Event #62: $600 PokerNews Deepstack Championship
Day 4 Completed
2024 World Series of Poker
Event #62: $600 PokerNews Deepstack Championship
Day: 4
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 4
2024 World Series of Poker
Buy-in
$600
Prize Pool
$2,606,100
Entries
5,110
Level
40
Blinds
800,000 / 1,600,000
Ante
1,600,000
Entries
5
Players Left
1
Level 40
: Blinds 800,000/1,600,000, 1,600,000 ante
It's coming home! The PokerNews Deepstack Championship title, that is.
After four days of action in the inaugural $600 PokerNews Deepstack Championship at the 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP) at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, it was British player Hector Berry who came out on top to take home $282,876.
Berry came into the final day as the second-shortest stack, but still held 40 big blinds thanks to the deepstack format, and eventually topped a 5,110-player field to defeat Canada's Luke Varrasso heads-up.
Event #62: $600 PokerNews Deepstack Championship Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Payout (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hector Berry | United Kingdom | $282,876 |
| 2 | Luke Varrasso | Canada | $188,644 |
| 3 | Harrison Ashdown | United States | $140,264 |
| 4 | Branden Shimamoto | United States | $105,122 |
| 5 | Darryll Fish | United States | $79,418 |
| 6 | Sihao Zhang | Luxembourg | $60,485 |
| 7 | Jolan Mancini | Canada | $46,442 |
| 8 | Thomas Murphy | Ireland | $35,953 |
| 9 | Kenny Huynh | United States | $28,064 |
Winner's Reaction
Berry spoke exclusively to PokerNews after his win and said he was "thrilled" to come out on top after a draining final day.
"I think you could see at the end I was a little emotional seeing all the messages coming in," admitted Berry. "Heads-up I was just so engrossed in the moment, it's so draining."
Having registered late on Day 1, Berry made it through to Day 2 with just nine big blinds, and was ready for an early exit.
"I started in the cutoff and knew I had a few hands before I was all in. But I doubled up twice and that gave me a chance."
The PokerNews Deepstack Championship was down to three tables when the Millionaire Maker crowned its champion, and at a final table when Daniel Negreanu won in the Poker Players Championship, something Berry said him and the rest of the field had to contend with.
"Playing final three tables with all the Argentines going mental, Daniel [Negreanu] winning a bracelet, and I was just sitting here trying to work out how to defend my big blind!"
From a seven-time bracelet winner, to a first-timer and Berry said he never expected to win a bracelet.
"I've only been taking it seriously for a few years. I came here for three weeks last year and played about twenty tournaments. Played about five this year and won one — which is kind of insane! Very lucky, very fortunate."
"I don't know where I go from here. It's a lot of money, for anyone. But I just hope to come back, play more, play higher buy-in tournaments...if you ask me that question in a couple of weeks maybe I'll have a better answer!"
Final Day Recap
There was a quickfire exit for Darryll Fish who arrived minutes late, only to bust first hand with pocket jacks after overnight chip leader Branden Shimamoto turned a flush.
After Berry scored an early double, four-handed play was a slugfest. No player managed to extend a gap, and the deep-stacked nature of play allowed dynamics to form and players to adjust accordingly.
First Harrison Ashdown, then Luke Varrasso took turns in the chip lead, with barely ten big blinds separating the remaining players.
Another double for Berry came at the expense of Shimamoto, with Berry rivering a straight to take the majority of the American's stack, with Varrasso finishing him off on the next hand.
Four became three and suddenly three became two as a cooler flop saw Ashdown eliminated.
Berry raised pre-flop, with Ashdown calling. The flop was queen-nine-eight and Berry bet again, and called a raise from Ashdown. After checking the turn, Ashdown shoved and Berry called having flopped the nut straight with jack-ten.
Ashdown had top two-pair, but bricked the river and was eliminated
"There's always a chance," Berry said afterwards. "With five left I had just 15 big blinds, but I was fortunate [with the Ashdown elimination]."
Now down to just two players, Berry held the chip lead, and slowly and methodically crept further ahead. Varrasso had his moments, but there was an inescapable feeling that this would end in one single confrontation rather than a series of smaller spots.
Eventually, Varrasso got it in against Berry but was dominated. The Brit dodged straight outs on the turn to seal victory — the largest of his career.
Thank you for following along to our coverage, and thank you to everyone who took part in the inaugural PokerNews Deepstack Championship and, of course, the PokerNews Daily Deepstacks — which continue all summer long. Stay tuned to PokerNews for full coverage from the rest of the 2024 World Series of Poker.
Level 40
: Blinds 800,000/1,600,000, 1,600,000 ante
Luke Varrasso shoved for around 30,000,000 and Hector Berry called.
Luke Varrasso: 10?9? 
Hector Berry: A?9?
