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

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:

• Event 1: Eric Rivkin defeated 1,250 entries for $33,970
• Event 2: Michael Harley defeated 1,036 entries for $30,395
• Event 3: Ronald Campillo defeated 1,286 entries for $50,000
• Event 4: Richard Whitebrook defeated 1,081 entries for $88,506

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

Thank you for following along!

$1M Escalator Series
$560 Buy-In, $400,000 Guaranteed
Level 33: 50k/150k/300k
Players Remaining: 1/1,081

The fourth and final $1M Escalator Series event concluded during the early morning hours Monday at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Hollywood poker room. After a brief three handed discussion, Richard Whitebrook earned the title in the $560 buy-in event. In addition to the $88,506 first prize, Richard earned a $3,500 SHRP WPT Showdown Championship seat added to the prize pool courtesy of the Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood.

The series-ending tournament boasted a $400,000 guarantee. A field of 1,081 entries left that number in the dust as the final prize pool topped out at $540,500. Each of the top 100 players finished in the money.

Here’s a look at the tournament’s 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
10th: Uri Kadosh – $6,486

Additional results are available in the posts below. Additionally, the final tournament report will be published in the morning.

$1M Escalator Series
$560 Buy-In, $400,000 Guaranteed
Heading to Level 27: 5,000/25,000/50,000
Players Remaining: 10/1,081

The 1,081-entry field is down to the final 10 and consolidated to one table. All remaining players have turned their $560 investment into better than $6,000. The tournament’s champion, meanwhile, is set to earn $118,906 along with a seat in the $2,000,000 guaranteed Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Championship.

Seating assignments with chip counts:

Seat 1: Chico Rey – 550K
Seat 2: Richard Whitebrook – 2.47M
Seat 3: Daniel Clemente – 3.44M
Seat 4: Al Gomez – 1.92M
Seat 5: Pisarev Denis – 905K
Seat 6: Robert Campbell – 2.2M
Seat 7: Uri Kadosh – 3.245M
Seat 8: Jose Torres- 830K
Seat 9: Matthew Yorra – 3.12M
Seat 10: Alejandro Duque – 3.235M

Remaining payouts:

1st – $118,906 + $3,500 SHRP Showdown Championship seat
2nd – $71,455 + $3,500 SHRP Showdown Championship seat
3rd – $43,240
4th – $36,215
5th – $29,730
6th – $24,050
7th – $19,190
8th – $14,595
9th – $10,000
10th – $6,486

Updated eliminations 11th place through 15th:

11th: Timothy Miles – $6,486
12th: Ronald Levy – $6,486
13th: John Magnetta – $4,594
14th: David Bradshaw Jr. – $4,594
15th: Abbey Daniels – $4,594

Additional results are available in the posts below.

$1M Escalator Series
$560 Buy-In, $400,000 Guaranteed
Level 26: 20,000/40,000/5,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 15/1,081

Play has slowed considerably since losing seven players in the first 15 minutes following dinner break. In the next roughly 60 minutes, just three players have hit the rail.

Updated eliminations 16th place through 18th:

16th: Patrick Peduto – $2,973
17th: Raminder Singh – $2,973
18th: Nigel Murray – $2,973

Additional eliminations are available in the posts below.

Down to final 2 tables w18 left @shrpo. Last week I finished 12th from 1100 players, hope to best it this week but need help here!

— Abbey Daniels (@abbeydaniels1) February 29, 2016

Those still jockeying for the title include Abbey Daniels and Timothy Miles. The former is in the midst of her second deep $1M Escalator Series. She took to Twitter earlier in the redraw updating her followers on her status.

Prize Pool

$1M Escalator Series
$560 Buy-In, $400,000 Guaranteed
Level 24: 12,000/24,000/4,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 18/1,081

A total of seven players hit the rail during the first 15 minutes of play following the dinner break. With that, the field narrowed to 18 and is down to the final two tables.

Prize Pool

Updated eliminations 19th place through 26th:

19th: Jacob Snider – $2,432
20th: Farid Dhanani – $2,432
21st: Jonathan Brody – $2,432
22nd: Iman Dan – $2,432
23rd: Fabio Hernandez – $2,432
24th: Daren Stabinski – $2,432
25th: Michael Tait – $2,432
26th: Leon Benmargui – $2,432

Additional eliminations are available in the posts below.

