Jake Schindler Wins Stairway To Millions $25,000 Buy-In High Roller Poker Tournament

Jake Schindler has been one of the most consistent high-stakes live tournament performers over the past half-decade. He set the record for the most final tables made in a single year in 2018, when he made 31 on his way to securing the Card Player Player of the Year award. Schindler is off to a strong start already in 2022 thanks to a win in the Stairway To Millions $25,000 buy-in high roller no-limit hold’em event. Schindler beat out a field of 25 total entries to capture the $287,500 top prize and his first title of the year. The score increased his lifetime earnings total to just more than $29.3 million, enough to place him 15th on poker’s all-time money list.

“I think I made one mistake with ace-ten, but other than that I think the hands were pretty straightforward. The cards played themselves for the most part. I didn’t have too many tough decisions,” Schindler told PokerGO reporters after coming out on top.

In addition to the title and the money, Schindler was also awarded plenty of rankings points for what was his 28th career tournament title. The 252 Card Player Player of the Year points he earned, when combined with the 100 he won with a fifth-place finish in a $10,000 buy-in high roller at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas earlier this month, was enough to move him into 37th place in the 2022 POY race standings. Schindler also took home 173 PokerGO Tour rankings points. With 197 total points, he now sits in fourth place on that high-stakes leaderboard.

The 2022 Stairway To Millions features eight events, with progressively larger buy-ins throughout the series. Players who make the money in an event are automatically entered into the next tournament, building up to the grand finale: the $1.2 million guaranteed $100,000 buy-in event. Schindler and the three other players to make the money in this event earned a $51,000 entry into the next high-stakes event on the schedule as a part of their prize.

The final day began with Schindler in the lead and just four players remaining. The first elimination didn’t take place for over an hour and a half. In a clash of the two largest stacks, Sean Winter got all-in against Schindler, who remained atop the standings. Schindler held AK, which was dominating the AQ of Winter. The board ran out KJ5Q6 and Schindler’s top pair, top kicker was enough to secure the massive pot to take a sizable lead into three-handed action. Winter earned $62,500 for his second final-table finish of the series. He now has more than $19.4 million in lifetime cashes to his name.

Alex Foxen was the next to fall. He got the last of his stack in preflop with AA facing the 88 of two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Nick Petrangelo. Foxen’s bigger pair remained ahead through the flop and turn, but the 8 on the river gave Pertrangelo a winning set. Foxen took home $100,000 as the runner-up finisher. This was his third final table of the new year, including a win in a $15,000 buy-in high roller at The Venetian. With 504 points and $291,015 in year-to-date POY earnings, Foxen now sits in 15th place in the overall POY standings. This deep run moved him into third place on the PokerGO Tour leaderboard, with all three of his final-table finishes coming in qualified high-stakes events. This latest score increased his career earnings to more than $20.6 million.

Schindler held more than a 2:1 chip lead going into heads-up play with Petrangelo. By the time the final hand arose, Schindler had increased his advantage to roughly 5:1. He picked up AQ and shoved from the button. Petrangelo called all-in for just shy of 11 big blinds with QJ. The board came down 754106 and Schindler’s ace-high was sufficient to secure the pot and the title. Petrangelo took home $175,000 as the runner-up, growing his lifetime earnings total to more than $21.9 in the process.

Here is a look at the payouts and rankings points awarded in this event:

Winner photo credit: PokerGO / Antonio Abrego.

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