David "Chino" Rheem at the 2008 WSOP Main Event final table

David "Chino" Rheem is the seventh-place finisher at the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event.

After running pocket jacks into Dennis Phillips' pocket queens early in the proceedings, Rheem was eliminated late in the tournament's 35th level in a heartbreaker of a hand after his A-K failed to hold against Peter Eastgate's A-Q.

If that wasn't enough, Rheem was then subjected to a barrage of often inane questions by the members of the mainstream media who dominated the post-game press scrum. We've reprinted the press conference below, but please keep in mind that any stupid questions belong to people not named PokerListings.com (especially the first):

How are you feeling right now, Chino?*

Are you being serious right now? Like what the f*** kind of question is that? How do you think I'm feeling? Not to be rude, but I put my heart into it and my heart is broken. How do you think I'm feeling? I feel like s***. I feel like s***. You can quote me on that.

It's the worst day of the year and one you're not going to forget for a long time, but what are you going to take away from the experience?

I mean, the only thing I can take away from the experience is that I need to say thank you to my friends and family for the support that they've given me ever since I made the final table. It's been a great ride and sometimes you get unlucky. That's part of the game, I understand that, but this really hurts.

Let's be real.

Were you surprised by the play of the other people at the table?

Yeah, at the beginning, when Dennis Phillips blew a s***load of chips, that was a big surprise. If he'd had more chips, I would have folded jacks.

What are you going to do? That's the game. It's anyone's game right now. I think Ivan Demidov is playing the best out of everybody.

I think - when this whole thing started - everyone had the same goal: they wanted to get to heads-up. Nobody really was playing poorly - I think Darus Suharto made a bad play against Dennis in one hand and Dennis played one hand awfully against Ivan, but I think that other than that ...

It's the World Series. I'm trying to stay positive and say there's always next year, but the odds for anyone to make the final table are just so sick. I can't really say what I'm going to take away from it.

Do you feel like the break helped or hurt you?

Um, I can't really answer that question. I'm all for it if it helps the game; I don't care if it helps me or not. What happens here, after this final table, if helps the game and helps future final tables get endorsements from corporate America, then I'm all for that. I really hope it helps.

During the three-month break I traveled a lot, so I guess that was cool to be able to take that break and be able to go to different parts of the world.

Did you think much about poker during that time?

Let's be real. I thought about it every f***ing day. Let's be real.  I thought about it every day, but when I thought about it too hard it messed up my mind.

Good for the game.

What would you change about the break?

I guess one of the mistakes that ESPN made - not necessarily a mistake, but when they started airing all of the episodes to lead up to now, it was kind of late. If anyone in corporate America was watching, they saw them two weeks, three weeks before the final table starts. That's not really that much time for the players to get endorsements.

But ESPN and Harrah's did a great job. Look at where we're playing. Look at the audience. It's sick. But my mind's not really concerned about that now.

In the end, you walk away with $1.7 million. That changes your life dramatically, right?

I guess.  I always say in my interviews that I play for the money, but this one meant a lot. It wasn't just for me; it was for my friends and my family.

It was more than the money.

Yeah. I mean, if you asked me which I wanted more, I'd say the money. I could always buy a bracelet and make it look just like the winner's, but let's be real. It's every poker player's dream to win the Main Event.

You had a lot of support out there. What does that mean to you?

It was great. It's an awesome feeling. It makes you feel like a professional athlete or something. But thank you again to my friends and family for all of their support and hopefully we can make it next year.

J.C. Tran was cheering you on in the stands. Who else helped you prepare?

It wasn't just J.C., it was everyone. I have an entourage of friends and they gave me a lot of great advice. But for the most part, they all knew how I was going to play. They weren't too concerned about how I was going to play.

Sometimes the cards just have to hold up. I just got a lot of good advice as far as just keeping my composure and I feel I did that.

Hey, one hand I got unlucky and that cost me my break. It happens. You have to learn to live with it and move on.

Thanks, Chino.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Obviously discouraged by his result, Rheem can hopefully be consoled by the $1,772,650 he banks for his efforts. If that doesn't cheer him up, dude can take solace in the fact that hey, Liz Lieu loves him. That's good enough for us.

Learn more about Chino Rheem in our exclusive video interviews on PokerListings TV.

*emphatically NOT our question.