The opening event of the PokerGO PGT Sprint Series saw long-time PokerStake seller Chino Rheem lift the trophy and take home the $119,600 top prize. With strong showings from plenty of PokerStake sellers in the event, which had a whopping 92 total entries, the single-day event wrapped in the small hours as Rheem saw off the late challenge of his heads-up opponent Andrew ‘Chewy’ Lichtenberger.

Bumper Field as 14 Make the Money

With over a dozen players making the money, the field of 92 entries was trimmed rapidly, with the structure accelerated from usual PokerGO events that take place across two or more tournament days. There was a close run for Cherish Andrews, as the PokerStake seller busted in 16^th place, just two away from the money.

Another U.S. poker star, Jim Collopy, was the unfortunate bubble boy, busting in 15^th place for nothing before players such as Michael Rossitto (14^th), Poker Masters hero Justin Vaysman (13^th) and the former WSOP Main Event winner Joe McKeehen (12^th) each wrapped up a min-cash for $11,500.

After PokerStake seller David Coleman missed out in 11^th for $13,800, play continued until just seven remained, with Darren Rabinowicz (10^th for $13,800) joined on the rail by Brock Wilson, who doubled through Chino Rheem from a super short stack only to bust soon after for the same amount as Coleman and Rabinowicz. The elimination of Nick Seward in 8^th place for $18,400 sealed seven-handed play under the lights, as Seward’s nine-five lost to the dominating Michael Berk’s jack-five.

Lonis Loses Out

With seven remaining, Neil Warren led the final seven, but it was a tight field. John Riordan ended up being the first player to leave the official final table, busting in seventh place for $18,400 with ace-queen when the chips went in the middle pre-flop and he was unable to get there with Andrew Lichtenberger’s pocket tens holding.

Jesse Lonis was the next to go, as his was all-in and at risk against the suited of Michael Berk. The latter got lucky in the window, as a flop of was then followed by a turn and river to send the luckless Lonis home with $23,000 in sixth place.

Out next was the chip leader when the final seven sat down, Neil Warren. All-in with the dominating ace-queen, he nevertheless lost to Berk’s ace-three, busting for $32,200. Berk looked to be building up a little momentum, but instead, headed home in fourth place for $41,400. All-in having lost half of that stack, couldn’t beat as Chino Rheem took another confident stride towards victory and Berk left just outside the podium places.

Rheem Races to Victory

With three players left, Patrick Leonard led the final table but he went from hero to zero in just a few hands to bust in third for $55,200. All-in with when the short stack, and ran into the of Andrew Lichtenberger, who held through the ten-high board to go into heads-up with a lead of 6.85m chips to Chino Rheem’s 4.65 million.

The pivotal hand of the heads-up battle came after a board of landed. Lichtenberger moved all-in with just . Rheem’s was a marginal hand to make the call with but ultimately, the champion-in-waiting worked it out and called to take a massive lead, with Lichtenberger having just 525,000 chips left, left than 5% of Rheem’s stack of 10.9m.

The final hand saw Chewy shove with and Chino call blind with , whereupon the worst starting hand in poker somehow managed to act as a kicker for the winning hand. As Chewy took home $75,900, Rheem claimed a top prize of $119,600 and vital PGT Points.

Want to back PokerStake sellers in the forthcoming PGT Sprint events? Head to our official staking page for the series right here.

PokerGO PGT Sprint NLHE $5,300 Event #1 Results:
Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Chino Rheem	United States	$119,600
2nd	Andrew Lichtenberger	United States	$75,900
3rd	Patrick Leonard	United Kingdom	$55,200
4th	Michael Berk	United States	$41,400
5th	Neil Warren	United States	$32,200
6th	Jesse Lonis	United States	$23,000
7th	John Riordan	United States	$18,400
8th	Nick Seward	United States	$18,400
9th	Brock Wilson	United States	$13,800