Calum GrantDaily DeepstacksWhat is the buy-in for the PokerNews Deepstack Championship?
The buy-in for the PokerNews Deepstack Championship event at the 2025 WSOP is $600 - among one of the lowest buy-ins in the Series. We looked to give low-stakes grinders an opportunity to win their way to a coveted WSOP bracelet, and the $600 entry fee is both affordable and offers the chance to win big money from an expected large prize pool.
When is the PokerNews Deepstack Championship?
The PokerNews Deepstack Championship event will be held between July 1-4, 2025. It's the 78th event in the 2025 WSOP.
Where is the PokerNews Deepstack Championship?
The PokerNews Deepstack Championship will be held in a new, vibrant venue near the Horseshoe poker room, Las Vegas.
How Can I Play the PokerNews Deepstack Championship?
Like any other event at the Series, to play the PokerNews Deepstack Championship, simply register from one of the multiple registration desks at the venue.
What is the PokerNews Deepstack Challenge?
The PokerNews Daily Deepstack Challenge is a leaderboard promotion running from May 27 to June 30. Players participating in the daily $200, $250, or $400 deep stack tournaments at the WSOP will earn points. The top 10 point earners each week will receive complimentary seats for the $600 PokerNews Deepstack Championship.
What is the leaderboard system?
The leaderboard system will follow the same formula used for the WSOP Player of the Year
Ready to show off your skills and compete for amazing prizes? The PokerNews Daily Deepstack Challenge is here from May 28 to June 24, and it’s your time to shine! Play in daily WSOP deep stack tournaments, earn points, and score fantastic rewards—including seats to the $600 PokerNews Deepstack Championship and some cool memorabilia.
Want to see how you’re doing? Track your progress, check out the latest standings, and get all the updates on our leaderboard page. Click the link below to dive into the action!
Get ready for some poker action! The second Daily Deepstack of the day shuffles up and deals at 4 p.m. This single-day extravaganza comes with a $400 buy-in, giving you a hefty 30,000 starting stack to play with.
Feeling adventurous? Late registration is open until the start of Level 9, around 7:35 p.m., and you can reenter as many times as you like. Each level is a quick 20 minutes, with plenty of 15- and 20-minute breaks to catch your breath and strategize.
Blinds kick off at 100/100, and the big blind ante is in play from the get-go.
At this summer's World Series of Poker (WSOP), we're thrilled to sponsor the $600 PokerNews Deepstack Championship alongside the PokerNews Deepstack Challenge, which will send 50 qualifiers into the bracelet event via the leaderboard promotion.
Running from May 27 to June 30, the PokerNews Deepstack Challenge will see the players who take part in the daily $200, $250, or $400 deep stack tournaments at the WSOP earn points towards the leaderboard, where the top ten point earners each week will receive complimentary seats for the $600 PokerNews Deepstack Championship.
So, in our bid for you to conquer the PokerNews Deepstack Challenge, we've drafted in tournament crusher Raminder "Raminator" Singh, who knows a thing or two about grinding it out and getting the job done in these lower buy-in events, to give you a helping hand.
As well as giving out some handy advice, Singh sat down with PokerNews' for Connor Richards' new podcast: Life Outside Poker.
For the fifth episode, Connor spoke with the South Florida crusher about his nearly one hundred live tournament victories, moving to the US from India and running a business full time. He also shared his strategies for various tournament stages and gave Connor a tour of his one-of-a-kind poker trophy collection.
This interview took place inside Singh's South Florida home during the World Poker Tour (WPT) Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown in Hollywood, Florida.
Kick off your day with some poker excitement! The opening Daily Deepstack of the day starts at 1 p.m. and promises a thrilling single-day event. With a $250 buy-in, you'll get a solid 25,000 starting stack to work with.
For the latecomers, late registration is open until the start of Level 9, and you can jump back in with unlimited reentries. Each level runs for 30 minutes, with 15-minute breaks sprinkled throughout the day, and a longer 30-minute break after Level 12 to recharge.
Blinds start at 100/100, with the big blind ante in play right from the start. Get ready to shuffle up and deal!
