2025 WSOP PokerNews Deepstack Challenge
PNDC Updates
Week: 3
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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.
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.
In the 897th episode of the PokerNews Podcast, Chad Holloway and Kyna England are joined by PokerNews Ontario Ambassador Kyle Anderson, who fills in for Mike Holtz. The trio discusses the deadly shooting that took place across the street from the 2025 World Series of Poker (WSOP) in front of the Bellagio Fountains, and then dives into the color-up controversy involving Tyler Brown, who shared his story with PokerNews.
Kyna then sounds off on the cancelled WSOP Online bracelet event, Michael Lavin won a gold bracelet and an extra $1,000,000 thanks to ClubWPT Gold, and Benny Glaser claimed two bracelets early in the summer. Other tournament winners include Josh Reichard, Brad Ruben, Blaz Zerjav, and Nick Guagenti, who denied Chino Rheem his first bracelet.
After recapping Dusti Smith's win in the Wynn Ladies High Roller and a look ahead to some upcoming poker charity events, Chad shares details on his recent Live Reality Game (LRG) adventure in which he left the WSOP for 10 days to compete in a Survivor-based game, Surviving Reelfoot Season 13, in the woods of Tennessee.
Learn about all those stories and more in the latest episode of the PokerNews Podcast!
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 |
