. Rheem called, exposing pocket kings, and Young flipped over Q-5 for top pair. The turn and the river bricked out for Young, giving Rheem his first WPT title. Rheem’s seventh place finish in the 2008 WSOP Main Event was worth $1.7 million. He also finished as the runner up in a $1,000 rebuy event during the 2006 WSOP for $327,000.

Holding pocket aces, Justin Young (pictured at left) eliminated both Amnon Filippi and Steve Sung on the same hand. They held pocket nines and pocket kings, respectively, giving Young enough chips to coast to heads-up play against Rheem. Young recorded his largest cash to date, $936,760, for his runner up finish in Sin City.

Harrington commented on Rheem’s journey through the $15,000 WPT event: "Chino was able to play aggressive poker and get lucky in a couple of key spots to come back and win the tournament. Young is a very tough opponent heads-up, especially starting with a chip lead, but Chino was able to get the job done and follow up his November Nine appearance with a victory at a marquee event here at the Bellagio. His win capped an amazing 2008 for Rheem.”

The final table of the WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic consisted of a star-studded field. Here were the final paydays:

1st Place: Chino Rheem, $1,538,730
2nd Place: Justin Young, $936,760
3rd Place: Evan McNiff, $540,440
4th Place: Steve Sung, $396,206
5th Place: Amnon Filippi, $288,235
6th Place: Hoyt Corkins, $216,175

There were 497 entrants into the tournament and among them were a throng of PocketFivers. Those who finished in the money included:

8th Place: Ben straate Straate, $115,295
13th Place: Nick TheTakeover Schulman, $72,060
17th Place: Ben Bttech86 Tollerene, $57,645
21st Place: Hunter the_Hunt_D Frey, $43,235
26th Place: Mohsin chicagocards1 Charania, $43,235
31st Place: Luke IWEARGOGGLES Staudenmaier, $36,030
38th Place: Barry barryg1 Greenstein, $36,030
40th Place: Jonathan FieryJustice Little, $36,030
56th Place: Justin looshle Pechie, $23,420
60th Place: Scott dorinvandy Dorin, $23,420
73rd Place: Jon PearlJammer Turner, $21,620
76th Place: Annie Duke, $21,620
79th Place: Amit amak316 Makhija, $21,620
81st Place: Steve MrSmokey1 Billirakis, $21,620
84th Place: Andy BKiCe Seth, $21,620
94th Place: Devin TranquilChaos Porter, $21,620

Scott dorinvandy Dorin, who placed 60th at the Bellagio, told PocketFives.com that the atmosphere at the Bellagio was more laid back than onlookers might perceive it to be: “It isn’t as intense of an atmosphere as you would think. There are more pros than amateurs, so I think everyone is used to playing for big stakes.” Dorin also enjoyed the structure, which saw players start with 45,000 chips (a triple stack). Blinds went up every 90 minutes and increased gradually in the beginning. Each starting day played out five levels.

PocketFivesLive.com returns on January 14th for the start of the Southern Poker Championship at the Beau Rivage in Biloxi, Mississippi. The $10,000 buy-in tournament will crown a victor on January 17th. Preliminary events start at the property on January 2nd leading up to the finale.

Relive all of the excitement from the Bellagio on PocketFivesLive.com. Happy Holidays and we’ll see you again in January.