It took a few lucky breaks and an epic heads-up battle to get it done, but David "Chino" Rheem took down the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic and its $1.5 million first-place prize in Las Vegas tonight.

Things started out at Bellagio relatively slowly, with the heavyweight final-table participants trading jabs before Hoyt Corkins found himself a little shorter than he'd like.

It didn't take long for Hoyt put most of his chips in pre-flop against Justin Young, and the rest followed on a K♦ Q♠ 6♦ flop.

Corkins had A♥ Q♥, but Young held A♣ K♠, and Hoyt was history.

No more than a few hands later, both start-of-day chip leader Steve Sung and Amnon Filippi found themselves in a massive cooler with Justin Young, and suddenly they were headed for the door as well.

Sung sunk.

Amnon shoved short with nines, Sung called with two kings and Young reshipped.

Steve made the call for his tournament life, but Justin had aces and the rockets held to send Filippi home fifth and Sung fourth in the third WPT final-table appearance without a win for both of them.

With Justin Young the newly minted chip leader, three-handed play lasted just a few minutes before Chino Rheem got frisky, shoving into an Evan McNiff raise with A♥ 9♥.

McNiff picked him off, making the call with A♦ J♥, but the poker gods had other plans. Rheem sucked out, spiking a nine on the turn to leave Evan crippled and wondering what he did to deserve it.

Too Young for this one.

He shipped it with garbage a few hands later and Chino had him dominated, ending his Five Diamond dreams in third place.

Heads-up started with Young still holding the lead, but it quickly became an epic affair with the chip lead handed back and forth too many times to count.

The hours and the levels flew by with small pots and very careful play until Rheem pushed Young off a rather large pot, shoving and showing a flush draw to suddenly find himself with an $18 million to $4 million chip lead.

Young doubled up by winning a race, then took the lead catching a pair on Chino holding big slick with a gut-shot.  But Rheem got the massive lead back when he pushed with a club-flush draw into Young's flopped two pair and managed to catch the club.

November was nine, December devine.

Then, after five hours heads-up, Chino woke up with two kings, let Justin Young catch top pair on a Q♦ 8♥ 3♣ flop and when the money went in, and the turn and river bricked, it was all over.

Young took $936,760 for second, but Chino Rheem grabbed the $1,538,730 first place prize and all the Five Diamond glory.

What started six days ago with 497 dreamers was down to one, and a month after his 2008 WSOP Main Event seventh-place finish, Chino Rheem had made good here in Vegas on the World Poker Tour.

With that, PL.com is out, but you can still catch Lacey Jones' interview with Rheem on PL.com TV right here. Plus, we'll have a more in-depth interview with Chino up here in a few days.