If you want proof that anything can happen at the Pinnacle Poker Club, look no further than the 2025 Deepstack Championship, which generated our largest prize pool in PPC history ($720) and resulted in yet another first-time winner: Peggy.
She entered the night near the bottom of the Player of the Year race, but walked away with all the chips, plus the POY lead. Here’s how it all went down.
Early Fireworks: A 300-Big Blind Pot in Level 2
Chris showed up with an aggressive plan and wasted no time putting it into action.
With blinds at just 150/300, Sharon and Peggy limped, and Chris raised to 1,600 on the button with A♦️T♦️. Both blinds (Crystal and Matt) called, along with Sharon, while Peggy got out of the way.
The flop came K♦️8♦️3♠️, giving Chris the nut flush draw. He bet, both blinds called, and Sharon folded.
The 4♦️ on the turn completed Chris’s flush, and Matt surprisingly led out for 5,000. Chris raised to 16,000, Crystal cold-called, and Matt tank-folded pocket Queens with the Q♦️—a very disciplined laydown.
Chris jammed the river (4♣️), and Crystal called with K-Q. Chris revealed the flush, Crystal became our first bust-out of the night, and the tone was set: it was going to be a wild one.
Peggy Seizes Control at the Red Table
From there, Peggy began asserting herself as table captain. She won three pots in a row early on — a rivered flush against Luciano, a triple-barrel bet that forced Chris to fold, and two pair that got paid off by Chris’s top pair.
By the first break, she had built her stack to 55,000, trailing only Chris. Sharon was also climbing (50,000), while Luciano was in danger with just 17,000. Matt, Crystal, and Steve were all just below the starting stack of 40,000.
Over on the Blue Table, Emma led with 52,000, while Tania, Kasra, Daniela, Rob, Christina, and Shealyn were mostly hovering near the starting stack. James was the short stack but still had life with 27,000.
A Monster Pot for Peggy
After the break, Peggy’s momentum really picked up. In a five-way limped pot, she flopped top pair with A-K. Sharon had flopped two pair, but the board paired on the turn, giving Peggy a better two pair. Her hand held up on the river to drag a 51,000-chip pot, setting herself up for a deep run.
Setbacks and Recoveries
Peggy wasn’t invincible. Luciano doubled through her when he shoved all-in on the turn with two pair against Peggy’s straight draw. Peggy missed her straight, and Luciano improved to a full house to grow his stack to 28,000.
But Peggy bounced back in style — snapping off Matt’s preflop bluff shove with pocket Jacks. She flopped a set and filled up on the turn, knocking Matt out and forcing him to re-enter at the deadline.
Not long after, Sharon limped in with pocket Queens—then played it cautiously on an Ace-high board. She picked up a big pot from Luciano’s bluff and Peggy’s second pair, slowly building a stack that would make her a threat in the middle stages.
Two Chips and a Chair: Steve Rallies
Down to just 6,000 chips, Steve looked dead in the water. But he hit trip Jacks in a four-way pot, then trip Fours the very next hand, ballooning his stack to nearly 90,000 in just two hands.
Sharon Scores First Knockout, Christina Wrecks the Blue Table
Sharon’s biggest hand of the night came when she flopped trips in a five-way pot. Holding Q♣️J♥️ on a flop of K♠️Q♠️Q♥️, Sharon bet 5,000 into the pot of 23,000 and Crystal called. When the J♦️ came on the turn, Sharon got Crystal to jam with the nut flush draw (A♠️4♠️). The flush came in — but Sharon’s boat held, and she sent Crystal home in 15th place.
Meanwhile, Christina was absolutely dismantling the Blue Table. In just two hands, she eliminated three players.
First, Daniela was down to less than one big blind and put in her final chips before the flop. Four other players joined the pot, including Tania and Christina. When Tania’s 8-8 flopped a set on a T-8-5 board, she thought she was in good shape. She bet, and Christina called. Tania bet again after the turn brought a Jack, then went all-in on the river (a meaningless 2). But Christina turned over 9-7 for an open-ended straight draw on the flop that got there on the turn. Daniela’s hand didn’t improve, so she was out in 14th place, and Tania was out in 13th.
The very next hand, Christina made two pair against Emma’s top pair. Emma was out in 12th, while Christina’s stack soared above 200,000.
