PokerGO's Stairway to Millions is an innovative event for TV poker, but will feel familiar to anyone who has spent any time playing poker online. The format combined the thrill of a TV final table in the PokerGO Studio with the profitable multi-level rake of "steps" sit 'n' goes.
The Stairway to Millions series sports eight tournaments. Each tournament's buy-in is (very) roughly double the previous event's. To link the series of events all together, everyone who cashes in an event gets part of their prize in the form of a ticket to the next event in the series.
It's a neat way of making all eight events feel part of the same TV narrative.
For example, Event #1 costs $1,100 to buy into. Daniel Sepiol, who took the whole thing down won $28,500. $26,350 of that prize goes to him in cash, $2,150 as a ticket to Event #2.
The first Event in the series attracted 190 entries, making for a total prize pool of $190,000. 28 players cashed, so 28 players won entry to Event #2.
"Officially 190 entries in Stairway To Millions Event #1: $1,100 NL Hold'em," tweeted PokerGO News. "Including @TheBradOwen and @JohnnieVibes."
PokerGO Tour Stairway to Millions Event #1: $1,100 complete final table results
| Position | Player Name | Payout |
| 1st | Daniel Sepiol | $28,500 |
| 2nd | Rich Dixon | $19,000 |
| 3rd | Joseph Cheong | $15,200 |
| 4th | Justin Saliba | $11,400 |
| 5th | Qing Liu | $9,500 |
| 6th | Mehdi Anooshahr | $7,600 |
Final table Action
The brisk blind levels quickly knocked the 190 entries down to the final table of 6 players on Day 1. The final six then had a night to rest up before the TV final table on the next day.
"Six players remain in Stairway To Millions Event #1: $1,100 NL Hold'em," tweeted PokerGO News. "Rich Dixon leads. They'll be back at 12 p.m. PT Thursday to play to a winner. Live stream coverage on @PokerGO and YouTube. All 28 who cashed won entry to the $2,150 event."
Day 2 was a high-speed affair, taking less than two hours to crown Sepiol as the winner. By the time heads-up play came round, Sepiol already had a 17 million to 2 million chip lead over Rich Dixon.
He took the better end of a 60-40 gamble on the first hand and held up winning the $28,500 for first place. Both players quickly hurried over to where Event #2 was already underway.
The stream of the final table for this event is up on the PokerGO Youtube channel with the Storm X logo now proudly on display.
PokerGO Tour Stairway to Millions complete series schedule
| Date | Event | Buy-In* | Guarantee |
| January 12, 2022 | Stairway To Millions #1 | $1,100 | $100,000 |
| January 13, 2022 | Stairway To Millions #2 | $2,150 | $100,000 |
| January 14, 2022 | Stairway To Millions #3 | $4,100 | $100,000 |
| January 15, 2022 | Stairway To Millions #4 | $8,200 | $200,000 |
| January 16, 2022 | Stairway To Millions #5 | $15,400 | $300,000 |
| January 17, 2022 | Stairway To Millions #6 | $25,500 | $500,000 |
| January 18, 2022 | Stairway To Millions #7 | $51,000 | $500,000 |
| January 19, 2022 | Stairway To Millions #8 | $102,000 | $1,200,000 |
Featured image source: PokerGO
