Brett Bader Wins Event 4 of the Escalator VII Series in Three-Way Deal for $80,000

Escalator VII Series
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
Event 4
$600 No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$400,000 Guarantee
Entries:  1,104
Prize Pool:  $574,080
March 1-5, 2023

Escalator VII Event 4 Champion Brett Bader

Event 4 of the Escalator VII Series was a multi-flight $600 No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry). Across six starting flights, a field of 1,104 entries generated a prize pool of $574,080, easily topping the $400,000 guarantee.

A three-way deal was reached at the final table, and as the chip leader it was Brett Bader who was the official Event 4 champion for $80,000.

There were 141 players who returned on Day 2 in the money and Bader was in decent shape, coming back 42nd in chips. By the time the final table was reached, Bader sat fourth in chips.

The key hand for Bader came with five players left. He defended the big blind with seven-deuce suited and flopped a flush. After checking the flop, Bader saw a bet and an all-in raise that covered his already healthy stack. Bader called for his tournament life and held up against the nut-flush draw to take an overwhelming chip lead, en route to his victory in the three-way deal.

Bader, the 2018 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Player of the Year, now boasts more than $1.8 million in career live tournament winnings per the Hendon Mob poker database.

PlaceFirst NameLast NamEPrize Amount
1BrettBader$80,000*
2RichardNewell Jr.$66,396*
3HaimToorgeman$53,979*
4GaryGelman$32,545
5MarkWahba$24,600
6MatthewLambrecht$20,100
7CalaisCampbell$16,430
8RafaelValecillos$13,025
9SandySanchez$9,700
10JorgeGomez$9,700
11NeilHo$7,440
12RobertCohen$7,440
13Ya YunLiu$5,835
14BenjaminPollan$5,835
15GaryFitzgerald$5,835
16HuicunQiao$4,745
17JamesAnderson$4,745
18EmersonWard$4,745
19GeorohNetanelof$3,875
20BassamMourad$3,875
21RoqueVeviurka$3,875
22MikeChiappetta$3,250
23MichaelTurchin$3,250
24StevenCohen$3,250
25CurtisDaye$2,815
26PinchasChakchakov$2,815
27OrlandoMaldonado Jr$2,815
28AlexanderPerez$2,500
29NigelMurray$2,500
30MichaelMcCray$2,500
31MichelBittan$2,500
32BernhardSchmidt$2,500
33NickChiappetta$2,500
34OmarMorillo$2,500
35RajasekarGovindan$2,500
36EdwardMandel$2,500
37StanleyBilan$2,200
38NehmeGadaoun$2,200
39JimmyCorrales$2,200
40FrankBrannan$2,200
41JorgeLeidi$2,200
42DavidNathaniel Jr.$2,200
43JuanEndara$2,200
44CharlesBenoit$2,200
45JayConvente$2,200
46AnastasijaZavorotnaja$1,920
47MarcSacheli$1,920
48JosephWertz$1,920
49RaminderSingh$1,920
50StevenFrederick$1,920
51ScottSommer$1,920
52MichaelMascitelli$1,920
53GilAboodi$1,920
54BrianPowell$1,920
55JosephHernon$1,750
56ArtemZverkhovskyy$1,750
57JoelBorden$1,750
58DavidShmuel$1,750
59ScottBaumstein$1,750
60QuanPhui$1,750
61CarlosBolanos$1,750
62LukeRosenberg$1,750
63PaulKoster$1,750
64AlejandroSuarez$1,625
65MatthewVetstein$1,625
66RonnieTate$1,625
67JacobRistich$1,625
68JonathanOunjian$1,625
69BenjaminRobinson$1,625
70BernardoAbramovich$1,625
71FrankMontilla$1,625
72WillieWiggins$1,625
73MihalyLukacs$1,510
74TrentLaw$1,510
75RobertAntunes$1,510
76PhilipConsolo$1,510
77MattWaxman$1,510
78DavidEspinola$1,510
79WilliamChase$1,510
80RobBrown$1,510
81JermaineGerlin$1,510
82PaulDomb$1,400
83YulienGutierrez$1,400
84CorneliusRogers$1,400
85BrandonDuvdivani$1,400
86EliBush$1,400
87MichaelJohnson$1,400
88FrancisChaviano$1,400
89JohnMajor$1,400
90TimothyAllen$1,400
91FabianFoster$1,295
92AlbertoNiebla$1,295
93ElvioCescato$1,295
94ScottZakheim$1,295
95JohnMcDonald$1,295
96JackRanallo$1,295
97RaffaelloLocatelli$1,295
98JulioDelgado Reyes$1,295
99JordanRozenfeld$1,295
100AlexMeadow$1,190
101TrentSmith$1,190
102AntonKutsenko$1,190
103PatrickPfeiffer$1,190
104AndrueOrihuela$1,190
105EgertonBullock$1,190
106MichaelSciucco$1,190
107ManuelSoltero$1,190
108AdiAmit$1,190
109GeorgesBoyadjian$1,095
110IgorMerda$1,095
111SergiuCornea$1,095
112StevenMcKoy$1,095
113ThomasGari$1,095
114CarlosRodriguez$1,095
115CarloRodriguez$1,095
116JulianWohlgemuth$1,095
117ScottHeiligman$1,095
118JordanSemel$1,000
119ClaudioPiedrabuena$1,000
120KurtLichtman$1,000
121JeanBoullianne$1,000
122SandeepVelkuru$1,000
123BillGazes$1,000
124CarlPipitone$1,000
125MoisesJattin$1,000
126TheoLawson$1,000
127GaryLieberman$920
128AleksandrTishchenko$920
129CangirElcin$920
130RoniZelichonok$920
131KevinNaim$920
132StevenFollick$920
133ClaudelJoseph$920
134WilliamFife Jr.$920
135RotemHalbani$920
136MichaelYehudai$920
137DavidMaslowski$920
138FeiwenWu$920
139StevenBennett$920
140MarcLevy$920

