Nick Guagenti Crushes Chino Rheem’s Triple Crown Bid in $10K Stud Victory

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Jun 09, 2025 3 min read

Heading into the finale of the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship at the 2025 World Series of Poker, several compelling storylines were in play.

Mike Matusow was hoping to end a 12-year bracelet drought and strengthen his case for the Poker Hall of Fame. Dan Heimiller was chasing a second Stud title of the series. And though he didn’t know it at the time, Chino Rheem was just one victory away from becoming the 11th player in history to complete poker’s prestigious Triple Crown.

But all those hopes were dashed by Nick Guagenti, who emerged as the last player standing after a gruelling final day inside the Horseshoe Events Center.

The win marked Guagenti’s third career bracelet and his second in as many years. Impressively, his titles have come in three different formats: No-Limit Hold’em, Limit Hold’em, and now Seven Card Stud. The victory also earned him a career-best payday of $295,008, putting his total live earnings just shy of $3 million, according to The Hendon Mob.

The American defeated Rheem following a five-hour heads-up duel to top the 127-entry field and claim the lion's share of the $1,181,100 prize pool.

$10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship Final Table Results

Day 3 Action

Rheem, the start-of-day chip leader, ran red-hot through the early levels, hitting a string of straights, flushes, and full houses to pull away from the field as the short stacks steadily fell. Dave Rogers was the first to go, with his Broadway straight falling to Adam Friedman’s flush.

After bagging a solid stack on Day 2, Matusow told PokerNews that nobody wanted the bracelet more than he did. But his run was cut short after losing a series of pots to Rheem. Guagenti eventually sent "The Mouth" to the rail with just a pair of deuces after Matusow failed to pair his board when all in on third street.

Heimiller, who won the $1,500 version of this event earlier in the series, was eliminated in seventh place, followed shortly by Friedman in sixth. Rheem notched his first knockout of the day by dispatching Poker Hall of Famer Mori Eskandani in fifth. The two had clashed in several pots, with Rheem consistently getting the better of him, so it was fitting that Eskandani’s final chips went Rheem's way.

Qiang Xu then eliminated Paul Volpe in fourth after Volpe got his stack in with trips but couldn’t fade Xu’s straight.

Three-handed play between Rheem, Guagenti, and Xu lasted several levels in what became an extended war of attrition. Ultimately, Xu—less experienced in Stud than his opponents—fell in third after Rheem made a full house on sixth street to leave Xu drawing dead before seventh.

That set up the final clash. Rheem began heads-up play with a 2.5:1 chip lead, and momentum swung back and forth for hours. At one point, he was on the brink of victory, but Guagenti found a flush on seventh street to stay alive and shift the tides.

Both players were clearly fatigued as the battle wore on. Guagenti was open to bagging and continuing another day, but Rheem preferred to finish it then and there so they could both late register for the $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship on Monday.

After the final break of the night, Rheem briefly regained the lead, but it didn’t last. Guagenti took down three key pots on seventh street, including one where Rheem made a disciplined fold with a flush. While the fold was correct, it left him with just three big bets.

Those final chips went in on the very next hand. The stacks were committed on fifth street, with Guagenti showing split sevens against Rheem’s split sixes. Guagenti improved to kings-up by seventh, while Rheem failed to catch up.

After a marathon heads-up battle, it ended in a flash, and Guagenti stood tall once again on poker’s biggest stage.

This concludes PokerNews' live reporting for this event, but as always, stay tuned to the live updates to keep up with everything taking place at the 2025 WSOP.

Calum has been a part of the PokerNews team since September 2021 after working in the UK energy sector. He played his first hand of poker in 2017 and immediately fell in love with the game. Calum has written for various poker outlets but found his home at PokerNews, where he has contributed to various articles and live updates, providing insights and reporting on major poker events, including the World Series of Poker (WSOP).

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• Tags WSOP25 Adam Friedman Chino Rheem Dan Heimiller Dave Rogers Mike Matusow Mori Eskandani Nick Guagenti Paul Volpe Qiang Xu
• Related Players Mike MatusowDan HeimillerChino RheemAdam FriedmanPaul VolpeNick Guagenti

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