Ali Imsirovic can’t seem to lose at the poker table this year. The young poker star shipped US Poker Open Event #9, $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em for $217,800 on Saturday, his sixth high roller title in 2021. In doing so, he moved into first place in the USPO standings with only three events remaining.
Prior to the start of the year, Imsirovic was already considered one of the best players in the world. At age 26, he might already be a top five high-stakes tournament pro. Heck, he just might be the best in the world, period.
Well-Deserved Victory for Poker Star
He wasn’t the only player at the final table of note. The great Erik Seidel, the fourth winningest live tournament player ever, busted in fifth place for $74,250. Vanessa Kade, who won the PokerStars Sunday Million for $1.5 million in March, also ran deep. She was eliminated in fourth place out of 99 players, tied for the largest field at the 2021 USPO, good for $94,050.
PokerGO founder Cary Katz, who appears in nearly every high roller these days, took third place and earned $118,800. That set up a heads-up match between Andrew “Lucky Chewy” Lichtenberger, who finished third in the 8-Game mixed event, and Ali Imsirovic, who was shooting for his sixth high roller title of the year and the 2021 US Poker Open series lead.
On the final hand, Imsirovic got a bit lucky, something that certainly helps to win tournaments. He called Lichtenberger’s all-in bet with J-6 and was dominated against K-J. The eventual champion would spike a 6 on the turn to win the hand. Although he was a bit lucky in that hand, his opponent only had seven big blinds remaining. Had Imsirovic lost the hand, he still would have been in a commanding chip lead.
“Lucky Chewy” received $158,400 for second place. The champion of the tournament earned $217,800 for yet another impressive performance from the young poker superstar.
Ali Imsirovic 2021 High Roller Wins
- (Feb 25) $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em at Aria (Las Vegas) for $185,800
- (Feb 27) $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em at Aria for $344,910
- (April 2) $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em at Aria for $310,000
- (April 3) $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em at Aria for $300,000
- (May 27) $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em at Venetian (Las Vegas) for $200,200
- (June 12) $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em at PokerGO Studio (Las Vegas) for $217,800
Imsirovic received points in all six of his wins towards the 2021 PokerGO Tour standings. He now has over 1,600 points and is starting to run away with the title. Sean Perry is in second place with 1,150 points. The winner at the end of the year receives a $100,000 bonus.
Imsirovic Winning Everything
Not only is Imsirovic in the lead for the PokerGO Tour crown, he also surpassed Joe McKeehen, the 2015 WSOP Main Event champion, for the US Poker Open series lead on Saturday. The most recent winner earned 218 champion points for his win in Event #9, and now has 406 for the series in four cashes out of nine events.
McKeehen, who still has 302 points, dropped all the way to third place because Lichtenberger picked up 158 points for second place, bringing him up to 308 overall.
Event #10, $10,000 Short Deck, also kicked off at the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas on Saturday. Only 27 players registered, with Imsirovic among the remaining eight players at the time of publishing. The final table is set for Sunday afternoon on the PokerGO app. On that same afternoon, Event #11, $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em will kickoff, and the series concludes with the 12th event starting on Monday, $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em.
