This Tournament Crusher Shares His Top Tips for the PokerNews Deepstack Challenge

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Apr 25, 2024 5 min read Last updated Jun 04, 2024

At this summer's World Series of Poker (WSOP), we're thrilled to sponsor the $600 PokerNews DeepStack Championship alongside the PokerNews DeepStack Challenge, which will send 40 qualifiers into the bracelet event via the leaderboard promotion.

Running from May 28 to June 24, the PokerNews DeepStack Challenge will see the players who take part in the daily $200, $250, or $400 deep stack tournaments at the WSOP earn points towards the leaderboard, where the top ten point earners each week will receive complimentary seats for the $600 PokerNews DeepStack Championship.

So, in our bid for you to conquer the PokerNews DeepStack Challenge, we've drafted in tournament crusher Raminder "Raminator" Singh (aka Rami or @PokerTrue), who knows a thing or two about grinding it out and getting the job done in these lower buy-in events, to give you a helping hand.

Why Trust The Raminator?

With 92 first-place finishes, including 64 major tournament wins, Singh sits fifth in the world on the Hendon Mob's Most Tournament Wins List. A majority of these triumphs have come in a similar buy-in range to the WSOP Daily DeepStacks, so you can consider him a bit of an expert and a useful resource when it comes to these types of events. Just look at that trophy collection!

His 382 recorded live cashes have put him in 18th place in the world for the Number of Cashes for All Time and helped him accrue more than $3 million in live tournament earnings. His biggest cash also came at the beginning of the year, when he was paid $486,353 for taking down the $3,500 Lucky Hearts Open Championship.

Amazingly, Singh has accomplished all these feats while being a recreational poker player. When he's not at the tables, he's crushing the business scene as the CEO of a management consulting company in South Florida, after playing many roles in IT with big-5 consulting companies and Fortune 500 corporations at the C and executive levels.

Don't Be Afraid and Why Play These Events

Q: Rami, what's your best advice for those looking to grind the WSOP Daily DeepStacks for the PokerNews DeepStack Challenge?

A: For me, it’s about the players at the table; you need to develop a read on them quickly. I try to do this within an orbit or two at the start of the tourney, and even when tables break on new tables, the same applies. It's really important to categorize the players on your table. Find out who the tight, aggressive players are, along with those who are playing too loose or too passive. Live Poker gives you the opportunity to watch others play while you are not in a hand yourself.

Going for max value is also key. In many of these tourneys with big hands, players often miss value with their strong holdings.

Also don't be too afraid about getting trapped. If you move all in for value and get KO'd by a better hand by someone trapping, don't worry too much, as during the WSOP, there are always similar or better tourneys available to play. You can always experiment and continue to develop your game at a very low cost/price and improve in these types of events.

Q: Why should low stakes grinders or recreational players be looking to play these events? What are the benefits?

A: As mentioned above, there’s a huge benefit to this. The lower buy-in gives players an opportunity to try different things that suit their style and experiment a bit more with a lower risk factor. That’s how I have been able to develop some of my game, and I'm still continuing to work on it basically by experimenting with new things in these low buy-in tourneys.

Q: What do you think of the PokerNews Daily Deepstack Challenge/Leaderboard promotion? Will you yourself look to qualify through this avenue?

A: I think that’s a great initiative by PokerNews to offer the top 10 players of each week to get them tickets into $600 Deepstack Championship. In my opinion, this can be very encouraging and motivating for most upcoming players who play in low- to mid-stakes tourneys. Giving away 40 such seats into it shows great spirit and collaboration between PokerNews and WSOP to include lower stake tourneys and opportunities like this. Kudos, and great job for this initiative!

Q: You’ve had fantastic tournament results across your career. Some players on a similar footing to you would feel that they’re above grinding the WSOP daily deep stacks; why is this not the case for you?

A: For me, I started playing poker in tournaments late in my life. As a matter of fact, until 2006, I had no idea about poker and got into it when I was 32 years old. I learned about the game from a co-worker who explained to me the rules and hand rankings on the back of a napkin and started off in a free Bar Poker tournament league locally.

I learned the game a bit but was unable to put serious time and effort into it until 2016 when I was able to establish my business after focusing and giving time to family and work. After that, I started playing a larger volume of these smallish tourneys locally in South Florida and started putting in more time and effort.

I look at tournament Poker as a business or a life event. There are ups and downs, peaks and valleys, but when you are down, you need to be at your best and have the courage to bounce back. There’s a ton of variance, and you take bad beats and coolers, and many times, it does not go in your favour. Those are the times you need to be at your best, and whether the storms.

So far, it has been working for me, and I am looking forward to continuing my journey at the WSOP Daily DeepStacks and the PokerNews DeepStack Challenge.

Calum has been a part of the PokerNews team since September 2021 after working in the UK energy sector. He played his first hand of poker in 2017 and immediately fell in love with the game. Calum has written for various poker outlets but found his home at PokerNews, where he has contributed to various articles and live updates, providing insights and reporting on major poker events, including the World Series of Poker (WSOP).

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