Event #62: $600 PokerNews Deepstack Championship No-Limit Hold'em

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

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.

"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.

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!

Listen to the New PokerNews Podcast Here!

Luke Varrasso opened to 3,800,000 and Hector Berry called.

Berry check-called 2,800,000 on the     flop and the turn was the  . Both players checked and Berry checked the   river to Varrasso.

He bet 7,000,000 and Berry called. Varrasso tabled    for a missed flush draw, while Berry took down the pot with    for ace-high.

Hector Berry	115,500,000	9,500,000
Luke Varrasso	37,500,000	-9,500,000

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.

Click here to see the big $25K Fantasy hands!

Hector Berry opened to 3,500,000 and Luke Varrasso called.

Varrasso check-called 4,200,000 on the     flop and the turn was the  . Varrasso checked but this time folded to a bet of 10,500,000 from Berry.

Hector Berry	103,000,000	5,000,000
Luke Varrasso	50,000,000	-5,000,000

Hector Berry raised to 3,200,000 from the button and Luke Varrasso defended.

The flop came    , Varrasso check-called the 1,800,000 bet of Berry.

They both checked through the   on the turn to the   on the river. Varrasso fired a bet of 4,600,000 out for Berry to fold to.

Hector Berry	88,000,000	-2,000,000
Luke Varrasso	65,000,000	2,000,000

Hector Berry opened to 2,800,000 and Luke Varrasso three-bet to 6,800,000. Berry called.

The flop came     and Varrasso bet 4,500,000. Berry folded.

Hector Berry	90,000,000	-21,000,000
Luke Varrasso	63,000,000	21,000,000

The final two players are taking a ten-minute break before resuming heads-up play.

Branden Shimamoto shoved from the button for his last 9,300,000. Luke Varrasso was in the big blind and called.

Branden Shimamoto:   
Luke Varrasso:   

The flop     gave Shimamoto a gutshot straight draw and a chance at survival. The turn   bricked and the river was the  , with start-of-day chip leader Shimamoto sent to the rail in fourth place for $105,122.

Luke Varrasso	59,000,000	8,000,000
Branden Shimamoto	0	-9,500,000