The US Poker Open may be getting all the buzz this month, but their big winners aren’t even the biggest in Las Vegas. With so much action from old names and new, here’s a selection of action results that CardsChat News readers should know about, from the week ending Sunday, June 15:
Niklas Astedt
WSOP Super Circuit Online Main Event
GGPoker
$758,443
Astedt can’t stop winning. Fresh off last week’s WPT Online victory, he’s taken down the biggest-ever WSOP Online Circuit event. A total of 14,496 entrants anted up in the $525 MTT, but only Astedt survived. He started Saturday’s final table as the chip leader, but Yanfeil Chi took control as play dragged on into the early hours of Sunday morning. Chi’s time in the driver’s seat was short-lived, though, as Astedt moved into high gear in heads-up play. A pair of aces on the flop got it done for the Swede, who clinched his first WSOP Circuit title and a GGPoker prize package that includes $50,000 worth of buy-ins for the upcoming WSOPs in Vegas and Europe.
Harlen Miller
MSPT Venetian Main Event
Las Vegas
$367,801
Harlen Miller traveled from Bismarck, North Dakota, to Las Vegas for the $1,100 buy-in Mid-States Poker Tour event, which attracted a whopping 2,790 players, creating a $2,692,350 prize pool, completely obliterating the $1.5 million guarantee. On Monday, he left the Venetian poker room with a six-figure payday, more than doubling his career live tournament cashes to $566,000. The 63-year-old avid poker player was so hyped for this event that he skipped his niece’s wedding to play because, as he said afterwards, “I just had a feeling. At least now I can get her a better wedding present.”
Ali Imsirovic
US Poker Open No-Limit Hold’em
PokerGO Studio, Las Vegas
$217,800
Ali Imsirovic is having a memorable year. The 26-year-old poker pro shipped US Poker Open Event #9, $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em on Saturday, beating out 99 entrants, and is now the favorite to win the 2021 USPO championship. Winning poker tournaments has become a regular thing for Imsirovic, who now has six high roller wins this year, which is even more impressive when you consider the fact that there’s been fewer live poker tournaments in 2021 than most previous years due to the pandemic. He now has over $11.3 million in career cashes, and is already nearly a virtual lock for the Poker Hall of Fame when he turns 40.
Eli Elezra
US Poker Open 8-Game
PokerGO Studio, Las Vegas
$183,600
One of these years, Eli Elezra is going to earn a spot in the Poker Hall of Fame. If he keeps winning high rollers like he did on Thursday, a $10,000 buy-in event, the voters will be forced to give him the nod. Elezra took down the sixth event of the 2021 US Poker Open, a 12-tournament series, beating out 67 other participants. The old-school Israeli poker pro is now just a shade under $4 million in live tournament cashes, including the struggling Daniel Negreanu, who busted in third place. Elezra was already considered one of the best mixed game players ever. Adding this title, in a field with so many other great mixed game grinders (David “ODB” Baker, Mike Gorodinsky, Mike Wattel, to name a few), further validates that claim.
Ole Schemion
The Grand
Partypoker
$53,425
Schemion’s latest tournament win might not be his biggest, but it will go down in the history books. Playing his way past 280 opponents in Sunday night’s $1,050 MTT made him the first-ever winner of The Grand. The latest innovation from Partypoker is an attempt to capitalize on the success of weekly high rollers such as GGPoker’s Super Millions. The inaugural event attracted a strong field, including Elio Fox, who made the final table. However, none were stronger than Germany’s Schemion who added another five-figure sum to his $16 million+ in tournament earnings.
Camille Brown
The Wynn Classic
Las Vegas
$49,901
Chopped tourneys involving two or three players are common, but a remaining prize pool chopped seven ways? Not so much. Yet that’s what happened in the $600 buy-in, $250K guarantee event in the summer version of The Wynn Classic series. The final seven were tightly bunched in chips when they opted to chop the pot. California’s Camille Brown narrowly led the seven to claim the official win and the largest payday of her career. Brown emerged from a 1,350-entry field that spread over three starting flights, smashing the $250K guarantee; the huge turnout resulted in a prize pool of $702,000. Brown more than doubled her previous best cash, a $20,148 effort in a $5K NLH event at the 2019 WSOP.
Daniel Smyth, Haley Hintze, and Jon Sofen all contributed to this report. Got a big winner we should know about? Let us know: tips@cardschat.com.
