Nick Guagenti Crushes Chino Rheem’s Triple Crown Bid in $10K Stud Victory

Heading into the finale of the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship at the 2025 World Series of Poker, several compelling storylines were in play.
Mike Matusow was hoping to end a 12-year bracelet drought and strengthen his case for the Poker Hall of Fame. Dan Heimiller was chasing a second Stud title of the series. And though he didn’t know it at the time, Chino Rheem was just one victory away from becoming the 11th player in history to complete poker’s prestigious Triple Crown.
But all those hopes were dashed by Nick Guagenti, who emerged as the last player standing after a gruelling final day inside the Horseshoe Events Center.
The win marked Guagenti’s third career bracelet and his second in as many years. Impressively, his titles have come in three different formats: No-Limit Hold’em, Limit Hold’em, and now Seven Card Stud. The victory also earned him a career-best payday of $295,008, putting his total live earnings just shy of $3 million, according to The Hendon Mob.
The American defeated Rheem following a five-hour heads-up duel to top the 127-entry field and claim the lion's share of the $1,181,100 prize pool.
$10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship Final Table Results
Place | Winner | Country | Prize (USD) |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Nick Guagenti | United States | $295,008 |
2 | Chino Rheem | United States | $196,662 |
3 | Qiang Xu | China | $135,828 |
4 | Paul Volpe | United States | $96,502 |
5 | Mori Eskandani | United States | $70,587 |
6 | Adam Friedman | United States | $53,201 |
7 | Dan Heimiller | United States | $41,357 |
8 | Mike Matusow | United States | $33,190 |
9 | Dave Rogers | United States | $27,528 |
Day 3 Action
Rheem, the start-of-day chip leader, ran red-hot through the early levels, hitting a string of straights, flushes, and full houses to pull away from the field as the short stacks steadily fell. Dave Rogers was the first to go, with his Broadway straight falling to Adam Friedman’s flush.
After bagging a solid stack on Day 2, Matusow told PokerNews that nobody wanted the bracelet more than he did. But his run was cut short after losing a series of pots to Rheem. Guagenti eventually sent "The Mouth" to the rail with just a pair of deuces after Matusow failed to pair his board when all in on third street.

Heimiller, who won the $1,500 version of this event earlier in the series, was eliminated in seventh place, followed shortly by Friedman in sixth. Rheem notched his first knockout of the day by dispatching Poker Hall of Famer Mori Eskandani in fifth. The two had clashed in several pots, with Rheem consistently getting the better of him, so it was fitting that Eskandani’s final chips went Rheem's way.
Qiang Xu then eliminated Paul Volpe in fourth after Volpe got his stack in with trips but couldn’t fade Xu’s straight.
Three-handed play between Rheem, Guagenti, and Xu lasted several levels in what became an extended war of attrition. Ultimately, Xu—less experienced in Stud than his opponents—fell in third after Rheem made a full house on sixth street to leave Xu drawing dead before seventh.

That set up the final clash. Rheem began heads-up play with a 2.5:1 chip lead, and momentum swung back and forth for hours. At one point, he was on the brink of victory, but Guagenti found a flush on seventh street to stay alive and shift the tides.
Both players were clearly fatigued as the battle wore on. Guagenti was open to bagging and continuing another day, but Rheem preferred to finish it then and there so they could both late register for the $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship on Monday.
After the final break of the night, Rheem briefly regained the lead, but it didn’t last. Guagenti took down three key pots on seventh street, including one where Rheem made a disciplined fold with a flush. While the fold was correct, it left him with just three big bets.

