PokerGO Cup: Ali Imsirovic Champions Event #2: $10K No-Limit Hold’em ($183,000); Headlines the Series Leaderboard

The second event of the inaugural 2021 PokerGO Cup is now in the books. The poker superstar from Bosnia & Herzegovina, Ali Imsirovic (cover image), trounced the 61-entry field in Event #2: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em to take home the lion’s share of the $610,000 prize pool worth $183,000!

Won the Poker GO Cup 10k for $183k! Leading the leaderboard now. Let’s win a few more and win player of the series! pic.twitter.com/q5hAjn6FRT

— Ali (@aliImsirovic) July 9, 2021

The 26-year-old is being touted as the hottest player on the live tournament circuit this year, and he truly deserves the title. Imsirovic entered the live poker scene at the age of 18 and won $1,500 in the first poker tournament he ever played. In 2018, at the age of 23, Imsirovic won two events at the Poker Masters and earned the Purple Jacket as series champion. He also finished seventh at the Super High Roller Bowl that year and was runner-up in the Super High Roller Bowl London in 2019, earning $1.10 Million for his biggest live tournament cash.

Imsirovic’s 2021 success has almost exclusively come in high-stakes events. He picked up 10 FT finishes in the three editions of the 2021 PokerGO Tour – Aria High Roller Series that ran from January to March, including four title wins. He raked in about $1.65 Million at the series.

Imsirovic continued his rampage into the 2021 Venetian DeepStack Championship Poker Series taking down Event #1: $10K NLHE for $200,200 and placing fourth for $118,500 in Event #3: $25,000 NLH High Roller. He next set his sight on the 2021 U.S. Poker Open (USPO), where among a plethora of deep runs, he also shipped Event #9: $10,000 NLHE for $217,800.

As a result of his blistering form, Imsirovic is also the clear leader on the PokerGO Tour leaderboard standings. He earned 183 points towards that rankings race with this win, giving him a 527-point lead over second-ranked Sean Perry in those standings. He also surpassed Event #1: $10K NLHE winner Alex Foxen to take the lead in the ‘Player of the Series’ (POS) race by a handful of rankings points.

Talking about his ability to persistently deliver spectacular performances, Imsirovic said, “I suppose it’s just the work ethic and studying. he more I study, the more confident I feel when I play. Usually when there is a big series going on, before I’m just spending all of my time working on my game so when I show up I feel very confident and try and play my best. It doesn’t always happen, but I typically feel way more confident when that happens and better results usually come out of it.”

Coming back to the event, only the top nine from the starting field of 61 were assured payouts.

Spanish poker pro Sergio Aido was eliminated on the money bubble late on Day 1, with Marius Gierse (9th for $18,300), Daniel Weinand (8th for $24,400), and Sam Soverel (7th for $30,500) all busting before the end of Day 1.

Final Table Chip Counts

1. Ali Imsirovic – 2,670,000

2. Matas Cimbolas – 1,690,000

3. Dylan Linde – 1,620,000

4. Mo Rahim – 1,210,000

5. Frank Funaro – 265,000

6. Jason Koon – 170,000

Final Table Recap

Despite starting out with the second largest stack, Matas Cimbolas was the first player to fall when his ran into Ali Imsirovic’s . Cimbolas caught a lucky break as he flopped pair of fives to take the lead; however, the celebrations were short-lived as a king on the river sent him packing in sixth place.

Entering the final table with just seven BBs, Frank Funaro expectedly bowed out in fifth place. Funaro’s failed to beat out Imsirovic’s that spiked a king on the turn. With the second elimination under his belt, Imsirovic chipped up to over 5.5 Million, while the other three players at the table held a little over 2.1 Million combined between them.

Next to depart was Mo Rahim. He got involved in a three-way pot with Jason Koon and Imsirovic.

Mo Rahim:

Jason Koon:

Ali Imsirovic:

The board bricked, and Koon took down the main pot. Rahim’s Ace kicker won him the side pot, but he was down to just 1 BB. He was eliminated shortly after by Dylan Linde in fourth place.

Dylan Linde‘s run at the final table came to an end thanks to a classic cooler. His pocket queens ran into Imsirovic’s pocket cowboys, knocking Linde out in third place.

The heads-up play had Imsirovic starting out with a little over 3-1 chip lead against Jason Koon, and it only took one hand for the proceedings to wrap up.

On the final hand, Koon limped from the button with , and Imsirovic jammed with . Koon called with his last 18 BBs. The flop gave Imsirovic the lead with a pair of deuces. The turn and river were of no help to Koon, ending his run in second place.

Final Table Results (USD)

1. Ali Imsirovic – $183,000

2. Jason Koon – $122,000

3. Dylan Linde – $85,400

4. Mo Rahim – $61,000

5. Frank Funaro – $48,800

6. Matas Cimbolas – $36,600

Content & Images Courtesy: PokerGO

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