Longtime Poker Pros Shine During PGT Poker Masters in Las Vegas
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The Poker Masters series is underway inside PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas, and the race is on for the coveted velvet purple jacket.
The 2025 Poker Masters, taking place Sept. 19-Oct. 2, consists of ten no-limit Hold'em events with buy-ins ranging from $5,100 to the $25,200 finale that will close out the series.
Already, a handful of trophies have gone to well-known pros, including World Poker Tour (WPT) endboss Darren Elias, Wynn Millions champion Andrew Moreno and reigning GPI Player of the Year David Coleman.
And today, Chino Rheem took down Event #5: $10,100 No-Limit Hold'em to win $280,000 and a seventh career PokerGO Tour (PGT) title.
Another PokerGO Title for Rheem
The latest Poker Masters event inside PokerGO Studio drew 112 entrants for a prize pool of $1.1 million. The biggest portion of that went to Rheem as he defeated American Daniyal Gheba during heads-up play.
The final table of the $10,100 buy-in event also included Aram Zobian (7th - $44,800), Andrew Lichtenberger (6th - $56,200) and 2024 GPI Player of the Year Stephen Song, who PokerNews recently caught up with at the Triton ONE festival in Jeju, South Korea.
Rheem has had plenty of recent success inside the PokerGO Studio, including winning events at this year's PGT Mixed Games Series and PLO Series. He also nearly had his name scrubbed from "Best Player Without a Bracelet" lists with a runner-up finish in the WSOP $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship.
Poker Masters Event #5: $10,100 No-Limit Hold'em Results
| Place | Name | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chino Rheem | United States | $280,000 |
| 2 | Daniyal Gheba | United States | $185,000 |
| 3 | Anatoly Nikitin | Russia | $129,000 |
| 4 | Stephen Song | United States | $100,500 |
| 5 | John Riordan | United States | $72,500 |
| 6 | Andrew Lichtenberger | United States | $56,200 |
| 7 | Aram Zobian | United States | $44,800 |
Longtime Pros Shine in PokerGO Studio
Rheem's victory followed that of another longtime pro, Darren Elias, who took down Event #4: $10,100 No-Limit Hold'em for $280,000 as he defeated heads-up opponent David Chen. Song found another fourth-place finish worth $100,500, while recent World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event final tablist Adam Hendrix finished fifth for $72,500.
The series has indeed proven good for veteran grinders who have put in the work to get to where they are in the poker world. Earlier in the week, Andrew Moreno defeated Brian Batt to win Event #3: $10,100 No-Limit Hold'em for $252,000, besting a final table that included Matthew Wantman (5th - $65,600), Jeremiah Williams (4th - $90,900) and Samuel Laskowitz (3rd - $116,700).
Mike Zulker, who has over $2.1 million in Hendon Mob earnings and whose first cash dates back to 2008, emerged victorious in Event #2: $5,100 No-Limit Hold'em for $157,000 over Mitchell Halverson, who earlier finished runner-up to David Coleman in the first-ever $1,000,000 Showcase.
Halverson currently leads the Poker Masters leaderboard with three cashes and 330 points ahead of Song (302 points), Rheem (290 points) and Elias (280 points).
There's still plenty of action to come in the Poker Masters, including the currently underway Event #6: $10,100 No-Limit Hold'em that sees young prodigy Jeremy Becker chip leading over the likes of Bin Weng and Kristen Foxen, according to PokerGO live updates.
The series will culminate with Event #10: $25,200 No-Limit Hold'em, which gets underway on Oct. 1 at 1 p.m. local time.
A list of Poker Masters winners so far is available in the table below.
2025 Poker Masters Winners So Far
| Place | Entrants | Prize Pool | Winner | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poker Masters 2025 $1,000,000 Showcase | 239 | $1,195,000 | David Coleman | United States | $270,000 |
| Event #2: $5,100 No-Limit Hold'em | 130 | $650,000 | Mike Zulker | United States | $157,000 |
| Event #3: $10,100 No-Limit Hold'em | 101 | $1,010,000 | Andrew Moreno | United States | $252,000 |
| Event #4: $10,100 No-Limit Hold'em Final Table Payouts | 112 | $1,120,000 | Darren Elias | United States | $280,000 |
| Event #5: $10,100 No-Limit Hold'em | 112 | $1,120,000 | Chino Rheem | United States | $280,000 |
*Photos courtesy PokerGO & Antonio Abrego
