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Final Five Return to Battle for $600 Deepstack Championship No-Limit Hold'em Title
Event #78: $600 Deepstack Championship No-Limit Hold'em reaches its conclusion today at the 2026 World Series of Poker, at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas at 11 a.m. local time. From a massive field of 5,177 entries, only five contenders remain in the hunt for the title, each already guaranteed a payout of at least $78,876.
With the finish line now in sight, the remaining players will battle for the WSOP gold bracelet and the tournament's $282,817 top prize from the $2,609,208 prize pool.
At the top of the leaderboard sits South Africa's Adriaan Jacobs, who bagged an impressive 67,200,000 chips at the end of Day 3. The runaway chip leader holds nearly half of the chips in play and enters the final table in a commanding position as he looks to secure the title. Trailing him is Day 2 chip leader South Korean Seong Han with 30,000,000 chips. American Paul Merlette rounds out the top three with 27,700,000, as both players will need to make up significant ground to catch Jacobs.
Final Day Chip Counts
| Seat | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Seong Han | South Korea | 30,000,000 | 30 |
| 2 | Junichi Murakami | Japan | 13,500,000 | 14 |
| 3 | Paul Merlette | United States | 27,700,000 | 28 |
| 4 | Adriaan Jacobs | South Africa | 67,200,000 | 67 |
| 5 | Xingwei Chen | China | 17,500,000 | 18 |
Joining the top three is China's Xingwei Chen with 17,500,000 chips. A familiar face at final tables across the Asian poker circuit, Chen will look to translate that success onto poker's biggest stage and add a WSOP bracelet to his resume.
Rounding out the final five is Japan's Junichi Murakami with 13,500,000 chips. Like Chen, Murakami has enjoyed plenty of deep runs and final table appearances throughout Asia but is still searching for a breakthrough result on the international stage.
Regardless of the outcome, all five finalists are guaranteed the largest score of their careers. With a WSOP gold bracelet and top prize awaiting the champion, a victory would be a life-changing moment for any of the remaining contenders.
Remaining Payouts
| Rank | Prize |
| 1 | $282,817 |
| 2 | $188,231 |
| 3 | $139,723 |
| 4 | $104,555 |
| 5 | $78,876 |
Play resumes in the Paris Gold section on Level 36, with blinds at 400,000/800,000 and an 800,000 big blind ante. Levels will remain 60 minutes long, with a 15-minute break scheduled after every two levels. Action will continue until a champion is crowned and the newest WSOP bracelet winner is decided.
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