Get ready for some extra excitement leading up to the PokerNews DeepStack Championship with the PokerNews Daily Deepstack Challenge! Running from May 27 to June 30, this weekly leaderboard promotion rewards players participating in the daily $200, $250, or $400 deepstack tournaments at the WSOP. Rack up points with each game, because points mean prizes!
Stay updated and motivated with PokerNews' dedicated hub page for the Daily Deepstacks. Here, we'll highlight all the winners, provide regular leaderboard updates, and ensure every player's journey and achievements are recognized and celebrated.
PokerNews Prizes
There's also some cool memorabilia up for grabs for our Deepstack final tablists and winners. Make it to the final table, and you'll receive a special edition card protector. Deepstack winners will get a unique card protector, marking them as champions.
Join the fun, climb the leaderboard, and earn your bragging rights in the PokerNews Daily Deepstack Challenge!
June 17 saw another batch of PokerNews Daily Deepstack tournaments take place at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, and all three enjoyed impressive turnouts. Another 1,798 players bought in across the $250, $400, and $200 buy-in tournaments, creating combined prize pools worth $389,680.
Here is who shone the brightest in those three events.
$250 Daily Deepstack
The $250 Daily Deepstack attracted 1,012 players, who created a $202,400 prize pool. Walking away with the lion's share of that pot, namely $29,254, was Israel's Roni Tal.
Tal is yet to register an in-the-money finish in a bracelet awarding event this summer, but he now has a larger bankroll with which to take a few more shots at glory. The $29,254 Tal won was almost a career-best payout for him, narrowly losing out by only $1,124.
Tal defeated Scott Shone heads-up, resigning the runner-up to a $20,627 consolation prize. Tanner Pray ($14,789) and Li Chen ($10,755) also padded their bankrolls with five-figure scores.
Final Table Results
Rank
Player
Prize
1
Roni Tal
$29,254
2
Scott Shone
$20,627
3
Tanner Pray
$14,789
4
Li Chen
$10,755
5
Rogerio Villas Boas
$7,935
6
Ryan Ramsdell
$5,941
7
Steve Wayne
$4,514
8
Levon Torosyan
$3,482
9
Ugo Morabito
$2,728
$400 Daily Deepstack
Tao Qin
Some 374 players bought into the $400 Daily Deepstack and fought it out for a share of a $123,420 prize pool. When the final hand was dealt, Tao Qin had all of the chips in front of him. Qin collected $23,459 for his impressive victory, a prize more than double his previous best haul.
Qin cashed in the $500 No-Limit Hold'em Salute to Warriors a couple of days ago, finishing 120th for $1,654. The PokerNews Daily Deepstack Challenge leaderboard points Qin collected alongside the $23,459 in prize money for winning this $400 Daily Deepstack could see him having a free shot at a bracelet when the $600 PokerNews Deepstack Championship kicks off on July 1.
Each of the nine finalists turned their $400 investment into at least $2,111, with runner-up Dennis Dahle ($16,35) and third-place finisher Kyeongrim Shin ($11,610) walking away with five-figure payouts.
Final Table Results
Rank
Player
Prize
1
Tao Qin
$23,459
2
Dennis Dahle
$16,365
3
Kyeongrim Shin
$11,610
4
Michael Turri
$8,373
5
Steve Olsen
$6,140
6
Caixin Wong
$4,580
7
Steven Christopher
$3,476
8
Daniel Lee
$2,685
9
Vasilios Gerontakos
$2,111
$200 Daily Deepstack
Sridhar Sangannagari
The $200 Daily Deepstack, which rounded off the day's action, drew 412 entrants who built a pot worth $63,860. Sridhar Sangannagari came out on top and scooped $11,888 for his efforts.
Sangannagari has more than $1.1 million in live tournament earnings, an impressive sum helped by his collecting $120,004 for a runner-up finish in the $600 No-Limit Hold'em/Pot-Limit Omaha bracelet event in 2023. Sangannagari had helped himself to a $745,000 score two months earlier in a $3,500 WPT event. It goes to show that you never know who you'll bump into in the Daily Deepstacks!
Daniel Quesada finished second in this tournament for $8,094, while Steven Snyder added to his $2.4 million in live winnings with the $5,642 third-place prize money.
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.