*denotes three-way deal

Event 4: We Have a Deal!

Escalator VII Series Event 4
$600 No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$400,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 33:  125,000/250,000 with a 250,000 ante
Players Remaining:  3 of 1,104

Brett Bader

The remaining three players decided to look at the numbers and eventually worked out a deal.

Here were the chip counts at the time:

Brett Bader  –  17,450,000  (70 bb)
Richard Newell Jr.  –  10,425,000  (42 bb)
Haim Toorgeman  –  5,250,000  (21 bb)

Here were the resulting payouts:

Brett Bader  –  $80,000
Richard Newell Jr.  –  $66,396
Haim Toorgeman  –  $53,979

As the chip leader, Brett Bader was the official Event 4 champion of the Escalator VII Series.

A recap of the tournament will be posted later tonight.

Richard Newell Jr.
Haim Toorgeman

Event 4: Gary Gelman – 4th Place ($32,545)

Escalator VII Series Event 4
$600 No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$400,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 33:  125,000/250,000 with a 250,000 ante
Players Remaining:  3 of 1,104

Gary Gelman

Brett Bader raised all in with his chip-leading stack from the button and Gary Gelman called all in for about 4,225,000 in the small blind.

Bader:  5s5h
Gelman:  7s7d

The board ran out Jh5d6sQdJd, giving Bader fives full of jacks to eliminate Gelman in fourth place.

Brett Bader  –  17,450,000  (70 bb)
Gary Gelman  –  Eliminated in 4th Place  ($32,545)

With three players remaining from a field of 1,104 entries, the average stack is about 11,050,000 (33 bb). Everyone is guaranteed $42,800.

Event 4: Haim Toorgeman Doubles Thru Gary Gelman

Escalator VII Series Event 4
$600 No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$400,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 33:  125,000/250,000 with a 250,000 ante
Players Remaining:  4 of 1,104

Gary Gelman raised all in with a covering stack in the small blind and Haim Toorgeman thought for a little bit before he called all in for about 2,800,000 in the big blind.

Gelman:  4s4c
Toorgeman:  AhJs

The board ran out Ac9hQhJc9c, giving Toorgeman aces and jacks to double up.

Haim Toorgeman  –  5,850,000  (23 bb)
Gary Gelman  –  5,000,000  (25 bb)

Event 4: Mark Wahba – 5th Place ($24,600)

Escalator VII Series Event 4
$600 No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$400,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 33:  125,000/250,000 with a 250,000 ante
Players Remaining:  4 of 1,104

Mark Wahba

Gary Gelman raised to 550,000 from UTG/hijack, Mark Wahba three-bet all in for 850,000 from the cutoff and Gelman called with AsTh, leading Wahba’s Ad9s.

The board came AcKdTc4s2h, giving Gelman aces and tens to eliminate Wahba in fifth place.