Varrasso shrugged when he saw he was dominated, and there was an ace on the flop of A?8?4? for Berry. The turn 7? had Varrasso muttering the outs that would save him — a six or a jack — but the river 2? bricked and he was eliminated in second place.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
153,000,000
32,000,000
|
32,000,000 |
|
||
|
Busted | |
Level 40
: Blinds 800,000/1,600,000, 1,600,000 ante
In the 841st episode of the PokerNews Podcast, Chad Holloway and Kyna England are joined by bracelet winner and philanthropist Gershon Distenfeld at Level 9 in Las Vegas to talk about latest from the 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP) including which old-school poker legend, who hadn't played a serious hand of poker in nine long years, made a surprise appearance in the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) event. You'll have to either listen or watch to learn who it was!
The crew then discusses what actors they'd like to see portray Doyle Brunson in a potential movie, playing in the WSOP $600 PokerNews Deepstack Championship, and take a look ahead to the upcoming Charity Series of Poker (CSOP) event on July 3 with actress Shannon Elizabeth.
Distenfeld then talks about what it was like to win a WSOP gold bracelet and donate the $204K prize to charity, his professional life in the financial world, and what motivates him in life and poker. You'll also hear about Dario Sammartino, who finished runner-up in the 2019 WSOP Main Event, finally getting his first bracelet.
Plus, get your $25K Fantasy Update and learn about winners from other Vegas properties including Golden Nugget, Wynn, and Venetian. They include Lindsey Kludt, Brock Wilson, Florian Duta, and Ori Hasson, among others.
Finally, hear about the PokerNews Cup happening on Global Poker right now!
A new PokerNews Podcast will drop twice weekly during the 2024 WSOP every Tuesday and Friday at 8a PT / 11a ET / 4p UK time. Make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel so you do not miss an episode!
Level 40
: Blinds 800,000/1,600,000, 1,600,000 ante
In a limped pot, Luke Varrasso check-called 1,600,000 on the 4?4?10? flop from Hector Berry and the pair checked the 8? turn. The river was the 3? and Varrasso check-called 2,200,000 and was shown 6?7? from Berry.
Varrasso showed A?3? and won the pot.
Then, after Berry opened to 3,200,000 Varrasso called and the pair saw a flop of A?Q?10?
Varrasso check-called 3,200,000 but check-folded to 6,400,000 on the 5? turn.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
121,000,000
5,500,000
|
5,500,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
32,000,000
-5,500,000
|
-5,500,000 |
Level 40
: Blinds 800,000/1,600,000, 1,600,000 ante
Luke Varrasso opened to 3,800,000 and Hector Berry called.
Berry check-called 2,800,000 on the 2?2?7? flop and the turn was the 4?. Both players checked and Berry checked the 6? river to Varrasso.
He bet 7,000,000 and Berry called. Varrasso tabled Q?9? for a missed flush draw, while Berry took down the pot with A?8? for ace-high.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
115,500,000
9,500,000
|
9,500,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
37,500,000
-9,500,000
|
-9,500,000 |
Level 40
: Blinds 800,000/1,600,000, 1,600,000 ante
Luke Varrasso raised from the button for Hector Berry to defend.
The flop came 9?4?6?, Berry check-called the continuation-bet of Varrasso to see the 2? on the turn.
They both checked to the 7? on the river. Berry bet 3,100,000 for Varrasso to raise it up 8,500,000. Berry considered it for a bit and then called. Varrasso saw Berry held the 7?4? for two pair and mucked his hand to award the pot to Berry.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
106,000,000
13,000,000
|
13,000,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
47,000,000
-13,000,000
|
-13,000,000 |
Level 40
: Blinds 800,000/1,600,000, 1,600,000 ante
The $25K Fantasy league rolls on, and as of June 19, Team The Dinkers (Josh Kay) is still on top with 899 points, which is a good bit ahead of both Team Sternheimer (765 points) and Team Baker (673 points). Of the 19 teams, Team Chingas is on the bottom with 213 points. Check out 25Kfantasy.com to see the current standings.
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 last week of action in the 2024 WSOP.
Level 40
: Blinds 800,000/1,600,000, 1,600,000 ante
Hector Berry opened to 3,500,000 and Luke Varrasso called.
Varrasso check-called 1,600,000 on the 7?7?2? flop and the pair checked the 4?Q? runout. Varrasso tabled 10?2? for two pair and won the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
93,000,000
-10,000,000
|
-10,000,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
60,000,000
10,000,000
|
10,000,000 |
Level 40
: Blinds 800,000/1,600,000, 1,600,000 ante
Hector Berry opened to 3,500,000 and Luke Varrasso called.
Varrasso check-called 4,200,000 on the 9?6?5? flop and the turn was the J?. Varrasso checked but this time folded to a bet of 10,500,000 from Berry.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
103,000,000
5,000,000
|
5,000,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
50,000,000
-5,000,000
|
-5,000,000 |