Survival Mode at the Red Table
Several short stacks hung around longer than expected. Luciano tripled up when his A-T spiked a Ten on the river against Peggy. Matt survived with A-2 against Steve’s dominated J-2. And Chris pulled off one of the biggest escapes of the night, coming from behind with K-J against Peggy’s A-A by flopping trip Jacks.
But Luciano’s run finally ended in 11th place, as Steve’s A-T made the better full house than Luciano’s J-8 on a 7-7-T-8-7 board. Sharon was also in the hand with 9-9 and lost 18,000 chips with her second-best full house.
Christina’s Dominance Continues
On the Blue Table, Christina kept the pressure on—knocking out Shealyn in 10th place (trip Tens > Jack-high) and then Rob in 9th place(A-T > K-4), cementing her seat at the final table and pushing past 300,000 in chips.
The final hand before the official final table came with blinds at 5k/10k. Matt was all-in with A-4 in the big blind. Steve limped with Q♣️J♣️ and rivered a straight to beat Peggy’s two pair with K♦️T♥️. Matt’s Ace-high didn’t improve and he was out in 8th place.
That left Steve and Christina as the chip leaders with well over 200,000 in chips. Peggy was also in decent shape with over 100,000, and Chris was close behind with about 90,000. Sharon, James, and Kasra all came in short-stacked with only two or three big blinds left.
Peggy and Christina Turn Up the Heat
Kasra was the first to go at the final table, moving all-in with T-8 against Peggy’s K-6. Peggy hit trip Sixes to send Kasra to the rail in 7th.
Christina quickly picked up two pots in a row to add almost 100,000 more to her stack.
Sharon and James were the next two out in a single hand. Peggy’s K-8 outflopped both players, spiking two pair and holding on to knock Sharon out in 6th (taking home $10 in bounty winnings) and James out in 5th.
That left Peggy, Christina, Steve, and Chris as the final four. Peggy won back-to-back pots to add another 100,000 to her stack before Chris put his last few big blinds into the pot with T-9 and Christina called with J-T. Christina’s hand held, and Chris was out in 4th place, taking home $45 plus another $10 in bounty winnings.
Peggy Surges, Steve Falls
Peggy won the first hand of three-handed play to take the chip lead from Christina when she bet her A-K all three streets against Christina on a board of A-3-T-6-K. Christina called down with Q-T and lost nearly 100,000 to Peggy.
Meanwhile, Steve’s stack had dwindled from one of the largest down to only 20,000 chips. The next hand, he took his final stand, putting in his last chips with T♦️8♦️. Both Peggy and Christina called. Peggy bet the flop of A-6-4, and Christina folded. Peggy revealed A-4 for yet another two pair against Steve’s unimproved hand. Steve got no help on the final two cards and ended the night with $100 for his 3rd-place finish plus another $20 in bounties.
Heads-Up Mayhem: Peggy Defies the Odds
Peggy and Christina began heads-up play with Peggy holding a 2-to-1 chip lead.
But Christina fought back, winning three straight pots—including a rivered straight with Q-8 to top Peggy’s A-4 and take a large chip lead.
Down to just 160,000, Peggy refused to quit. She rivered two pair, then survived a pre-flop all-in showdown with A-T against Christina’s A-J. Despite being dominated and a 3-to-1 underdog, she managed to survive as the flop came with two Aces, giving both players trips. The turn brought a Ten, giving Peggy a full house which held up on the river, leaving Christina with only four big blinds.
And then… the wildest hand of the night.
Christina shoved with 8-2. Peggy called with 7-2. It was domination again—until the river brought a 7. And with that, Peggy completed the comeback and claimed her first-ever PPC title.
Christina took home $165 for 2nd place plus $60 in bounties.
Peggy claimed $250 for her win plus another $60 in bounties.
The final two ladies accounted for 12 of the 16 knockouts on the night—an impressive display of joint domination.
Player of the Year Update
Peggy’s win launches her from the bottom of the POY rankings all the way into first place. Christina’s runner-up finish vaulted her from a tie at #11 all the way to 3rd place, just half a point behind Kasra, who dropped one spot to #2.
For more details on the state of the race heading into our final regular season event, check out our season finale preview.