Gary Gelman  –  7,400,000  (30 bb)
Mark Wahba  –  Eliminated in 5th Place  ($24,600)

With four players remaining from a field of 1,104 entries, the average stack is about 8,275,000 (33 bb). Everyone is guaranteed $32,545.

Event 4: Richard Newell Jr. Doubles Thru Mark Wahba

Escalator VII Series Event 4
$600 No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$400,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 33:  125,000/250,000 with a 250,000 ante
Players Remaining:  5 of 1,104

Mark Wahba opened to 550,000 from UTG/hijack, Richard Newell Jr. three-bet all in for 4,025,000 from the button and Wahba called.

Wahba:  TsTc
Newell:  AhQc

The board ran out Ac7dQh6h3h, giving Newell Jr. aces and queens to double up.

Richard Newell Jr.  –  8,675,000  (35 bb)
Mark Wahba  –  1,475,000  (6 bb)

Event 4: Two Doubles for Haim Toorgeman

Escalator VII Series Event 4
$600 No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$400,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 32:  100,000/200,000 with a 200,000 ante
Players Remaining:  5 of 1,104

Haim Toorgeman

Mark Wahba raised to 400,000 from the button, Haim Toorgeman reraised all in for 450,000 in the small blind, Richard Newell Jr. called in the big blind and Wahba called.

They checked to the river of a Ks6h4d3hJh board here Wahba isolated the pot and showed Ah9d. Toorgeman tabled KhQh for a king-high flush to triple up.

Shortly thereafter, Gary Gelman raised to 450,000 from the cutoff, Mark Wahba called on the button and Toorgeman three-bet all in for 1,650,000 from the small blind. Gelman isolated the action with QdQs, while Toorgeman showed AdKd.

The board ran out 6c7s9sKhJd, giving Toorgman a pair of kings to double up.

Haim Toorgeman  –  4,150,000  (21 bb)
Gary Gelman  – 4,850,000  (24 bb)

Event 4: Brett Bader Doubles Into the Chip Lead Thru Haim Toorgeman

Escalator VII Series Event 4
$600 No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$400,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 32:  100,000/200,000 with a 200,000 ante
Players Remaining:  5 of 1,104

Brett Bader

Gary Gelman raised to 450,000 from UTG/hijack, Haim Toorgeman called on the button and Brett Bader called in the big blind.

The flop was 4dJd8d and Bader checked to Gelman who continued for 650,000. Toorgeman raised all in for about 8,000,000, Bader called all in for 7,200,000 and Gelman open-folded the Jh.

Toorgeman:  Ad5s
Bader:  7d2d

The Th turn and 6s river completed the board, safe for Bader to score the massive double into the chip lead.

Brett Bader  –  16,400,000 (82 bb)
Gary Gelman  –  5,800,000  (29 bb)
Haim Toorgeman  –  850,000  (4 bb)

Event 4: Matthew Lambrecht – 6th Place ($20,100)

Escalator VII Series Event 4
$600 No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$400,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 31:  75,000/150,000 with a 150,000 ante
Players Remaining:  5 of 1,104

Matthew Lambrecht

Matthew Lambrecht was all in for 325,000 from under the gun against Haim Toorgeman in the small blind.

Lambrecht:  QsJh
Toorgeman:  KhQh

The board ran out Ks5s6d5c2h, ending Lambrecht’s tournament in sixth place.

Haim Toorgeman  –  11,475,000  (77 bb)
Matthew Lambrecht  –  Eliminated in 6th Place  ($20,100)

With five players remaining from a field of 1,104 entries, the average stack is about 6,625,000 (37 bb). Everyone is guaranteed $24,600.

Event 4: Calais Campbell – 7th Place ($16,430)

Escalator VII Series Event 4
$600 No-Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$400,000 Guaranteed | Structure | Payouts
Level 31:  75,000/150,000 with a 150,000 ante
Players Remaining:  6 of 1,104

Calais Campbell

Haim Toorgeman raised to 325,000 from middle position, Calais Campbell reraised all in for 1,275,000 from the cutoff and Toorgeman thought for a little while before he called.

Toorgeman:  5s5h
Campbell:  Ac9h

The board ran out QcTs6hTdKd, no help to Campbell, ending his run with a seventh-place finish for $16,430.

Haim Toorgeman  –  10,500,000  (70 bb)
Calais Campbell  –  Eliminated in 7th Place ($16,430)

With six players remaining from a field of 1,104 entries, the average stack is about 5,525,000 (37 bb). Everyone is guaranteed $20,100.