PNDC Updates
Week 1 Completed
2024 WSOP PokerNews Deepstack Challenge
PNDC Updates
Week: 1
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,
The $25K Fantasy league is off to a hot start with seven of the 19 teams over 100 points as of Tuesday night. Most of those were thanks to a handful of draftees hitting field bonuses in Event #5: $1,000 Mystery Millions, which attracted 18,409 entrants and became the sixth-largest poker tournament of all time.
Among those to hit the field bonus were Josh Reichard (21st place – 101 points), Adam Hendrix (32nd place – 101 points), Dong Chen (59th place – 101 points), John Riordan (88th place – 101 points), Chris Vitch (113th place – 101 points), Christian Harder (155th place – 101 points), and Ash Gupta (161st place – 101 points).
As of this writing, Team Oz (Gary Benson) is out on top with 245 points, while Team Sternheimer (Philip Sternheimer) sits in second with 199 points. From there it’s Team The Dinkers (179 points), Team Lady Gaga (168 points), Team Girl Dads (144 points), Team Wilson (118 points), and Team TheCoffeeBreakers (107 points) as the seven teams with 100+ points.
PokerNews has been tracking $25K Fantasy players in our live updates, and has even made it simple to follow the action by tagging all players with a $25K Fantasy badge. That allows you to utilize our chip count filter option to follow only those players (just tick the $25K Fantasy badge); what’s more, each blog will have a “$25K Fantasy” tab that if you click all you will see are hands played by $25K Fantasy players.
As a result, we can capture some of the biggest, best, and most game-changing hands involving the $25K Fantasy roster. Here are five from the first week of action in the 2024 WSOP.
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.
Several of the PokerNews Deepstack Challenge winner card protectors have already been handed out, with Canada's Simmy Mok being the first beneficiary. She triumphed in the opening Daily Deepstack of the series, but it's been quite the journey for Mok, whose passion for poker came from very humble beginnings.
Mok's route into poker began 24 years ago when she was nursing her son. With a newborn, Mok found herself awake through various stages of the night, and while tending to her baby's needs, she started channel-flicking through the television.
Poker then became a saving grace for the Canadian as a major event seven caused huge changes in her day-to-day life.
The opening week of the PokerNews Deepstack Challenge was completed yesterday (June 3), and with that, the first top ten players to qualify for the $600 PokerNews Deepstack have been determined.
Taking the top spot was Raymond Chiu, whose back-to-back Deepstack victories propelled him to first place. Along with the ticket, he'll be awarded his very own PNDC trophy.
For those still looking to take part, there are plenty of opportunities over the next three weeks to qualify for the PokerNews Deepstack Championship bracelet event.
The Week 2 leaderboard started today and runs until Monday, June 10 and is then followed by Week 3 (June 11-17) and Week 4 (June 18-24).
Week 1 Top Ten Leaderboard
| Rank | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Raymond Chiu | 1,075 |
| 2 | William Plitz | 952 |
| 3 | Jesse Gardner | 821 |
| 4 | Clark Robertson | 795 |
| 5 | Cory Biddle | 782 |
| 6 | Connor Woodland | 767 |
| 7 | Russell Brooks | 765 |
| 8 | Edgar Mascorro | 762 |
| 9 | Georgios Skarparis | 747 |
| 10 | Jingwei Qi | 747 |
Edgar Gabrielyan, a 45-year-old insurance broker of Armenian-American descent, emerged as the champion in the concluding tournament of the first week of the PokerNews Deepstack Challenge.
Gabrielyan's triumph earned him $10,174, pushing his live tournament earnings past the $150,000 mark. His most significant payday remains the $39,980 he won for finishing 5th in the California State Poker Championship Main Event in 2022.
The $400 Deepstack held on June 3 saw a strong turnout of 333 entries, contributing to a prize pool of $51,615.
George Vigelette secured the runner-up spot, taking home $6,886 and 345 points, while Sebastian Lobo finished third, earning $4,765 and 311 points.