Ali Imsirovic Takes Poker Masters Lead with Second Consecutive Win
For the second day in a row, Ali Imsirovic stood tall at the end of a Poker Masters event as champion and now finds himself in control of the race for the Purple Jacket.
Imsirovic beat Koray Aldemir heads-up on Thursday night to win Event #6 ($50,000 No Limit Hold’em) for $799,000. On Wednesday night, Imsirovic beat Ben Yu to win Event #5 ($25,000 No Limit Hold’em) for $462,000.
“I don’t know how to put this into words, this is surreal,” Imsirovic said. “I’ve dreamt about winning the Poker Masters Purple Jacket, but I never thought this would be possible. Right now I don’t want to think about it, because I don’t want to be let down too much if I don’t end up winning it.”
The final table began with Imsirovic holding just over half the chips in play and Aldemir, Jake Schindler, Seth Davies, Justin Bonomo, and Sam Soverel all chasing him. It took an hour for the first elimination to go down and unsurprisingly, it was Imsirovic doing the work.
From the cutoff, Imsirovic raised to 50,000 with 
and called off his last 15,000 from the big blind with 
. The 
flop was a safe one for Bonomo, but the 
turn put Imsirovic ahead. Bonomo didn’t improve on the 
river and was eliminated in sixth place for $141,000. That cash put Bonomo’s 2018 earnings past the $25,000,000 mark.
Seven hands later, another player was sent to the rail and once again it was at the hands of Imsirovic. From UTG, Imsirovic raised to 70,000 with 
before Soverel moved all in for 225,000 holding 
. Imsirovic called and then watched the board run out 
to give him the pot and bust Soverel in fifth for $188,000.
Imsirovic continued to push the action and ten hands later, he busted yet another player. Action folded to Imsirovic in the small blind and he moved all in with 
and Schindler called form the big blind with 
. The 
flop put Imsirovic ahead and he stayed there through the 
river and 
turn to eliminate Schindler in fourth for $235,000.
Four hands after Schindler exited, so did Davies. Aldemir folded the button, Imsirovic limped from the small blind with 
and Davies responded by raising to 110,000 with 
. The flop came 
and Imsirovic checked. Davies bet 155,000 and Imsirovic moved all in and Davies called with his tournament at risk. The turn was the 
and the river was the to bust Davies in third for $352,500.
Heads up play began with Imsirovic holding a 2.5-1 lead over Aldemir. The final two played heads up for over three hours with Aldemir eventually battling all the way back to take the chip lead. Imsirovic quickly retook it and soon after picked up his fifth elimination to win his second Poker Masters event in as many days.
The final hand saw Aldemir move all in with 
and Imsirovic called with 
. The flop kept Aldemir’s hopes alive but the on the turn ended all the drama and the tournament, leaving Aldemir collecting $517,000 while Imsirovic picked up $799,000.
Final Table Payouts
- Ali Imsirovic – $799,000
- Koray Aldemir – $517,000
- Seth Davies – $352,500
- Jake Schindler – $235,000
- Sam Soverel – $188,000
- Justin Bonomo – $141,000
- Bryn Kenney – $117,500
The win also earned Ismirovic 300 points towards the Purple Jacket race and propelled him past Brandon Adams for the lead. Along with his two victories, Ismirovic also has an eighth place finish from Event #1 ($10,000 No Limit Hold’em) and now lead Brandon Adams by 150 points.
Purple Jacket Standings
- Ali Imsirovic – 660 points
- Brandon Adams – 510
- Isaac Haxton – 480
- Jake Schindler – 390
- Ben Yu – 360
- Keith Lehr – 300
- David Peters – 300
- Jonathan Depa – 270
- Jason Koon – 240
- Koray Aldemir – 210
The only event left on the Poker Masters schedule is the $100,000 Main Event which began Thursday evening.
