How seriously does Shaun Deeb take the WSOP Player of the Year race?
Apparently, seriously enough to want to punt in the Main Event.
In the past, Deeb has said that he either wants a big stack of chips or a quick exit out of the Main Event so he can play other tournaments. In 2025, Deeb was in a tight race for the title – much like this year – and he told PokerOrg that he would likely skip the Main Event to free himself to chase POY points in the remaining bracelet events.
"I'll reach 500,000 chips or I'm out," he said at the time.
And it seems as though he's sticking to that strategy this year. After bagging up slightly more than a starting stack on Day 1D, Deeb will return to the Main Event stage later today for Day 2D.
During his day off yesterday, Deeb fired the $600 Ultra Stack event – looking to build a big stack before returning to the Main Event. Unfortunately for him, no chips went into the bag.
'He literally does not care'
During Monday's livestreamed coverage of the Main Event, Jeff Platt asked one of Deeb's POY rivals, Josh Arieh, about the strategy.
“Deeb told us that he approaches this tournament specifically like, ‘I need to have a lot of chips or I need to be out the door and play in other tournaments’. How do you see it?” Platt asked.
Josh Arieh doesn't approve of Shaun Deeb's swing-for-the-fences approach to the Main Event. “I see it as the greatest tournament on the face of the earth,” Arieh replied, “and he's an absolute idiot for the thought of punting off, like he literally does not care.
“He wants to bust the Main, which is… I mean, there's not even a close second. This is the tournament that everybody has always wanted to win, and will always want to win. And Shaun is over in a $600 tournament on his day off. It's not me, I mean, this is the number one priority. After this is over I’ll sit down and see what the remaining schedule looks like and see if I’m going to battle a bunch or wait for The Bahamas and battle a bunch there.”
Arieh finished Day 2ABC with 118,000 chips, good for 47 big blinds when Day 3 begins on Wednesday.
If Deeb sticks to his strategy on Day 2D on Tuesday, he'll either return with a much bigger stack or be out of the tournament altogether.
