The 2025 May Deep Stack Poker Series kicked off with a big $400 buy-in tournament that featured three starting flights, long blind levels, and late registration until the start of Day 2. After a tough final table, Alejandro Amador took the top spot outright for $36,010.

The tournament drew 677 entries over the three starting flights, plus another 16 late reg players to put the combined total at 693. Our players more than doubled the $100,000 guarantee into a prize pool worth $228,690.

The last 87 players made the money, and the pace of play was faster than expected, with 60—and 90-minute levels, until they hit the last two tables.

Then everything slowed down with big money coming up.

The last seven players bagged their chips at the end of Day 2 and returned, with Steve “Cuz” Buckner leading the way. Also in the mix were our all-time wins leader, Raminder Singh, and the former champ of this tournament, Carlos Bermudez.

Felipe Luyanda took over early after knocking out Bermudez and Richard Saunders, and Buckner dropped when he lost a big hand with tens versus the queens of Joseph Hernon.

Luyanda eliminated Hernon, Amador sent out Buckner, and the two were evenly matched for heads-up play. On the final hand, Amador turned trip sevens against Luyanda’s queens to take the pot, the title, and the trophy.

Congrats Alejandro!

Results:

Place	First Name	Last Name	Amount
1	Alejandro	Amador	$36,010
2	Felipe	Luyanda	$24,000
3	Steven	Buckner Jr	$17,800
4	Joseph	Hernon	$13,300
5	Raminder	Singh	$10,100
6	Richard	Saunders	$7,700
7	Carlos	Bermudez	$5,900
8	Kalyan	Chivukula	$4,600
9	Brandon	Schwartz	$3,600
10	Ray	Nalbandian	$3,600
11	Carlos	Torres	$3,220
12	Paul	Domb	$3,220
13	John	Maddox	$2,840
14	David	Rivera	$2,840
15	John	O'Connor	$2,840
16	Jeffrey	Rolland	$2,460
17	Al	Norman	$2,460
18	Richard	Leger	$2,460
19	Solange	Lucas	$2,460
20	James	Guidi	$2,100
21	Fred	Dabus	$2,100
22	Dylan	Weiss	$2,100
23	Roni	Zelichonok	$2,100
24	Nicolas	Kerry	$1,780
25	Nicholas	Sweat	$1,780
26	Alexander	Morgovsky	$1,780
27	Steven	Cardarelli	$1,780
28	Richard	Rice	$1,780
29	Alejandro	Rosales	$1,780
30	Adi	Amit	$1,780
31	Michael	Newman	$1,780
32	Jeff	Levine	$1,480
33	Shravan	Kulshrestha	$1,480
34	David	Madrigal	$1,480
35	Peter	Fellows	$1,480
36	Lisa	Teebagy	$1,480
37	Ronel	Juan	$1,480
38	Robert	Klein	$1,480
39	Christopher	Liranzo	$1,480
40	Cory	Rock	$1,260
41	Eric	Kolodny	$1,260
42	Jean	Laurent	$1,260
43	Charlemagne	Benjamin	$1,260
44	Yury	Parad	$1,260
45	Jeff	Flatt	$1,260
46	Trent	Smith	$1,260
47	Robert	Kessler	$1,260
48	Bassel	Eissa	$1,060
49	Sean	Shah	$1,060
50	Santana	Noronha	$1,060
51	Aaron	Johnson	$1,060
52	Ariel	Rosello	$1,060
53	Jalaql	Farooq	$1,060
54	Guy	Naimi	$1,060
55	Karen	Cleveland	$1,060
56	Larry	Rubenstein	$900
57	Nancy	Birnbaum	$900
58	Brian	Barros Vazquez	$900
59	Anastasija	Zavorotnaja	$900
60	Logan	Eisner	$900
61	Sean	Phillippi	$900
62	Alex	Guzman	$900
63	Jair	Fajardo Suarez	$900
64	Dean	Sultan	$760
65	TK	Miles	$760
66	Roberto	Bendeck	$760
67	Misael	Iadisernia	$760
68	Alexander	Stewart	$760
69	Steven	Bennett	$760
70	David	Nathaniel	$760
71	Jose	Chapui	$760
72	Jill	Fiorentino	$760
73	Stephen	Ibrahim	$760
74	Lyle	Diamond	$760
75	Kyle	Lazzaro	$760
76	Yuriy	Kozinskiy	$660
77	Guillermo	Hamilton	$660
78	Kevin	Chan	$660
79	Craig	Bagon	$660
80	Thien	Nguyen	$660
81	Alex	Tsiareshka	$660
82	Eldo	Rodriguez	$660
83	Jacquelyn	Scott	$660
84	Joseph	Gotlieb	$660
85	Ory	Hen	$660
86	Gino	Rendel	$660
87	Sergio	Giha	$660

$400 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Prize Pool:  $228,690  |  Payouts
Level 29:  50,000/100,000 with a 100,000 ante

Alejandro Amador opened to 300,000, Felipe Luyanda raised to 600,000 and Amador called.

The flop was , Luyanda checked, Amador bet 400,000 and Luyanda check-raised to 1,000,000. Amador called and the turn was . Luyanda moved all in and Amador quickly called with a similar stack.

Amador:
Luyanda:

Amador made trip sevens on the turn versus Luyanda’s queens and the river locked up the hand.

