Chino Rheem denied poker’s Triple Crown as Marco Johnson wins 2026 WSOP $2,500 Freezeout

Chino Rheem has seemingly done everything in poker, but one huge black spot on his resume is the lack of a WSOP bracelet. Tonight, Rheem had another chance to become the 11th player in poker history to win a Triple Crown (WPT Main Event title, EPT/PokerStars Main Event title, WSOP bracelet) in the $2,500 Freezeout.

Unfortunately, for the fifth time in his career, he came in second place in a bracelet event, falling to Marco Johnson at the final hurdle. For “Crazy Marco”, the win came with his third-career bracelet and $513,885 after topping the 1,561-player field.

If there was any consolation, Rheem claimed $341,970 for his second-place run, which also made him just the 74th player in poker history to reach $20 million in career live tournament earnings.

WSOP $2,500 Freezeout final table

After Faraz Jaka finished fourth and Kenzo Ishida came third, Johnson went into heads-up play with nearly a four-to-one chip lead.

Rheem was able to double up when he found pocket aces against Johnson’s pocket jacks to take him back to roughly a three-to-two deficit. However, Johnson would take back the momentum and was back to a four-to-one lead in hardly any time at all.

With the blinds at 200,000/400,000 with a 400,000 big blind ante, Marco Johnson opted for a massive all-in for just over 30 big blinds with . Rheem tanked for some time before opting to call it off with .

In most worlds, the hand would have resulted in a chop, but the flop came , giving Johnson a flopped wheel and nearly certain victory. Rheem was dead on the turn as Johnson claimed his third bracelet. The completed the board.

WSOP $2,500 Freezeout final table results

Chino Rheem close calls

Chino Rheem has been chasing WSOP bracelet glory for over two decades and has yet to seal the deal. The first time he got close was all the way back in 2006, when he finished second behind Allen Cunningham in a 2,422-entry $1,000 No Limit Hold’em event, cashing for $327,981.

Rheem would have to wait another 16 years to get another bite at the apple, but he fell just short in the $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship in 2022, losing to Eli Elezra heads-up, collecting $377,855 for his troubles.

Rheem got close again in 2024, finishing second behind Dylan Weisman in the 1,469-entry $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha 8-max event for $196,191. Last year, Rheem nearly closed out the $10,000 Limit Seven Card Stud Championship, falling to Nick Guagenti to cash the 127-entry event for $196,662.

Poker’s elusive Triple Crown

Only 10 players have completed poker’s Triple Crown, with Michael Watson being the last player to complete it back in 2024. Gavin Griffin was the first to do so in 2008, followed by Roland De Wolfe, Jake Cody, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Davidi Kitai, Mohsin Charania, Harrison Gimbel, Niall Farrell, Roberto Romanello, and Mike Watson.

While there are over 100 players who are one step short of one poker’s biggest achievements, only four players need to top it all off with a WSOP bracelet: Andrew Pateychuk, Chino Rheem, Mortiz Kranich, and Simon Brandstrom.

Naturally, the large majority of players who need to complete the Triple Crown with a WPT Main Event title are from Europe (Adrian Mateos, Artur Martirosian, Liv Boeree, and many more), as the World Poker Tour rarely visits European soil.

The same can be said with Americans and the EPT/PokerStars Main Event title, as the European Poker Tour is, of course, played in Europe. Roughly 70% of those who need to complete this leg are Americans, like Alex Foxen, Chance Kornuth, Dan Smith, Phil Ivey, and many more.