Salim Admon won the fourth Stairway to Millions event. That means the series has hit its halfway point. A good moment to look back at how the series has gone.
The idea of the Stairway to Millions is this: every person who cashes in an event, gets a buy in to the next event. The events increase in buy in (roughly doubling each time) so that a lucky runner could end up competing in a $100k event for the cost of just $1,100.
This lucky runner would be PokerGO's dream, giving the series a pleasing through-line and the audience someone to root for.
Unfortunately, the fourth event in the series (Event #4: $8,400) was the game that put paid to that hypothetical lucky runner. No one who cashed in this event managed an unbroken run from Event #1. Chance Kornuth did have a run going with a cash in Event #1, then first place finishes in Event #2 and Event #3. But this time he failed to cash.
That means that Jeremy Ausmus (4th – $44,800) — who has cashed in Events #2, #3, and #4 — is now the series cloesest hope for a satellite-style hero for the series. He has run his $2,200 buy in up to at least a $15k buy in [Update: Ausmus has failed to cash in Event #5. The dream is dead.]
High stakes action from here on out
Event #4 also marks the transition from mid-stakes to high-roller events.
The Stairway to Millions has reached an inflection point.
After Event #4: $8,400, the next four events can all be comfortably labeled high-roller events $15k, $25k, $50k, and $100k buy ins in turn.
Event #1 saw 190 players enter. Event #2 got 129 entries. Event #3 was down to 84 entries. Event #4 saw just 56 entries. 8 players were paid. Those numbers are likely to take a stroll off a cliff for the next few iterations. It'll only be the very good and the very lucky from here on out.
The goodest and luckiest of Event #4's player's was Admon who won $138,880 for first place after beating Jesse Lonis (2nd – $89,600) heads up.
PokerGo News tweeted: "On Sunday, Salim Admon won Stairway To Millions Event #4: $8,400 NL Hold'em, picking up $138,880. All eight players to cash won entry into Event #5: $15,800 NL Hold'em."
PokerGO Tour Stairway to Millions Event #2: $8,400 complete final table results
| Position | Player Name | Payout |
| 1st | Salim Admon | $138,880 |
| 2nd | Jesse Lonis | $89,600 |
| 3rd | Chris Brewer | $58,240 |
| 4th | Jeremy Ausmus | $44,800 |
| 5th | Nick Petrangelo | $35,840 |
| 6th | Bill Klein | $31,360 |
Featured image source: PokerGO
