Daniel Sepiol Wins First Step on Stairway to Millions Series
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Brad Owen, Chance Kornuth, and Joseph Cheong were just a few of the big name pros who took a shot at the first level of the unique PokerGO series, Stairway to Millions, which kicked off Wednesday at the Aria poker room in Las Vegas.
After two days of play and 190 entrants in the $1,100 buy-in no-limit hold'em contest, Daniel Sepiol came out victorious at the final table Thursday, which aired on PokerGO. The champion defeated Rich Dixon heads-up for the title. In the final hand, both players were all-in preflop with Sepiol holding a massive chip lead and K?7? up against J?8?.
Both players watched the board run out 9?9?A?3?5?, putting an end to the first ever Stairway to Millions tournament. Dixon, who hails from Wyoming, received $19,000 for his efforts, while the champion took home $28,500.
The series is a unique one as it gives entrants an opportunity to go from a $1,100 buy-in, the entry fee for the first event, into a $102,000 buy-in tournament on January 19 by continuing to cash along the way.
Stairway to Millions has attracted some familiar faces and tournament crushers. World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner and 2010 WSOP Main Event third-place finisher Joseph Cheong took third place at the Aria and received $15,200. Stan Jablonski took 15th ($3,800), Chance Kornuth finished in 16th place ($3,800), Shannon Shorr busted in 24th place ($3,800), and Brad Owen narrowly survived the bubble with a 28th place performance ($3,800). The final table results from the PokerGO stream were as follows:
Stairway to Millions Event #1 Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daniel Sepiol | $28,500 |
| 2 | Rich Dixon | $19,000 |
| 3 | Joseph Cheong | $15,200 |
| 4 | Justin Saliba | $11,400 |
| 5 | Qing Liu | $9,500 |
| 6 | Mehdi Anooshahr | $7,600 |
Cash and Advance
How it works is every player who cashes in each step receives a free entry into the next step. In Event #1, 28 players cashed, all of whom received a seat into the second event, a $2,150 buy-in no-limit hold'em tournament that started Thursday afternoon. Those who cash in that one will be automatically entered into Friday's $4,200 buy-in competition. The full series schedule is below:
| Date | Buy-In | Guarantee |
|---|---|---|
| Jan. 12 | $1,100 | $100,000 |
| Jan. 13 | $2,150 | $100,000 |
| Jan. 14 | $4,200 | $100,000 |
| Jan. 15 | $8,400 | $200,000 |
| Jan. 16 | $15,800 | $300,000 |
| Jan. 17 | $25,100 | $500,000 |
| Jan. 18 | $52,000 | $500,000 |
| Jan. 19 | $102,000 | $1,200,000 |
*Image courtesy of PokerGO.
