2025 WSOP PokerNews Deepstack Challenge
PNDC Updates
Week: 2
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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.
| Level | BB Ante | Blinds | Breaks / Chip Removals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 100 | 100-100 | |
| 2 | 200 | 100-200 | |
| 3 | 300 | 100-300 | |
| 4 | 400 | 200-400 | |
| 5 | 600 | 300-600 | |
| 6 | 800 | 400-800 | Remove 100 Chips (20 Minute Break) |
| 7 | 1,000 | 500-1,000 | |
| 8 | 1,500 | 1,000-1,500 | |
| 9 | 2,000 | 1,000-2,000 | Remove 500 Chips (15 Minute Break) (Reg. ends) |
| 10 | 3,000 | 2,000-3,000 | |
| 11 | 4,000 | 2,000-4,000 | |
| 12 | 6,000 | 3,000-6,000 | |
| 13 | 8,000 | 4,000-8,000 | |
| 14 | 10,000 | 5,000-10,000 | |
| 15 | 16,000 | 8,000-16,000 | |
| 16 | 20,000 | 10,000-20,000 | Remove 1,000 Chips (15 Minute Break) |
| 17 | 30,000 | 15,000-30,000 | |
| 18 | 40,000 | 20,000-40,000 | |
| 19 | 60,000 | 30,000-60,000 | |
| 20 | 80,000 | 40,000-80,000 | |
| 21 | 100,000 | 50,000-100,000 | |
| 22 | 150,000 | 100,000-150,000 | 15 Minute Break |
| 23 | 200,000 | 100,000-200,000 | |
| 24 | 300,000 | 150,000-300,000 | |
| 25 | 400,000 | 200,000-400,000 | |
| 26 | 600,000 | 300,000-600,000 | |
| 27 | 800,000 | 400,000-800,000 | |
| 28 | 1,000,000 | 500,000-1,000,000 | 15 Minute Break |
| 29 | 1,500,000 | 1,000,000-1,500,000 | |
| 30 | 2,000,000 | 1,000,000-2,000,000 | |
| 31 | 3,000,000 | 1,500,000-3,000,000 | |
| 32 | 5,000,000 | 2,000,000-5,000,000 | |
| 33 | 6,000,000 | 3,000,000-6,000,000 | |
| 34 | 8,000,000 | 4,000,000-8,000,000 |
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.
Looking for Deepstack Poker tips? PokerNews has got you covered. Evolve your game with the strategy in this article to start your journey to the $600 PokerNews Deepstack Championship,
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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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.
| Date | Buy-in | Entries | Prize Pool | Winner | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tue, June 3 | $250 | 961 | $192,200 | Atsushi Mineki | $28,124 |
| Tue, June 3 | $400 | 265 | $87,450 | Ryan Flesch | $18,385 |
| Tue, June 3 | $200 | 298 | $46,190 | Eric Tibuni | $9,402 |
| Wed, June 4 | $250 | 540 | $116,100 | Kevin Iacofano | $18,629 |
| Wed, June 4 | $400 | 126 | $44,226 | Kyle Sullivan | $10,800 |
| Wed, June 4 | $200 | 219 | $43,800 | George Vigelette | $7,542 |
Welcome back to the daily updates from the PokerNews Daily Deepstacks from the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.
The latest Daily Deepstack tournaments have crowned their champions, with over $200,000 in prize money awarded across the three. The largest, as normal was the 540-player $250 Daily Deepstack, won by Kevin Iacofano, with Kyle Sullivan and Eric Tibuni also winning Daily Deepstack titles on Wednesday, June 4.
| Event | Field | Prizepool |
|---|---|---|
| 250 | 540 | $116,100 |
| 500 | 126 | $44,226 |
| 200 | 219 | $43,800 |
$250 Daily Deepstack
WSOP Circuit ring-winner and two-time European Poker Tour final tablist Kevin Iacofano has added another accolade to his poker resume: a PokerNews Daily Deepstack title for $18,629.
He defeated Kenneth Rutledge heads-up, with Rutledge having to settle for $12,957. The $250 Daily Deepstack attracted 540 entries and paid out 81 places.
Final Table Results – $250 Deepstack
| Place | Player | Country | Payout (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kevin Iacofano | United States | $18,629 |
| 2 | Kenneth Rutledge | United States | $12,957 |
| 3 | Senthuran Vijayaratnam | Canada | $9,185 |
| 4 | Hamid Yasini | United States | $6,620 |
| 5 | Kevin Kim | United States | $4,852 |
| 6 | Steffen Bernhardt | Germany | $3,618 |
| 7 | Tao Chu | Taiwan | $2,745 |
| 8 | Flavio Guimaraes | Brazil | $2,120 |
| 9 | Hugo Salayamauti | Brazil | $1,668 |
$400 Daily Deepstack
Kyle Sullivan came out on top of a 126-player field to win $10,800 in the $400 Daily Deepstack. Just 19 players were paid with Douglas Young picking up a min-cash of $833.
