2025 WSOP PokerNews Deepstack Challenge

PNDC Updates
Week: 1
12345
Event Info
2025 WSOP PokerNews Deepstack Challenge
Event Info
Entries
218
Players Left
218
Players Left 218 / 218
Filter (1)

Filter

Filter By
Sort By

Time for a Night Cap in the 8 p.m. $200 Daily Deepstack

pndc
pndc

Wrap up your day with some thrilling poker action! The final Daily Deepstack of the day kicks off at 8 p.m. as a single-day showdown. With a $200 buy-in, you'll start with a 20,000 stack of chips.

For those who like to make a dramatic entrance, late registration is open until the start of Level 6 (approx 10:20 p.m.), and you can reenter as many times as you want until then. Each level lasts 20 minutes, with plenty of 15-minute breaks throughout the evening.

Blinds start at 100/100, and the big blind ante is in play right from the start. If this event runs long, the tournament director reserves the right to suspend play and resume the following day.

LevelBB AnteBlindsBreaks / Chip Removals
1100100-100 
2200100-200 
3300100-300 
4400200-400 
5600300-600 
6800400-800Remove 100 Chips (20 Minute Break)
71,000500-1,000 
81,5001,000-1,500 
92,0001,000-2,000Remove 500 Chips (15 Minute Break) (Reg. ends)
103,0002,000-3,000 
114,0002,000-4,000 
126,0003,000-6,000 
138,0004,000-8,000 
1410,0005,000-10,000 
1516,0008,000-16,000 
1620,00010,000-20,000Remove 1,000 Chips (15 Minute Break)
1730,00015,000-30,000 
1840,00020,000-40,000 
1960,00030,000-60,000 
2080,00040,000-80,000 
21100,00050,000-100,000 
22150,000100,000-150,00015 Minute Break
23200,000100,000-200,000 
24300,000150,000-300,000 
25400,000200,000-400,000 
26600,000300,000-600,000 
27800,000400,000-800,000 
281,000,000500,000-1,000,00015 Minute Break
291,500,0001,000,000-1,500,000 
302,000,0001,000,000-2,000,000 
313,000,0001,500,000-3,000,000 
325,000,0002,000,000-5,000,000 
336,000,0003,000,000-6,000,000 
348,000,0004,000,000-8,000,000 

The $600 PokerNews DeepStack Championship Returns to the WSOP

The PokerNews DeepStack Championship returns to the World Series of Poker from July 1–4 at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.

If you’re dreaming of winning a WSOP bracelet without a five-figure bankroll, this is your shot. The $600 buy-in event offers a deep 30,000-chip starting stack, a Main Event-style structure, and one re-entry. Day 1 levels are 40 minutes; Days 2–4 move to 60 minutes.

Last year’s event saw 5,110 entries and a $2.6 million prize pool. Hector Berry won the bracelet and $282,876.

Register in person at the WSOP main registration area or skip the lines with the WSOP+ app.
Want to win a seat? Enter the daily $200/$250/$400 DeepStacks between May 27 and June 30. The PokerNews DeepStack Challenge leaderboard awards 10 seats each week—50 in total.

View the full blind structure here.

Meet the PokerNews Deepstack Grinders Who Turned a Seat Into a Score

Poker News Hat
Poker News Hat

This summer at the WSOP, the PokerNews Deepstack Challenge gives everyday grinders a chance to shine. Play well in the daily $200, $250, $400 Deepstack events, rack up leaderboard points, and you could win a free seat to the $600 PokerNews Deepstack Championship.

Last year, eight leaderboard qualifiers made it count, not only earning their way into the Championship, but cashing in it too.

From first-timers to bracelet winners, here’s a look at the players who turned a daily grind into a WSOP payday.

Raymond Chiu

Raymond Chiu
Raymond Chiu
  • Finished 254th for $1,743
  • Topped the Week 1 leaderboard

Chiu came out swinging, winning back-to-back daily Deepstacks and rode that momentum into the Championship. He was the first qualifier to lock up a seat and one of the first to cash.

