A member of the original November Nine back in 2008 and a longtime pro, Rheem bagged up a towering 4,839,000 to take the overwhelming chip lead into Day 5 tomorrow.
Even more impressively Rheem came into the day almost last in the chip counts at 21st out of 24 players.
Next closest to him is the embattled Erick Lindgren, the former Full Tilt pro tainted by heavy, unpaid sports betting debts over the last couple of years.
One of the most popular pros in the world before Black Friday, Lindgren seems to have turned back the clock to a better time for him and, despite being a short stack for much of the day as well, finished in second with 2,518,000.
One of Lindgren's old pals in Daniel Negreanu - himself turning the clock back to 2004-era Negreanu with a string of vintage performances recently - also made the final 8 although he'll start tomorrow as the short stack with just 545,000.
Roy, Hyman, Peters, Palumbo and Steven Along for Ride
Joining the esteemed old guard in the final eight tomorrow is a quintet of very experienced pros all capable of taking down their own titles.
Jonathan Roy, already a WPT champion earlier this season, sits third overall with 1,987,000. Roy can also snatch the WPT POY title away from Matt Salsberg with a win here.
Well established pros in Matt Hyman (1,940,000), Brandon Steven (1,235,000), David Peters (858,000) and another former WPT champ, Rocco Palumbo (680,000), round out the remaining players.
All told, five of the final eight have previous WPT victories including Rheem, Lindgren and Negrenau. Amir Babakhani, in his bid for back-to-back WPT titles, bowed out in 9th.
Day 5 chip counts:
1. Chino Rheem 4,839,000 2. Erick Lindgren 2,518,000 3. Jonathan Roy 1,987,000 4. Matt Hyman 1,940,000 5. Brandon Steven 1,235,000 6. David Peters 858,000 7. Rocco Palumbo 680,000 8. Daniel Negreanu 545,000For a full recap of the Day 4 action, check the WPT Live Updates. Action picks up tomorrow at noon local time and will see just two players eliminated to set the final TV table of six.
An impressive $1.1 million awaits the winner. Each player is now assured of at least $101,935. Check out the end-of-day interview with Rheem below:
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