David Peters won the equivalent of a three-table sit n’ go otherwise known as the $100,000 buy-in Poker Masters Main Event for $1.15 million. But even as his second win of the series, it wasn’t enough to squeak by the surprising Ali Imsirovic as the overall champion.
The Main Event had enough players to fill an entire Major League Baseball roster, but that’s it. Just 25 high rollers forked over $100,000 to get in on the action. That’s 11 fewer than during last year’s inaugural Poker Masters series finale, won by Steffen Sontheimer.
It isn’t easy for most poker players to come up with a six-figure buy-in. But many other $100k high rollers attract far more competitors. The WSOP Event #5, a $100,000 buy-in NLH tournament, for example, had 105 entries. The WPT Five Diamond Super High Roller at Bellagio in December had 39 runners.
Main Event Marks David Peters’ Second 2018 Poker Masters Win
Peters, the 2016 GPI Player of the Year, won his second event of the series. He opened the Poker Masters by shipping the $10,500 No-Limit Holdem for $193,200.
The $1.15 million he took home brings him to $24.6 million lifetime in poker tournaments. That’s good for 10th best all-time. Everyone is now chasing Justin Bonomo ($43.1 million), who has over $25 million in cashes this year.
Bonomo’s cooled off a bit since he won the $1 million Big One for One Drop for $10 million in July. His only cash during the Poker Masters was a 6th place finish in Event #6 ($141,000).
Peters, on the other hand, had quite a series, winning two of the seven events. He beat the generous Dan Smith heads-up to claim his second title on Saturday.
Smith, known for his charitable work as much as he is for his poker prowess, took a brutal turn card to bust. Down 3-1 in chips, the runner-up got it all in with A-7 in a commanding position against Peters’ K-7.
The flop ran out blanks (3-4-10) and Smith’s chances of doubling up looked even better. That was until the three-outer K hit on the turn followed by an innocuous 6 on the river to end the match, tournament, and series.
Smith added $700,000 to his lifetime winnings. He now has $25.86 million total, putting him in eighth place. Koray Aldemir (third for $400,000) and Bryn Kenney (fourth for $250,000) were the only other players to cash in this glorified sit n’ go.
But Purple Jacket Goes to …
Like Peters, Ali Imsirovic won two Poker Masters events. For that effort, he will leave Las Vegas with a purple jacket, awarded to the overall series winner.
No one could have predicted Imsirovic would beat out the likes of David Peters, Justin Bonomo, and Daniel Negreanu for the award. After all, he’s new to the high stakes scene and those guys are grizzled veterans.
The 23-year-old went back-to-back in Events #5 and #6 heading into the Main Event. He also scored a min-cash in Event #1.
That min-cash turned out to be the difference in the purple jacket chase. He earned 60 points in the first event and finished with 660, just 10 better than Peters.