William Plitz

William Plitz
William Plitz
  • Finished 142nd for $2,458
  • Week 1 – 2nd place on the leaderboard

Plitz’s run started with a win in the May 30 daily, which also happened to be his biggest live score ever ($6,475). He backed it up with another deep run in the Championship. Safe to say he made the most of the PNDC.

Georgios Skarparis

Georgios Skarparis
Georgios Skarparis
  • Finished 468th for $1,261
  • Week 1 – 9th on the leaderboard

With $1.45 million in live earnings and a WSOP Mini Main title to his name, Skarparis is no stranger to success. Even with all that experience, he still came out for the daily Deepstacks and cashed again in the Championship.

Kenny Hsiung

Kenny Hsiung
Kenny Hsiung
  • Finished 71st for $4,432
  • Week 3 – 6th place

Hsiung, who won a WSOP bracelet in 2012, proved he’s still got the chops. He was the highest-finishing leaderboard qualifier in the Championship.

Michael Lin

Michael Lin
Michael Lin
  • Finished 673rd for $1,201
  • Week 3 – 10th on the leaderboard

Lin made the final table of the 2022 Deepstack Championship, and while this year’s run didn’t go quite as far, he still bagged another cash. A quiet, consistent presence on the felt.

Artur Stepanyan

Artur Stepanyan
Artur Stepanyan
  • Finished 289th for $1,743
  • Week 4 – 8th place

A breakout moment for Stepanyan, who turned a top-10 finish in Week 4 into a solid run in the Championship. It was only his second ever WSOP cash, not bad for someone still early in their WSOP journey.

Michael Beattie

Michael Beattie
Michael Beattie
  • Finished 224th for $1,936
  • Week 4 – 9th place

Beattie has over $300K in live earnings and knows how to find a payday. He added another cash prize to the pile from the PokerNews Deepstack Championship.

Hsing-Hsiung Tai

  • Finished 464th for $1,261
  • Week 4 – 10th place

No big headlines or flashy scores, just a solid grind from Tai, who turned his final qualifying spot into a Championship cash.

Juan Sosa Earns Career-Best Score w/ 1 p.m. Daily Deepstack Victory

Runner-Up Jerrimie Pacheco
Runner-Up Jerrimie Pacheco

The Daily Deepstack action continued to draw big numbers in the 2025 PokerNews Deepstack Challenge, with May 29's $250 No-Limit Hold’em attracting 521 entries and generating a $112,015 prize pool. A total of 79 players made the money, with payouts starting at $499.

In the end, it was Juan Sosa who came out on top, earning $18,101, a career-best score for the Chief Revenue Officer (CRO), surpassing his previous high by just $101.

Jerrimie Pacheco (pictured) finished runner-up for $12,562, while Japan’s Haruka Murata claimed $8,889 for third. Pasi Petteri Kakkonen also recorded his biggest live cash to date, banking $6,397 for fourth place.

Final Table Payouts

PlacePlayerPrize
1Juan Sosa$18,101
2Jerrimie Pacheco$12,562
3Haruka Murata$8,889
4Pasi Petteri Kakkonen$6,397
5Rene Lazaro Cifuentes$4,685
6Sean Fitzpatrick$3,491
7Alan Oaxaca$2,649
8Pedro Claus$2,047
9Ernesto Vidales$1,612

From Mid-Flight Heroics to Poker Glory: Sinéad Davenport Wins $400 Deepstack Challenge Event

Sinead Priestley
Sinead Priestley

When Sinéad Davenport boarded a flight to Las Vegas in 2024, she had no idea she’d be the reason someone else made it there alive. Midway through the transatlantic journey, a fellow passenger collapsed and began choking.

With no working medical equipment onboard, Davenport, who had only recently left her nursing career to pursue poker full time, sprang into action and her swift response helped save a life at 35,000 feet.

Fast forward to 2025, and Davenport’s latest Vegas trip is off to a flying start of a very different kind.

On Wednesday, she topped a competitive field in the $400 Daily Deepstack, part of the 2025 PokerNews Deepstack Challenge, earning $15,067 and capturing the ninth recorded tournament win of her career. The result pushes her over $450,000 in live earnings, continuing a remarkable run that began with a breakout 2024 on the UK circuit.