Amador was holding 9,100,000 and was ahead of Luyanda’s stack of 8,475,000. Amador locked up $36,010  his first trophy along with his biggest career cash.

1st: Alejandro Amador – $36,010 + DSPS Trophy
2nd: Felipe Luyanda – $24,000

$400 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Prize Pool:  $228,690  |  Payouts
Level 29:  50,000/100,000 with a 100,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 693

Steve Buckner open-ripped for his last 875,000 and Alejandro Amador quickly called.

Amador:
Buckner:

“Nice hand Cuz,” Buckner told Amador.

Buckner had a lot of problems with the smaller ace and it got worse when Amadar paired his queen on the flop. The turn left Buckner drawing dead to the river and third place.

Alejandro Amador – 8,700,000 (87 bb)
Felipe Luyanda – 12,100,000 (121 bb)
Steve Buckner – Eliminated in 3rd Place ($17,800)

$400 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Prize Pool:  $228,690  |  Payouts
Level 29:  50,000/100,000 with a 100,000 ante
Players Remaining:  3 of 693

Felipe Luyanda limped his button, Steve Buckner completed his small blind, Joseph Hernon checked from the big, and the flop was .

Buckner checked, Hernon bet 100,000 and only Luyanda stuck around. The turn was , Hernon moved all in for 1,825,000 and Luyanda called.

Luyanda:
Hernon:

Hernon was ahead with two pair kings and sixes versus Luyanda’s pair of nines and heart draw. Luyanda called for a heart but got the river instead for trip nines.

Felipe Luyanda – 12,100,000 (121 bb)
Joseph Hernon – Eliminated in 4th Place ($13,300)

$400 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Prize Pool:  $228,690  |  Payouts
Level 29:  50,000/100,000 with a 100,000 ante
Players Remaining:  4 of 693

Seat 2: Steve Buckner – 1,325,000 (13 bb)
Seat 3: Joseph Hernon – 2,175,000 (22 bb)
Seat 4: Alejandro Amador – 7,025,000 (70 bb)
Seat 6: Felipe Luyanda – 10,275,000 (103 bb)

1st: $36,010 + DSPS Trophy
2nd: $24,000
3rd: $17,800
4th: $13,300

$400 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Prize Pool:  $228,690  |  Payouts
Level 28:  50,000/75,000 with a 75,000 ante
Players Remaining:  4 of 693

Steve Buckner open-shipped for 975,000 first to act, Joseph Hernon called on the button, and the blinds folded.

Buckner:
Hernon:

Buckner needed to improve to double and took the lead when he paired his queen on the flop. He faded a bad beat on the turn and river to set off his normal, typical, room-booming celebration.

Steve Buckner – 2,150,000 (29 bb)
Joseph Hernon – 3,800,000 (51 bb)

$400 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Prize Pool:  $228,690  |  Payouts
Level 28:  50,000/75,000 with a 75,000 ante
Players Remaining:  4 of 693

Steve Buckner opened to 325,000 from under the gun, Joseph Hernon three-bet to 900,000 from the button and “Cuz” came along.

The flop was and Buckner announced all in for 2,350,000. Hernon thought for a few minutes and called at risk for 1,625,000.

Hernon:
Buckner:

Hernon was ahead with the bigger pair and it held on the turn and river for another double.

Joseph Hernon – 5,225,000 (70 bb)
Steve Buckner – 725,000 (10 bb)

$400 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Prize Pool:  $228,690  |  Payouts
Level 28:  50,000/75,000 with a 75,000 ante
Players Remaining:  4 of 693

Joseph Hernon limped under the gun, Felipe Luyanda completed his small blind, and Steve Buckner checked his big blind option. The flop was and Luyanda and Buckner checked.

Hernon moved all in for 1,425,000 and Luyanda immediately called to get a fold from Buckner.

Hernon:
Luyanda:

Hernon was disappointed to see his aces were outflopped and Luyanda was ahead with two pair jacks and nines. The turn gave Hernon more counterfeit outs and he made a set of aces on the river to double up.

Joseph Hernon – 3,150,000 (42 bb)
Felipe Luyanda – 8,775,000 (117 bb)

$400 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Prize Pool:  $228,690  |  Payouts
Level 28:  50,000/75,000 with a 75,000 ante
Players Remaining:  4 of 693

Seat 2: Steve Buckner – 5,125,000 (68 bb)
Seat 3: Joseph Hernon – 1,575,000 (21 bb)
Seat 4: Alejandro Amador – 3,750,000 (50 bb)
Seat 6: Felipe Luyanda – 10,350,000 (138 bb)

1st: $36,010 + DSPS Trophy
2nd: $24,000
3rd: $17,800
4th: $13,300

5th: Raminder Singh – $10,100
6th: Richard Saunders – $7,700
7th: Carlos Bermudez – $5,900

$400 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Prize Pool:  $228,690  |  Payouts
Level 27:  30,000/60,000 with a 60,000 ante
Players Remaining:  4 of 693

In a battle of the blinds, Raminder Singh was all in and at risk for about 825,000 from the big blind against Alejandro Amador in the small.

Amador:
Singh:

Singh was behind but drawing live to double up. Amador paired his six on the flop and neither the turn nor the river could help our all-time wins leader add more hardware to his already stuffed trophy case.

Alejandro Amador – 1,900,000 (32 bb)
Raminder Singh – Eliminated in 5th Place ($10,100)