Those final chips went in on the very next hand. The stacks were committed on fifth street, with Guagenti showing split sevens against Rheem’s split sixes. Guagenti improved to kings-up by seventh, while Rheem failed to catch up.
After a marathon heads-up battle, it ended in a flash, and Guagenti stood tall once again on poker’s biggest stage.
This concludes PokerNews' live reporting for this event, but as always, stay tuned to the live updates to keep up with everything taking place at the 2025 WSOP.
In this Series
- 1 Who Won $64K and the First 2025 WSOP Bracelet?
- 2 David Shmuel Wins First WSOP Bracelet in Omaha Hi-Lo for $205,333!
- 3 Furth Wins Second WSOP Bracelet; Denies Kabrhel in $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha
- 4 GTO Study Sees Antonio Galiana Win Second WSOP Bracelet in $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em
- 5 Persistence Pays Off: Dan Heimiller Wins $1,500 Seven Card Stud for Third WSOP Bracelet
- 6 Artur Martirosian Wins WSOP $25,000 Heads Up Championship ($500,000)
- 7 Benny Glaser Adds to His Legacy With Bracelet No. 6 in Event #8: $1,500 Dealers Choice
- 8 Michael Wilklow: Once a Mystery, Now a Millionaire (and WSOP Bracelet Winner)
- 9 Kenneth Kim Storms Back to Win His First WSOP Bracelet
- 10 Father-Son WSOP Bracelet Duo Made as Yosef Fox Wins $10,000 Mystery Bounty
- 11 Five Bracelets in Five Years: Brad Ruben Wins the $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw ($138,080)
- 12 Ryan Bambrick Denies Daniel Negreanu to Claim Second WSOP Bracelet
- 13 Christopher Staats Denies David Jackson in WSOP $1,500 6-Handed NLH for $414,950
- 14 Corey Thompson Nearly Wins Two WSOP Online Bracelets Right Off the Bat
- 15 Cristian Gutierrez Wins $600 PLO Deepstack For His First Bracelet and $193,780
- 16 Lou Garza Mounts Memorable Heads-Up Comeback to Clinch Second WSOP Bracelet
- 17 Benny Glaser Goes Back-to-Back (Again) for 7th Bracelet in $1,500 Mixed
- 18 Zachary Zaret Overcomes Stacked Final Table to Win First Bracelet
- 19 Michael Lavin Steamrolls the Competition on Way to a Second WSOP Bracelet
- 20 Ryan Hoenig Goes Wire-to-Wire to Win Event #18: $10,000 Dealers Choice Championship
- 21 Bohlman's Breakthrough: Mixed Game Vet Wins 2nd Bracelet in $2,000 NLH ($436,044)
- 22 Blaz Zerjav Wins Maiden WSOP Bracelet in $25,000 6-Handed High Roller
- 23 Aloisio Dourado Claims Redemption with First WSOP Bracelet in Record-Breaking Badugi Event
- 24 Mixed Game Maestro Xixiang Luo Bags $290,400 and Third WSOP Bracelet
- 25 Nick Guagenti Crushes Chino Rheem’s Triple Crown Bid in $10K Stud Victory
- 26 Beginner's Luck? Surely Not. Chang Lee Wins $25,000 High Roller ($1,949,044)
- 27 Penalized Poker Player Wins WSOP Bracelet Despite Color Up Controversy
- 28 LA Poker Player Outlasts 16,300 Opponents to Win 2025 WSOP's Colossus
- 29 Igor Zektser Scoops His First Bracelet in Event #27: $1,500 Big O
- 30 A Few Cocktails on the Road to First WSOP Bracelet for Mark Darner
- 31 Rising New Jersey Poker Star Captures First WSOP Bracelet
- 32 Jason Koon Moves to Third on All-Time Money List w/ WSOP $50,000 High Roller Win
- 33 Toy Charizard, Pink Slipper Carry Canadian Family Man to WSOP Victory
- 34 Nick Schulman Joins Poker's Immortals With Bracelet No. 7 in the $10K 2-7 Championship
- 35 Ukraine's Renat Bohdanov Spikes Gutshot to Win Second WSOP Bracelet
- 36 John Racener Claims Third WSOP Bracelet For His Third Son
- 37 Philip Sternheimer Tears Up After Ending 13 Year Bracelet Chase
- 38 Joao Vieira Avenges WSOP Paradise Loss to Win WSOP $100K High Roller ($2,649,158)
- 39 Andrey Zhigalov Wheels In Second Bracelet in Event #39: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. ($197,923)
- 40 Ian Johns Slays 'Isildur1' to Win WSOP Limit Hold'em Championship for a Second Time
- 41 Fourth Bracelet & $647K for Seniors High Roller Champ David "ODB" Baker
- 42 Carlos Leiva Defeats Weisman on Way to Winning WSOP $1,000 PLO Bracelet Event
- 43 A Father's Day Special: Allan Le Denies Shaun Deeb in $1,500 Razz
- 44 Seth Davies Wins $250K WSOP Super High Roller for First Bracelet and $4.75M Score
- 45 V for Vongxaiburana as 'Hobby' Player Beats Pros to $10k Big O Bracelet
- 46 Hellmuth Denied as Jason Daly Wins Second Bracelet in $2,500 Omaha/Stud Hi-Lo
- 47 Joey Couden Wins Second Bracelet in $500 SALUTE to Warriors ($187,937)
- 48 Tyler Patterson Grabs Second Bracelet in $3K 6-Handed NLHE for $574K
- 49 Klemens Roiter Finishes the Job for First Bracelet in Event #37: $1,500 MONSTER STACK