Wednesday Action Sees Ji, Mansfield & Pazuki Book Deepstack Victories
The second day of Week 3 at the 2025 PokerNews Deepstack Challenge added 1,367 more entries across the trio of daily tournaments, with $279,265 in prize money distributed across the $250, $400, and $200 buy-in tiers.
| Date | Buy-in | Entries | Prize Pool | Winner | Prize | Places Paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wed, June 11 | $250 | 914 | $182,800 | Dong Jun Ji | $27,124 | 138 |
| Wed, June 11 | $400 | 150 | $49,500 | Brian Mansfield | $12,179 | 23 |
| Wed, June 11 | $200 | 303 | $46,965 | Mike Pazuki | $9,504 | 46 |
Wednesday’s winners included Dong Jun Ji, Brian Mansfield, and Mike Pazuki, all of whom earned career-highlight victories and valuable leaderboard points in the race for one of ten $600 Championship seats.
$250 Daily Deepstack
Dong Jun Ji returned to the winner’s circle for the first time in over three years, capturing the $250 Deepstack title after topping a field of 914 entries. The 62-year-old businessman took home $27,124 from a $182,800 prize pool, one of the largest in the PNDC series to date.
The event paid 138 spots and saw several deep runs, including Guanpeng Sheng (2nd - $19,093) and Ricardo Nakamura (3rd - $13,662). Ji’s win puts him in strong position on the Week 3 leaderboard and marks his fifth biggest cash.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dong Ji | $27,124 |
| 2 | Guanpeng Sheng | $19,093 |
| 3 | Ricardo Nakamura | $13,662 |
| 4 | Leonard Stolirchick | $9,919 |
| 5 | Changliang Deng | $7,309 |
| 6 | Kadir Kaplan | $5,467 |
| 7 | Peter Vericat | $4,152 |
| 8 | Angel Aguilar | $3,203 |
| 9 | Sergio Larrain Oller | $2,510 |
$400 Daily Deepstack
Software architect Brian Mansfield outlasted 149 others to win the $400 Deepstack event on Wednesday. The 34-year-old collected $12,179 for the win, which came just days after he finished 1,681st in the Colossus bracelet event for $1,010.
The $49,500 prize pool paid 23 players, with Dylan Crawford (2nd - $7,888) and Jared Kingery (3rd - $5,290) rounding out the podium.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brian Mansfield | $12,179 |
| 2 | Dylan Crawford | $7,888 |
| 3 | Jared Kingery | $5,290 |
| 4 | Mark Zika | $3,676 |
| 5 | John Ames | $2,650 |
| 6 | Tyson Wellwood | $1,985 |
| 7 | Mindaugas Kerbelis | $1,546 |
| 8 | Sandra Morse | $1,256 |
| 9 | Michael Dobbs | $1,064 |
$200 Daily Deepstack
IT professional Mike Pazuki broke through in the $200 Deepstack, defeating a field of 303 entries to win $9,504 from a $46,965 prize pool. The 44-year-old had also previously placed 1,522nd in the Colossus earlier in the series for $1,090.
The event paid 46 spots, with Eric Richards (2nd - $6,450) and Dominique Terzian (3rd - $4,483) among the final table finishers.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mike Pazuki | $9,504 |
| 2 | Eric Richards | $6,450 |
| 3 | Dominique Terzian | $4,483 |
| 4 | Jackson Young | $3,184 |
| 5 | Juan Roldan | $2,312 |
| 6 | Ruben Vittori | $1,717 |
| 7 | Miteum Yoo | $1,305 |
| 8 | Austin Potts | $1,016 |
| 9 | Zehong Zong | $810 |