American pro Chino Rheem won his second PGT Mixed Games series championship and secured the top spot on the leaderboard for the 2025 PGT Mixed Games series with 384 points. Rheem won Event #4 $10,200 Eight Game Mix and cashed three times for $348,500. He was awarded a PGT Gold Cup and a $10,000 PGT Passport as the series champion. Other winners in this seven-event series included Daniel Negreanu, James Obst, Nicolas Milgrom, Ryan Miller, Maxx Coleman, and Adam Friedman.
The PokerGo Tour concluded its latest series at the Aria Casino in Las Vegas. Mixed games were on the agenda this time around, which attracted several top pros who typically don't play in the high-stakes events that focus on NLH or PLO. Many pros consider mixed games a true test of competence and skill, so winning the PGT Mixed Games series carried a lot of weight among old-school pros and versatile new-school wunderkinds.
Chino Rheem, a pro from Southern California, has over $15 million in tournament earnings and he's often included on the list of top pros who never won a bracelet. He has three WPT titles and stepped into the winner's circle in numerous events on the PGT circuit. Back in the autumn of 2023, Rheem won the PGT Mixed Games II crown when he cashed in five events and won a Big Bet Mixed event.
At the 2025 PGT Mixed Games series, there were seven events. Rheem emerged victorious in one of them and cashed in two others. He shipped Event #4 $10K Eight Game Mixed, took third place in Event #3 $10K Horse, and cashed in eighth place in Event #6 $15K Dealer's Choice. Rheem held off a late surge by Daniel Negreanu and Nick Schulman to maintain the coveted top spot on the 2025 PGT Mixed leaderboard.
Event #1 $5,100 HORSE attracted 150 runners for the kick-off event. The prize pool was $650,000 and the top 19 places paid out. Among the notable players who cashed included Clayton Mozdzen, Maco Johnson, Benny Glaser, Jim Collopy, Mike Gorodinsky, Mark Gregorich, Andrew Kelsall, Dennis Maschke, Michael Rodrigues, Ari Engel, and Davd Funkhouser. The final nine included Jeff Madsen, Josh Arieh, Steve Z, Huabao Chen, Walter Chambers, Ben Miner, Jerry Wong, and Nicolas Milgrom. Milgrom and Wong were heads-up for the first title, but Milgrom was the last player standing and he snagged $159,250.
Event #2 $5,100 Eight Game Mix attracted 148 runners and a prize pool worth $740,000. Top 23 places paid out. The final eight featured Adam Friedman, Tal Avivi, Nick Schulman, Sam Sternfield, Fu Wong, Toby Lewis, Anthony Arvidson, and Johnson Phanyaseng. Schulman busted in third place, which set up a heads-up bout between Avivi and Friedman. Friedman prevailed and banked $170,200 for first place. Other players who cashed included... Dzmitry Urbanovich, Gabe Ramos, Pat Stacey, Brian Rast, Alexander Livingston, Chad Eveslage, Dan Zack, Eric Wasserson, Mike Leah, Alexander Livingston, Brian Rast, Thomas Taylor, Michael Wolff, Ncholas Julia, Benny Glaser, Johnny World, and Ryan Miller.
Event #3 $10,200 HORSE drew a field of 95 runners. The prize pool was $950,000 with 14 places getting a cut of the pie. Daniel Negreanu, David Funkhouser, Mike Thorpe, Dan Mayoh, Yuri Dzivielevski, and Robert Wells also cashed but missed the final table. The final eight included Ryan Miller, Sam Sternfield, Chino Rheem, Benny Glaser, Johannes Becker, Alex Livingston, Robert Mizrachi, and Nick Guagenti. Rheem's elimination in third place set up a heads-upmatch between Miller and Sternfield. Miller was the last one standing in HORSE and he banked $247,000.
Event #4 $10,200 Eight Game Mix attracted 92 players. The prize pool was $920,000 with the top 14 finishers getting paid out. The final seven included Chino Rheem, Josh Arieh, Nick Schulman, David Funkhouser, Brian Beck, Arron Kupin, and Alex Livingston. Also cashing were Ray Dehkharghani, Max Hoffman, Nick Guagenti, an Mayoh, Tal Avivi, Mike Thorpe, and Mike Gorodinksy. Schulman hit the rail in third place, which set up the heavyweight rumble between Rheem ad Arieh. The two chopped the money for 195K each, but played out for the title. Rheem was declared the victor and he secured 239 PGT points. With back-to-back cashes, Event #4's victory thrust Rheem to the top of the leaderboard with 353 points and 99 points ahead of Ryan Miller (254) in second.
Event #5 $10,200 Mori's Mix attracted 70 players to this special event. The top 10 places paid out of the $700,000 prize pool. Maxx Coleman banked $210,000 for the victory and denied Mori Eskandani a chance to win the event named after him. Eskandani finished in second place. Other noteworthy players who cashed in this Mori Mixed event included Steve Z, David Funkhouser, Daniel Negreanu, Mike Gorodinsky, Dzmitry Urbanovich, Talal Shakerchi, Jim Collopy, and Benny Glaser.
Event #6 $15,200 Dealer's Choice featured 65 runners and a prize pool worth $975,000. The top 10 places earned a cut of the cash. Rheem busted in eight place. Other players who went deep and cashed included Daniel Negreanu, Nick Schulman, Yuri Dzivielevski, Maxx Coleman, Dylan Smith, Philip Strenheimer, Ryan Miller, Walter Chambers, and John Racener. Negreanu and Schulman were the last two players standing, but Negreanu had over a 25-1 lead when heads up began. Schulman battled back to get even in a gutsy performance, but Negreanu refocused and eventually knocked out Schulman. For his victory, Negreanu won $292,500. Chino Rheem cashed in his third event, and he retained the top spot on the leaderboard with 384 points. With a runner-up finish in Dealer's Choice and his third cash, Schulman was second overall with 336 points. Negreanu moved into third place with 302 points thanks to his victory in Event #6.
Event #7 $25,300 Ten Game Mix attracted 56 runners and a prize pool worth $1.4 million. The top 8 places paid out and the final eight included James Obst, Aaron Sacks, Michael Duek, Philip Sternheimer, Robert Wells, Nick Guagenti, Jason Mercier, and Maxx Coleman. The heads-up throwdown featured Australia vs. USA. When the dust settled, Aussie pro James Obst knocked out Aaron Sacks in second place. Sacks banked $294,000 for a runner-up finish, and Obst snagged $462,000 for first place.
As the series champion, Chino Rheem jubilantly hoisted the shiny PGT Gold Cup. He's now won this series twice in the last three years while demonstrating his prowess in mixed games. With three cashes in this series, his total winnings were $348,500. He also added a $10,000 PGT Passport as the Mixed Games series champion.
Rheem finished with 382 points on the final PGT Mixed leaderboard, ahead of Schulman (336) in second place, and Maxx Coleman (322) in third place. Negreanu (302) finished in fourth, and Ryan Miller (285) was fifth. Even though Schulman did not claim any event victories, his three cashes and deep runs gave him enough points to finish in second overall.