The event paid 31 players and built a $70,902 prize pool. Davenport outlasted a tough final table that included Branden Shimamoto, Mika Hilaire, and Shayne Mogilski.

Davenport once again proved that she’s a force on both sides of the Atlantic, and that her 2025 grind is just heating up.

Read more about Sinéad Davenport’s incredible poker journey

Final Table Payouts

PlacePlayerPrize
1Sinéad Davenport$15,067
2Branden Shimamoto$9,992
3Mika Hilaire$6,822
4Adam Greenlee$4,793
5Shayne Mogilski$3,467
6Aaron Magers$2,585
7Jennifer Zewe$1,989
8Drake Espenlaub$1,580
9Carson Davis$1,298

Tags: Sinéad Davenport

Daniel Kleist Gets His First Recorded Tournament Win in $200 Daily Deepstack

PokerNews Daily Deepstack Trophy
PokerNews Daily Deepstack Trophy

Daniel Kleist, a 38-year-old sales executive from San Diego, California, secured the biggest result of his poker career to date by winning the $200 Daily Deepstack on May 29, part of the ongoing 2025 PokerNews Deepstack Challenge.

The tournament attracted 192 entries and generated a $32,352 prize pool, with 25 players finishing in the money and a $410 min-cash. Kleist earned $6,862 for the victory, which marks just the second recorded live tournament cash of his career, according to The Hendon Mob.

Kleist overcame a final table that included Jack Garrett, Darren Cunningham, and Bahman Ataeianfar, ultimately closing out the win to add his name to the growing list of PokerNews Deepstack Challenge champions.

Final Table Payouts

PlacePlayerPrize
1Daniel Kleist$6,862
2Jack Garrett$4,468
3Darren Cunningham$3,009
4Bahman Ataeianfar$2,093
5Philip Corhan$1,506
6Konstantin Polin$1,122
7Dustin Merrill$866
8Spencer Yahnke$695
9Peter Dirksen$579

PokerNews Deepstack Challenge Heats Up With Over $400K Awarded in Opening Days

PokerNews DeepStack
PokerNews DeepStack

The opening three days of the 2025 PokerNews Deepstack Challenge has delivered in a big way, with heaps of entries, six-figure prize pools, and breakout victories from players both known and new to the scene.

Across nine events held between May 27–29, the series has already attracted 1,879 total entries, generating a combined $432,948 in prize money, with $88,513 going to the victors.

Buy-ins ranged from $200 to $400, with each daily event offering a one-day shot at glory on the Vegas felt and a chance to qualify for the $600 PokerNews Deepstack Challenge.

So far, the biggest payout of the series went to Juan Sosa, who banked $18,101 after topping a 521-entry field in the May 29 $250 Daily Deepstack, the largest field and prize pool of the series so far. Sinéad Davenport wasn't far behind, taking home $15,067 in the same day's $400 event after a composed and clinical run through a 202-player field.

Other notable winners include Mark Selley, Jeremy Calverley, Lewis Christensen, and Koveh Waysei, all of whom walked away with five-figure or near-five-figure scores in their respective flights.

We'll be updating the leaderboard with the results from May 29 later today, but in the meantime, check out the standings here. Remember, the top ten each week get a ticket to the $600 PokerNews Deepstack Championship which runs July 1-4.

But if we want to see you're in the running before the leaderboard gets up to date, you can use the points calculator to see how many points you've earned.

DateBuy-inEntriesPrize PoolWinnerPrize
Tue, May 27$250143$30,745Mark Selley$7,126
Tue, May 27$40050$17,550Adauto Viana Junior$5,414
Tue, May 27$200133$22,411Jeremy Calverley$5,288
Wed, May 28$250370$79,550James Derosa$14,550
Wed, May 28$400122$42,822Koveh Waysei$10,462
Wed, May 28$200146$24,601Lewis Christensen$5,643
Thu, May 29$250521$112,015Juan Sosa$18,101
Thu, May 29$400202$70,902Sinéad Davenport$15,067
Thu, May 29$200192$32,352Daniel Kleist$6,862
Prev 15678915 Next