This week’s poker news starts off with results from the Stairway to Millions – one of the first tournaments of the year. We’ve got the details for you from that event and more:
Kornuth Claims Back-To-Back Titles
Chance Kornuth is on absolute fire to start the new year. The poker professional has won money in all three events at the Stairway to Millions series so far. The second event in the series was a $2,000 buy-in tournament that saw Kornuth emerge victoriously. He wound up walking away with $51,600 for the top prize. Just one day later, he competed in the $4,000 buy-in event and won that one as well. This victory netted him $80,640.
In less than one month, Kornuth already has two titles and 552 total Card Player Player of the Year points to his name. This instantly puts him in the top spot in the 2022 POY leaderboard.
This is the first-ever Stairway to Millions series. It runs for eight total events and watches each buy-in get progressively larger as the series progresses. The final event is a $1.2 million guaranteed event with a $100,000 buy-in.
Sepiol Wins First Event Of Stairway To Millions Series
Daniel Sepiol has entered his name into the winner’s circle at the Stairway to Millions series. This is the inaugural running of this series and Sepiol was able to win the first-ever event in it. The event was a $1,100 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament that gathered a total of 190 entries. The prize pool had ballooned up to $190,000 and Sepiol was able to get the largest chunk of that. With the win, he walked away with $28,500 and the title.
Sepiol is on quite the hot streak right now. In 2021, he was able to net his best year ever in terms of success. He had four of his top five biggest scores during that year including two titles and six final tables. All in all, he picked up around $350,000 in earnings.
This recent win gave him 336 Card Player Player of the Year points, moving him up into the top 20 in the current POY race for 2022.
Steve Aoki Joins WPT As Brand Ambassador
The World Poker Tour has struck a big partnership with an established celebrity. Star DJ Steve Aoki has agreed to become the next brand ambassador. Aoki has long supported the game of poker and has become a player over the last couple of years. When the decision was announced, he said, “I have watched and admired the WPT for many, many years and to now be part of the WPT family; it feels so surreal.”
The WPT backed their hiring by talking about how Aoki’s love and dedication to the game are infectious. They also said that he inspired others to live their lives to the fullest, and it’s just a few of the reasons why they chose to bring him into this role.
Aoki is planned to be at an event for the WPT in Las Vegas already. It is an invitational charity poker game that is meant to support the Aoki Foundation. This foundation specializes in brain health.