2016 Escalator Series

Event 4: Richard Whitebrook Wins $1M Escalator’s Premiere Event

by

2016 $1M Escalator Series
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino
Hollywood, Fla.
$560 No Limit Hold’em ($400,000 Guaranteed)
Entries: 1,081
Prize Pool: $540,500
February 25-28, 2016

Richard Whitebrook

First ever, four-tournament $1M Escalator Series sees a combined field of 4,653 entries generate $1,293,860 worth of prize money

Hollywood, Fla. (February 29, 2016) — The fourth and final event of the first ever $1M Escalator Series concluded during the early morning hours of Monday at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Fla. Claiming the tournament’s top spot, an $88,506 prize and a $3,500 seat in the SHRP Showdown Championship was Richard Whitebrook of Miami Beach. The victory came following a three-way chop that saw Matthew Yorra place second and Alejrandro Duque third.

A Championship event of sorts, Event 4 of the $1M Escalator Series boasted a $560 buy-in and a $400,000 guarantee. Following three days and six starting flights, the field topped out at 1,081 entries generating an impressive prize pool of $540,500. A total of 210 players advanced to Sunday’s Day 2 with only the top 100 finishing in the money. It took just about three hours of play for Nissim Gozlan to pick up pocket sevens and eventually outdraw the pocket kings of the bubble girl.

From there, the field narrowed rather quickly as notables such as Seminole Hard Rock Poker team member Stewart Newman busted 97th, last month’s Coco Poker Showdown Championship winner Stu Patterson 52nd, reigning SHRP Player of the Year Ory Hen 51st and current Player of the Year points leader Timothy Miles 11th. The final table proved to be a bit longer affair as it wasn’t until three-handed play that a deal was reached.

Final table results:

1st: Richard Whitebook – $88,506 + $3,500 SHRP Showdown Championship seat
2nd: Matthew Yorra – $78,150 + $3,500 SHRP Showdown Championship seat
3rd: Alejandro Duque – $66,945
4th: Robert Campbell – $36,215
5th: Daniel Clemente – $29,730
6th: Jose Torres – $24,050
7th: Antonio Rey – $19,190
8th: Al Gomez – $14,595
9th: Denis Pisarev – $10,000

Whitebrook is 54 years old. The victory marks his second major tournament win and his largest score. Additionally, it moves him over $200,000 in career earnings.

Full Results

The $1M Escalator Series was comprised of four, four-day tournaments. The buy-ins increased from $150 in Week 1, to $250 in Week 2, to $350 in Week 3 before topping out at $560 in Week 4. The $100,000, $200,000, $300,000 and $400,000 guarantees combined to create the series’ “$1M” namesake.

In all, the four tournaments combined to draw more than 4,600 entries generating a total prize pool of nearly $1,300,000. Eric Rivkin claimed victory Week 1, Michael Harley in Week 2 and Ronald Campillo in Week 3 before Whitebrook broke through to win the flagship event in Week 4.

Here’s a breakdown of the complete $1M Escalator Series results:

Continue to check SHRPO.com as the property announces future events, series and promotions.

Thank you for following along!