One day after shipping a high roller in the Stairway to Millions, Nick Petrangelo wrapped up the series at the PokerGO Studio Thursday afternoon with a $1,026,000 victory in Event #8: $102,000 No-Limit Hold’em.
Not only did the high-stakes crusher go back-to-back and cash for nearly $1.6 million within a 24-hour period, but he was also the only player to cash four times in the eight-tournament series. However, he wasn’t the only player to win consecutive events. Chance Kornuth took down Events #2 and #3 last week.
Petrangelo, who just cracked the $23 million lifetime mark for live tournaments, reached three straight final tables to close out the first-ever Stairway to Millions, a PokerGO series at the Aria Resort and Casino (final tables inside the PokerGO Studio).
Stairway to Millions Event #8 Final Table Results
| *Place | Player | Prize*But h |
| 1 | Nick Petrangelo | $1,026,000 |
| 2 | David Peters | $570,000 |
| 3 | Sean Perry | $304,000 |
Familiar Faces
Stairway to Millions began January 12 with a $1,100 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament. The series gave lower-stakes players an opportunity to work their way up the ladder to the $102,000 buy-in finale by cashing each step of the way. Each time a player cashed, they earned a free seat in the following tournament.
In the end, however, no player climbed to the top of the ladder from start to finish, and the series-ending tournament final table was three players who are accustomed to playing for such massive stakes — Petrangelo, David Peters, and Sean Perry.
A total of 19 players took a shot at the six-figure buy-in NLH competition. Alex Foxen, the 2018 and 2019 GPI Player of the Year, bubbled in fourth place.
Perry ran into some tough luck and busted in third place ($304,000), setting up a heads-up match between Petrangelo and Peters, and the difference between first and second was a significant $456,000. Petrangelo would end up winning the battle and earned himself a seven-figure payout, bringing his series cashes to $1.8 million.
“It’s actually been a while since I had one like this,” Petrangelo told PokerGO afterward. “Well, I guess in the Fall I did well in a couple, but we play so much now that my memory is pretty short. Every time you win, it feels great. I was looking forward to this series, and I’m looking forward to playing a lot of live [poker] in general this year. So no, the short answer is that it never gets old. It’s awesome. I’m really happy and fortunate that I’m running well.”
Stairway to Millions Final Results
| Date | Buy-In | Guarantee | Winner | Prize | Entries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan. 12 | Event #1: $1,100 NLH | $100,000 | Daniel Sepiol | $28,500 | 190 |
| Jan. 13 | Event #2: $2,150 NLH | $100,000 | Chance Kornuth | $51,600 | 129 |
| Jan. 14 | Event #3: $4,200 NLH | $100,000 | Chance Kornuth | $80,640 | 84 |
| Jan. 15 | Event #4: $8,400 NLH | $200,000 | Salim Admon | $138,880 | 56 |
| Jan. 16 | Event #5: $15,800 NLH | $300,000 | Michael Wang | $219,300 | 43 |
| Jan. 17 | Event #6: $25,100 NLH | $500,000 | Jake Schindler | $287,500 | 25 |
| Jan. 18 | Event #7: 52,000 NLH | $500,000 | Nick Petrangelo | $567,000 | 21 |
| Jan. 19 | Event #8: $102,000 NLH | $1,200,000 | Nick Petrangelo | $1,026,000 | 19 |
*Image courtesy of PokerGO.