The 2022 PokerGo Tour Stairway to Millions continued at the Aria Casino with three more high roller events in the books. Michael Wang was the last player standing in Stairway to Millions Event #5 $15,000 NL which featured 43 players and paid out $219,300 to Wang. Event #6 $25,000 included 25 entrants, but Jake Schindler emerged as the victory with $287,500 score. Event #7 $50,000 had just 21 players, and Nick Petrangelo knocked out Ali Imsirovic heads up to win $567,000.
If you recognize some of the names, it's because there's a small group of high-balling superstars that have no fear when it comes to flinging chips around for hundreds of thousands of dollars on a random weekday. In this case, several notable players stepped into the winner's circle at the Aria Casino in Las Vegas this week during the latest installment of the hop new high roller series known as the Stairway to Millions, which had tournaments with escalating buy-ins throughout the duration of the shark-infested series.
Michael Wang, Jake Schindler, and Ali Imsirovic were all the big winners this week, which is a heck of a way to put your stamp on 2022.
Stairway to Millions Event #5 $15,000 NL attracted 43 runners and a prize pool worth $645,000. Only the top seven places paid out. David Coleman min-cashed in seventh place. The final table included Michael Wang, Larry Greenberg, Bill Klein, Vikenty Shegal, Stephen Chidwick, and Sean Winter.
Wang and Greenberg were the last two players standing. They slugged it out for the title and top cash, but when the dust settled, Greenberg was knocked out in second place. Wang won Event #5 and earned a payout worth $219,300. He also scored some juicy PGT Leaderboard points with the victory.
Stairway to Millions Event #6 $25,000 NL had only 25 entrants, but it was a stacked field. The top four places got a cut of the $625,000 prize pool.
The final four included Sean Winter, Alex Foxen, Nick Petrangelo, and Jake Schindler. Yup, familiar faces indeed. Winter busted first and min-cashed, followed by Foxen in third place. Nick Petrangelo and Jake Schindler squared off in a heavyweight battle. In this instance, Schindler landed a knock-out blow and took out Petrangelo in second place, which paid out $175K. Schindler earned a first-place payday worth $287,500.
Stairway to Millions Event #7 $50,000 was a huge leap with a buy-in that doubled the previous tournament. A total of 21 players took part in Event #7, and only the top three places earned a cut of the $1.05 million prize pool.
The final three who cashed included Nick Petrangelo, Ali Imsirovic, and Chris Brewer. Brewer busted in third place and min-cashed for $168,000. Not too shabby for a min-cash, eh?
Imsirovic was the top player in 2021 in PokerGo Tour events and won the 2021 PGT Player of the Year. He didn't lose much steam from last season in the first series of the new year at the Venetian High Roller in early January. He also waited a week before he attempted to win another high balla affair at the Aria. Except this time, he fell short of the goal and busted in second place. Imsirovic settled on a runner-up finish and a score worth $315,000, which isn't that bad all things considered. He just wasn't able to prevent Nick Petrangelo from going the distance. Petrangelo banked $567,000 for his victory.
The big win in the $50K at the Stairway to Millions thrust Petrangelo to the top of the PGT Leaderboard with 445 points. Michael Wang sits in second on the leaderboard with 354 points, while Imsirovic lurks in third with 351. Punnat Punsri, the Thai pro who shipped back-to-back events at the Venetian, is now fourth overall with 251 points.
