David Rheem Controversy Resurfaces
Written by Matt W | Sunday, November 2nd, 2008
Just after the final tables for the WSOP 2008 Main Event was set South Florida’s Sun Sentinel broke the news that one of the finalists, David “Chino” Rheem had been convicted for felonies (dealing in stolen property and burglary) and larceny and possession of marijuana and had done time in jail.
The news item also reported that there was an active warrant for his arrest for failing to appear in court on a misdemeanor charge. For a while there was lot of talk that a person with such a shady background should not be present at the WSOP Main Event final table, which showcases poker to the world. There were also questions raised whether Rheem would actually take his place at the final table in November. But then other news took over and Rheem was soon forgotten. Now with the final table due to start in less than two weeks the Rheem controversy has resurfaced.
There have been many who have argued that Rheem is bad publicity for poker. Things will be worse if Rheem goes on to win the event because the winner in any field needs to be a role model. Excerpts from Josh Slagter’s column Dead Money have resurfaced on the Internet. Two statements from that column stand out. “This isn’t the kind of extra publicity that World Series of Poker officials had in mind” and “It’d be pretty ugly if Rheem actually was arrested at the final table.”
But it seems that his peers are offering Rheem sold support. Leading the pack is Tiffany Michelle, who is not new to controversy herself. She sees the consistent effort that Rheem has put in and his performance in the past. Her verdict is, “Chino obviously has one of the longest histories and resumes in poker. He’s worked really hard. He’s played really well. It would be really neat to see one of our own have that payoff. That would be great.” Others point out that the events for which Rheem was convicted happened over eight years ago at a time when he was underage.
The felony charges were for stealing stuff from cars and if one compiles the list of those caught with marijuana the names could well be a celebrities’ who’s who. Rheem did his time in jail and the chapter is closed. His peers have called Rheem “crazy” but that refers to his unconventional play and not to his being mad. He knows how to cash in on his advantages most aggressively.
Meanwhile Rheem is taking it easy. Surprisingly he is not playing too much. In an interview about his preparations for the final table Rheem had said, “I am just going to try and lay low, keep a clear head, relax, take some time off. I’ll spend some more time in these next three months with my girlfriend and my family and my friends and just try and keep a clear head and not think about this final table too much ‘cause I feel like if you think about it too much it’s going to like, at some point, drive you crazy.” Now whether this was really his strategy or he just did not want the Sun Sentinel story to resurface at his every achievement only his crazy mind knows.
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· Written by Matt W · Filed Under Poker Gossip · Comments Off