$1M Escalator Series
$560 Buy-In, $400,000 Guaranteed
Heading to Level 24: 12,000/24,000/4,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 25/1,081

The remaining 25 players are on a 40-minute dinner break. Cards go back in the air at about 9:20 local time. All participants have locked up $2,432 with the tournament’s winner earning $118,906.

Prize Pool

Final 25 seating assignments with chip counts:

Seat 1: Abbey Daniels – 592,000
Seat 2: — empty —
Seat 3: Richard Whitebrook – 996,000
Seat 4: Jacob Snider – 478,000
Seat 5: N/A – 1,675,000
Seat 6: John Magnetta – 880,000
Seat 7: N/A – 440,000
Seat 8: Daren Stabinski – 194,000
Seat 9: Raobert Cambell – 2,312,000

Seat 1: Raminder Singh – 1,174,000
Seat 2: Iman Dan – 241,000
Seat 3: Aldrin Gomez – 1,769,000
Seat 4: Alejandro Duque – 397,000
Seat 5: N/A – 224,000
Seat 6: Jonathan Brody – 298,000
Seat 7: Michael Tait – 52,000
Seat 8: Uri Kadosh – 1,460,000
Seat 9: David Bradshaw, Jr. – 1,229,000

Seat 1: Fabio Hernandez – 159,000
Seat 2: — empty —
Seat 3: Nigel Murray – 1,228,000
Seat 4: Daniel Clemente – 1,963,000
Seat 5: Denis Pisarev – 829,000
Seat 6: N/A  – 245,000
Seat 7: Ronald Levy – 1,247,000
Seat 8: Timothy Miles – 1,022,000
Seat 9: Patrick Peduto – 463,000

Prize Pool

$1M Escalator Series
$560 Buy-In, $400,000 Guaranteed
Level 23: 10,000/20,000/3,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 26/1,081

Following two quick eliminations that saw Elliott Zaydman bust 28th and Timothy Banks 27th, the field is down to the final 26 players and just recently redrew to three tables. They are set to take dinner in just under 15 minutes. Seat assignments with chip counts for all remaining players will be made available during the break.

Updated eliminations 27th place through 32nd:

27th: Timothy Banks – $2,432
28th: Elliott Zaydman – $2,108
29th: Marvin Karlins – $2,108
30th: Andrew Badecker – $2,108
31st: Michael Beasley – $2,108
32nd: Taylor Dean-Lipson – $2,108

Prize Pool

$1M Escalator Series
$560 Buy-In, $400,000 Guaranteed
Level 23: 10,000/20,000/3,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 32/1,081

An additional 10 players hit the rail during Level 22. Of the 32 remaining, Matthew Yorra of Miami appears to lead the way. He holds about 1,500,000 chips.

Prize Pool

Updated eliminations 33rd place through 42nd:

33rd: William Kopp III – $2,108
34th: Marc Levy – $2,108
35th: Angelo Castaldi – $2,108
36th: Henri Azoulay – $2,108
37th: avid MacDonald – $1,892
38th: Adil Khan – $1,892
39th: Stephen Leahy – $1,892
40th: Daniel Genachte – $1,892
41st: Vladislav Mezheritsky – $1,892
42nd: Bryan Caywood – $1,892

Additional results are available in the posts below.

$1M Escalator Series
$560 Buy-In, $400,000 Guaranteed
Level 22: 8,000/16,000/2,000 Ante
Players Remaining: 42/1,081

A total of 19 players busted during Level 21. Among them were reigning Seminole Hard Rock Poker Player of the Year Ory Hen (51st) and last month’s Coco Poker Showdown Championship winner Stu Patterson (52nd).

Prize Pool

Updated eliminations 43rd place through 61st:

43rd: Igor Terpenev – $1,892
44th: Francis Margaglione – $1,892
45th: John Flynn – $1,892
46th: Orhan Rakipov – $1,676
47th: Matthew Smith – $1,676
48th: Ariel Quintana – $1,676
49th: Daniel Wirgau – $1,676
50th: Nicholas Mahabee – $1,676
51st: Ory Hen – $1,676
52nd: Stu Patterson – $1,676
53rd: Evan Shaughnessy – $1,676
54th: Chad Vetstein – $1,676
55th: James Oliver – $1,513
56th: Joel Harwood – $1,513
57th: Alton Mendleson – $1,513
58th: Michael Ortiz – $1,513
59th: Jerry Wong – $1,513
60th: Konstantinos Pantaridis – $1,513
61st: Aaron Rosenthal – $1,513

Additional results are available one post below.