The fourth final table of the 2023 Poker Masters featured [layers who hadn’t made it so far before now and was a thriller. With six starting the finale and $218,400 to the winner, it was David ‘Chino’ Rheem who conquered the half dozen, with opponents such as Daniel Negreanu, Chris Brewer, Justin Saliba and Rheem’s heads-up opponent, Jonathan Little, coming up just shy of glory.

Kid Poker Crashes Out

Another popular event and the fourth of 10 to take place in this year’s 2023 Poker Masters kicked off on the live stream on PokerGO with fireworks. There were 91 entries on Day 1 of the event, with 13 players cashing for the second tournament in a row. Players such as Andrew Lichtenberger (13^th), Darren Elias (8^th) and Jeremy Ausmus (7^th) claimed impressive cashes, but couldn’t make the final day, which was led by PokerStake action-seller Jonathan Little when six resumed action on the second and final day.

Daniel Negreanu was easily the biggest name to reach the final table, but for the Canadian poker superstar and GGPoker Global Ambassador, it was a final table to instantly forget. Negreanu came in short, but looked in the perfect position to double up through Brock Wilson when the latter three-bet with only for Negreanu to be all-in with . The board of turned Wilson a top pair of aces, however, and DNegs slid out for $54,600 in sixth place.

Shortly after Negreanu’s elimination, another player survived in what proved to be a pivotal pot. All-in with the best of it, the man who made the final ‘November Nine’ in the 2008 WSOP Main Event, Chino Rheem, had . He was well ahead of Chris Brewer’s , and the board of never looked like letting him down along the way. That vaulted Rheem from being at-risk to the new chip leader.

Brewer and Sailba Bow Out

Chris Brewer and Justin Saliba are two players who have earned their high roller stripes and they clashed in a number of pots on route to the final five. It was no surprise, then, when one such skirmish resulted in an elimination, as Saliba’s faced off against the superior of Brewer in another pre-flop all-in war. A queen-high board resulted in Saliba being left with scraps, which went in the next hand as his lost to Brewer’s , his second ‘Big Slick’ in a row.

Saliba’s fifth-place finish was worth $72,800, but Brewer didn’t last long before he joined him on the rail. Despite doubling up through Rheem, Brewer couldn’t make it last, and after Rheem doubled through Little to regain his lead and the momentum, Brewer lost almost all of his chips with . Leaving only a few of his chips behind, he lost to Brock Wilson’s as the board of reduced his chances to slim.

All-in soon after with , Brewer was up against Wilson again, as the latter’s prevailed. A flop of gave Wilson quads and as the rest of the meaningless board played out, Brewer was already on his feet wishing his compatriots farewell. Wilson’s pile of 2,655,000 chips gave him a chance, around a million ahead of Little, but Rheem’s stack of 7 million was looking daunting.

Little Comes Up Short

An almost instant double-up for Jonathan Little pleased both him and any investors he had on PokerStake as the poker coach and tournament professional had some good fortune. All-in and at risk with , Little was crushed pre-flop by Wilson’s . But a flop of overturned those odds and the turn and river were both safe.

Wilson was suddenly very short indeed, and despite spinning his short stack into a more playable one by doubling through both of his opponents, a board showing was enough to persuade Wilson to move all in with for a flopped top pair. Rheem called in a second with and held to knock out his opponent.

As Wilson trooped to the cash desk to collect $109,200, Rheem (8,950,000) and Little (2,425,000) prepared for one final battle. The first all-in of heads-up provided Little wit the perfect start as his held against Rheem’s , but the latter still had a slight lead. On a flop of , Little check-raised with , and called off Rheem’s shove, but Rheem’s hit a on the turn to make a straight.

Little needed to fill up on the river to survive, but an inconsequential left Little licking his ounds after an excellent result for $154,700. For Rheem, it was a trophy lift and the top prize of $218,400 as everyone continues to pursue Vladas Tamasauskas at the top of the Poker Masters leaderboard.