Sullivan defeated Askia Ingram heads-up, with Ingram adding $6,914 to the $9,000 they took home for winning the Orleans SUmemr Open $300 Monster Stack earlier this week.
Finishing third was Santiago Montes who took home $4,602. Montes cashed three times in the PokerNews Daily Deepstacks in 2024, and already has his first for 2025.
Final Table Results – $400 Deepstack
| Place | Player | Country | Payout (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kyle Sullivan | United States | $10,800 |
| 2 | Askia Ingram | United States | $6,914 |
| 3 | Santiago Montes | United States | $4,602 |
| 4 | John Feeney | United States | $3,188 |
| 5 | Adam Greenlee | United States | $2,302 |
| 6 | Shandy Clark | United States | $1,735 |
| 7 | Lisa Armstrong | United States | $1,369 |
| 8 | William Haramija | United States | $1,133 |
| 9 | Yubin Wang | United States | $985 |
$200 Daily Deepsatck
The $200 Daily Deepstack didn't finish until gone 4 a.m. local time, but after cashing four times last year, George Vigelette picked up his first PokerNews Daily Deepstack title.
One of those results in 2024 was a runner-up finish for $ 6,886, but he's now surpassed that with the $7,542 he won tonight after outlasting a 219-player field and defeating Nint Hoo heads-up. Hoo is a Daily Deepstack regular, having cashed nine times in 2023 and 2024 combined. However, his $4,946 cash in this event was the largest of all.
Final Table Results – $200 Deepstack
| Place | Player | Country | Payout (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | George Vigelette | United States | $7,542 |
| 2 | Nint Hoo | United States | $4,946 |
| 3 | Andrew Lorig | United States | $ 3,348 |
| 4 | Todd Estes | United States | $ 2,336 |
| 5 | Rodrick Edwards | United States | $ 1,682 |
| 6 | Benjamin Zollner | United States | $ 1,250 |
| 7 | Eugene Senda | United States | $ 961 |
| 8 | Yotam Shmuelov | United States | $ 765 |
| 9 | Andrea Sager | United States | $ 631 |
As Week 2 of the 2025 PokerNews Deepstack Challenge rolled into Thursday, three more champions were crowned in the $200, $250, and $400 Daily Deepstack events. A combined 942 entries generated $198,800 in prize money, with more than 135 players finishing in the money.
$250 Daily Deepstack
Florida’s Hunter Cole topped a 512-entry field in the $250 event, defeating Sagar Khatri heads-up to earn $17,921. The 25-year-old had just cashed in the $600 WSOP Deepstack Championship earlier this week (778th for $1,200) and followed it up by taking home his first PNDC title.
The prize pool hit $102,400, with 77 players making the money and earning at least the $504 min-cash. Justin Munoz rounded out the podium in third place for $8,757.
Final Table Results – $250 Deepstack
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hunter Cole | $17,921 |
| 2 | Sagar Khatri | $12,403 |
| 3 | Justin Munoz | $8,757 |
| 4 | Taha Benhmama | $6,292 |
| 5 | Steven Nooralian | $4,602 |
| 6 | Mark Taylor | $3,428 |
| 7 | Myles Barker | $2,601 |
| 8 | Jonathan Frisch | $2,011 |
| 9 | Ryan Wince | $1,585 |
$400 Daily Deepstack
After finishing runner-up in the May 27 $400 Deepstack, Mark Lacoste returned to the top of the podium on Thursday by defeating a 170-entry field to win $13,327. The event paid 19 spots with a $833 min-cash, and Lacoste added to an already strong summer to push his live earnings near the $300K mark.
Jeremy Geist, former PokerNews live reporter, also made a run in this one—finishing 12th for $874.
Final Table Results – $400 Deepstack
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mark Lacoste | $13,327 |
| 2 | Joseph Molinari | $8,731 |
| 3 | Mihai Isar | $5,905 |
| 4 | Mackenzie Kraemer | $4,124 |
| 5 | Brian Dube | $2,977 |
| 6 | Andrew Hilliard | $2,224 |
| 7 | Rian Valenti | $1,721 |
| 8 | Carmelo Vasta | $1,382 |
| 9 | Christopher Alcindor | $1,153 |
$200 Daily Deepstack
The day’s closer saw 260 entries for a prize pool of $40,300, and it was 34-year-old Yen-Tuan Chen of Taiwan who secured the win and the $8,542 first-place payout. Chen outlasted a final table that included Rodrigo Gonzalez (2nd – $5,687) and Sandeep Pallampati (3rd – $3,894).
Forty players made the money, with payouts starting at $405.
Final Table Results – $200 Deepstack
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yen-Tuan Chen | $8,542 |
| 2 | Rodrigo Gonzalez | $5,687 |
| 3 | Sandeep Pallampati | $3,894 |
| 4 | Aaron Thomas | $2,737 |
| 5 | Caroline Schallock | $1,977 |
| 6 | Mason Carroll | $1,468 |
| 7 | Michael Eldridge | $1,122 |
| 8 | Steven Christopher | $883 |
| 9 | Ian Cohen | $717 |
